Clause 37 - Failed asylum-seeker
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill
11:45 am
Ms Rosie Winterton (Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department; Doncaster Central, Labour)
As hon. Members have said, the clause extends the scope of section 4 of the 1999 Act to allow the provision of accommodation to people whose asylum claims have been rejected and to their dependants, whether such people were originally given temporary admission to the UK or made a claim for asylum while they had a form of leave to remain. However, when an asylum claim has been determined and rejected, the main applicant is no longer eligible for support under the asylum support arrangements of the 1999 Act unless he or she is accompanied by dependants under the age of 18. As the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam said, in some cases applicants may be unable to return immediately to their country of origin, because they may be suffering from illness or there is no safe route by which they can return, and in order to ensure that such people are not left destitute, basic support may be provided under section 4 of the 1999 Act. Section 4 support may also be provided in certain circumstances to former asylum seekers who have applied for judicial review of the asylum decision. However, the existing provision allows accommodation to be provided only to those who have been temporarily admitted to the UK or released from detention, and it does not cover all asylum seekers whose claims have been rejected.