Asylum Seekers (Hansard, 29 November 2000)

HL Deb 29 November 2000 vol 619 cc1320-2 1320

§ 2.54 p.m.

§ Earl Russell asked Her Majesty's Government:

§ Whether the latest monthly figures for asylum applications shed any light on the progress of their attempt to deter applicants from applying for asylum in the United Kingdom by changing the way they are treated when they arrive.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Bassam of Brighton)
My Lords, the Government's strategy is to create a fairer, faster and firmer system under which genuine refugees are identified quickly; and we deal firmly with unfounded claims. The number of applications from central European countries, where the vast majority of applications prove to be unfounded, has dropped since April of this year.

§ Earl Russell
My Lords, does the Minister agree that a policy of reducing the number of applications by deterrents can only be viable, first, if the undesirable features of the present treatment of asylum seekers are promulgated in the refugee-producing countries—for example on the streets of Baghdad—and, secondly, if the Minister can convince applicants that refugees are now worse treated than they were when Mr Michael Howard was in office? Can the noble Lord attempt to show the House that either of those factors is the case?

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§ Lord Bassam of Brighton
My Lords, I believe that I have made it plain on a number of occasions that our policy is to adopt a fair but firm approach to dealing with the matter of asylum applicants. That is the course that we have set for ourselves. We believe that we offer fair treatment. Indeed, when people, quite understandably, come to this country in fear of persecution in their home country, they will be given a fair hearing. That is the Government's policy and one that we have had for a long time. Moreover, it is a policy that has been shared by successive governments. We are fully committed to carrying out our obligations under the 1951 convention; and we shall continue to do so both fairly and firmly.

§ Baroness Trumpington
My Lords, at the risk of being a bore, can the Minister tell me what happens if an asylum seeker gives birth to a baby in this country? Will that baby automatically become British? If it is British, does that change the status of the asylum seeker?

§ Lord Bassam of Brighton
My Lords, if a child is born in the United Kingdom, that does not necessarily mean that he or she will attract British nationality. Therefore, the child of an asylum seeker born in this country will not be deemed to be British. I should add that a multiplicity of factors, such as the nationality of ancestors, are required to qualify for British nationality, but being born in the UK is not the only relevant factor as far as concerns British nationality.

§ Lord Hylton
My Lords, I believe that we all respect the Government's wish to be fair. However, does the Minister agree that the factors controlling the volume of asylum applications are largely the number of dictatorial regimes, the number of countries with no effective government and the number of internal conflicts, all of which generate genuine fears of persecution?

§ Lord Bassam of Brighton
My Lords, the circumstances described by the noble Lord have a bearing on the number of applications received for asylum status. However, we should also recognise the fact that there are many who seek to come to this country and claim asylum but who do so in a way that is entirely unfounded. We must have fair and firm procedures in place to deal with that situation. Since we were elected in May 1997, the Government have very successfully adopted that course.

§ Lord Avebury
My Lords, has the Minister observed that the number of applications still outstanding is roughly 11-times the increased number of applications made in the month of October alone? In view of that fact, will the noble Lord acknowledge that it is impossible for the Government to meet their target of making first decisions on all applications within two months by April 2001?

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§ Lord Bassam of Brighton
My Lords, I do not acknowledge the noble Lord's final point. The number of applications lodged in October was 6,970, which was a 7 per cent increase on the September figure. However, applications over the past three months—August to October 2000 averaged 6,610 per month, which is 5 per cent lower than the monthly average for the same period in 1999. We are on course: we shall reach our April 2001 target. As I understand it, we have substantially reduced the backlog of asylum applications down to some 89,000 at present. Our intention is to reduce those to fractional levels by April 2001.

§ Lord Cope of Berkeley
My Lords, how can there be a deterrent to improper asylum applications when the Government's dispersal and support policies are collapsing and a high level of granting leave to remain is being given?

§ Lord Bassam of Brighton
My Lords, it is not a question of deterrence; it is a question of having a firm, reasonable and fair policy. That is the policy of the Government. I contrast that with the absolute shambles of a policy we inherited and the absolute shambles that noble Lords opposite have got into with their current policy. On 18th April, William Hague said that the next Conservative government would detain all new applicants for asylum. This was echoed by Ann Widdecombe on 4th October when she said that the Conservatives would automatically house all new asylum applicants in secure reception centres. As of 27th November 2000, she changed her mind yet again—they would only lock up all new applicants from the so-called "white list" of third safe countries. Which policy are we to believe, William Hague's or Ann Widdecombe's, or which Ann Widdecombe policy do we now believe on Tory asylum policy?