Clause 43 - International projects
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill
12:45 pm
Mr Neil Gerrard (Walthamstow, Labour)
This is a welcome and positive development, which will allow us to consider resettlement programmes. Clause 43 covers more than refugees, to which only part of the power relates. That has been missing in our policies for a long time. I am pleased that the Conservative party is rejecting the two-tier system that they set out to create in 1996. They made a simple but flawed distinction between people who applied for asylum at ports of entry and those who applied in country. Those who applied for asylum at ports of entry would receive support, but those who applied in country would be deprived of it, on the flawed assumption that those two classes of people had different justifications for asylum claims. It was only because of the court case that followed those proposals that in-country applicants were left with any support through the local authorities.
My concern about the two-tier system is not so much that different rules may be applied but that different attitudes may be generated. We all know of problematic attitudes towards asylum seekers, and we must be careful to make it clear that we will not pursue the argument that those who undertake the resettlement programme are genuine, whereas others who do not undertake it are not.
I appreciate that we are dipping our toes into the water, but I am not clear how the resettlement programmes will function or how decisions will be taken about who is eligible to come as a refugee through them. The nearest and most recent equivalent was the humanitarian evacuation programme from Kosovo. The UNHCR acted as the gatekeeper and in effect decided who was suitable to come as part of that programme. That almost implies that an agency other than the Home Office will decide whether an asylum claim is justified. What is the interface between the two? Will the Minister say whether the Home Office will be involved in another country's decision to allow someone through that gateway?
I also welcome the support that is being suggested for people who are returning, whether they are doing so voluntarily or are being removed from the country. Unquestionably, we do not treat people humanely at present. They may suddenly find themselves on a plane with their family with no financial support to start to re-establish themselves. It will be interesting to see how this part of the Bill develops. The question remains
who will decide who gets on to the programme, and I would be interested to hear the Minister's comments.