Jesuit Refugee Service UK urges new British government to do more for asylum seekers

LEICESTER, United Kingdom – Britain’s most prominent Catholic association supporting asylum seekers is urging the new government to do more to assist people fleeing the discrimination and conflict in their home countries.

The Labour Party defeated the Conservative Party on July 4, and one of its first acts was to stop the previous government’s controversial plan to send some asylum seekers to the African nation of Rwanda.

However, new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced on Sunday her office has directed Immigration Enforcement to intensify their operations over the summer, “with a focus on employers who are fueling the trade of criminal gangs by exploiting and facilitating illegal working here in the UK – including in car washes and in the beauty sector.”

Writing in the Sun on Sunday newspaper, Cooper said the Home Office is drawing up “new plans for fast-track decisions and returns for safe countries.”

“Most people in this country want to see a properly controlled and managed asylum system, where Britain does its bit to help those fleeing conflict and persecution, but where those who have no right to be in the country are swiftly removed,” she wrote.

According to Home Office, over 15,000 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year, an issue which has been widely attacked in British media.

However, the Jesuit Refugee Service UK says the government should do more to assist asylum seekers, who often arrive in these boats.

“We accompany people seeking sanctuary here who are let down by a broken system, detained, made destitute, and left vulnerable to exploitation and ill-health,” said Sarah Teather, the Director of Jesuit Refugee Service UK, in a letter to Cooper released publicly on July 22.

“I would like to thank you for scrapping the cruel and unworkable Rwanda scheme. Now, this new government has an important opportunity to build an asylum system that is just, humane, and reflects our values as a society,” she said.

However, the Home Secretary said in her Sun on Sunday article said she was “shocked to discover” that 1,000 civil servants had been working on a plan to send migrants to Rwanda, and pledged to use this staff to tackle illegal immigration in Britain.

Teather told Cooper the Nationality and Borders Act and other inadmissibility rules build long delays into the asylum system, while the Illegal Migration Act bans most refugees from claiming asylum at all.

“The vast majority of people ruled inadmissible will be impossible to remove,” she said.

The Jesuit Refugee Service UK director said there are three “urgent priorities we believe are fundamental” to aiding asylum seekers.

First, Teather urged the Home Office to restore the Right to Asylum.

“If any of us were ever forced from our homes, we would want the opportunity to rebuild our lives safely elsewhere. However, the Nationality and Borders Act and other inadmissibility rules build long delays into the asylum system, while the Illegal Migration Act bans most refugees from claiming asylum at all,” she said.

“The vast majority of people ruled inadmissible will be impossible to remove, and therefore simply be trapped in indefinite limbo, at risk of destitution and exploitation. These laws punish refugees for how they travel, when the most do not have a choice, and there are virtually no safe, accessible routes for people to seek asylum in the UK,” she continued.

Teather noted in 2019, the Foreign Affairs Committee warned that “A policy that focuses exclusively on closing borders will drive migrants to take more dangerous routes and push them into the hands of criminal groups.”

She mentioned the deaths of four people in the Channel on July 12 “stands, once again, as a sad confirmation of their words. As we mourn these people’s deaths, we also know that they could have been prevented.”

Teather said her agency is urging the new government to restore the right to asylum by repealing the Illegal Migration Act and Nationality and Borders Act; committing to examining each asylum claim fairly on its merits, and within the UK; abandoning all measures that punish refugees for how they arrived in the UK; and creating safe routes for people seeking asylum.

She also urged the Home Office to end immigration detention, saying every year, thousands of people are incarcerated without time limit in prison-like conditions for the purpose of administering immigration procedures.

“Detention is a profoundly traumatic experience causing long-term harm. Survivors of torture who are detained regularly liken detention to torture. The Independent Inquiry into mistreatment at Brook House in 2017 found a toxic and dehumanizing culture and many instances of inhuman and degrading treatment,” Teather writes.

“Many are afraid to access healthcare they badly need for fear of immigration control. We have also worked with victims of trafficking and exploitation who are afraid to report their experience to the police in case it results in them being detained,” she continues.

“These are clear examples of how extending immigration checks across society leaves people vulnerable, divides us against each other and erodes relationships of trust at the heart of our communities,” she writes, adding that everyone in UK communities “must be able to access vital services and civil society, without fear of immigration control, and no recourse to public funds rules must end.”

Teather concluded her letter by telling Cooper she has a unique opportunity to improve how the government welcome people seeking sanctuary in the UK.

“Please don’t squander this chance by pandering to voices of division and hostility shouting from the sidelines,” she writes.

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