Mary Foy

Labour MP for City of Durham

Asylum

The asylum system is intended to protect people fleeing persecution in their own countries. Parliament has voted on subjects including: routes via which people may enter the United Kingdom to seek asylum; the circumstances in which those seeking asylum may work; support for those seeking asylum and if to allow those claiming asylum to be removed to other countries while their claim is assessed.

Photo: Nathan Collins

Mary Foy consistently voted against a stricter asylum system

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TheyWorkForYou has calculated this MP’s stance based on votes we have grouped on this topic. Learn more.

You can browse the source data on PublicWhip.org.uk. We are in the process of moving away from using the PublicWhip and there may be some discrepancies between the two sites.

Major votes

  • On 17 Jan 2024: Mary Foy voted no on Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill Committee: Third reading Show vote
  • On 26 Apr 2022: Mary Foy voted to be more lenient when assessing if a refugee had "come to the United Kingdom directly from a country or territory where their life or freedom was threatened" and "presented themselves without delay to the authorities", to put the onus of proof on the Government, and to give due weight to the best interests of children and family unity, in relation to such determinations, and to require the law to ensure refugees should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom. Show vote
  • On 20 Apr 2022: Mary Foy voted to allow those seeking asylum, and their adult dependents, to work if a decision on their application has not been made within six months. Show vote
  • On 20 Apr 2022: Mary Foy voted to prevent anyone from being removed from, or required to leave, the UK while their asylum application is pending. Show vote
  • On 20 Apr 2022: Mary Foy voted for UK law to allow entry to the UK to seek asylum and against UK law enabling unaccompanied children in Europe who have a family member in the UK to seek asylum in the UK. Show vote
  • On 20 Apr 2022: Mary Foy voted against creating an offence of entering the United Kingdom without a valid entry clearance (if one is required), and in favour of creating an alternative narrower offence of arriving in the United Kingdom in breach of a deportation order. Show vote
  • On 20 Apr 2022: Mary Foy voted not to make it an offence to help an asylum-seeker enter the UK even where that help is provided "for gain" and not to make it an offence to help an asylum-seeker if there is a "reasonable excuse" for helping. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Mary Foy voted not to permit treating refugees who have not "come to the United Kingdom directly from a country or territory where their life or freedom was threatened" and "presented themselves without delay to the authorities" differently from those who have. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Mary Foy was absent for a vote on Nationality and Borders Bill — After Clause 12 — Changes to the Immigration Act 1971 — Asylum Seekers' — Employment Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Mary Foy voted forbid removing someone from the UK, even to a safe third country, whilst their asylum claim is pending. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Mary Foy voted to allow people to enter the United Kingdom to seek asylum if they are coming from Europe and have a family member living lawfully in the UK. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Mary Foy voted not to make it an offence to knowingly arrive in the United Kingdom without a valid entry clearance, if such a clearance is required. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Mary Foy voted not to consider asylum seekers who fail, when requested, to provide information relating to them being a victim of slavery or trafficking within a set time-limit, to have reduced credibility. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Mary Foy voted to raise the threshold for denying an individual the 30-day recovery period for victims, or potential victims of slavery or trafficking, during which they cannot be removed from the United Kingdom, and to prevent those under 18 years ever being denied the recovery period. Show vote
  • On 8 Dec 2021: Mary Foy voted against a series of changes to the law on immigration and nationality, against permitting the removal of asylum seekers with applications pending to other countries and against provisions aimed at discouraging unsafe and dangerous routes of entry. Show vote
  • On 7 Dec 2021: Mary Foy voted to exempt those facing persecution in their own countries, and others in need of international protection, from a new offence of arriving in the UK without a valid entry clearance. Show vote
  • On 20 Jul 2021: Mary Foy voted against a series of changes to the law on immigration and nationality, against permitting the removal of asylum seekers with applications pending to other countries and against provisions aimed at discouraging unsafe and dangerous routes of entry. Show vote
  • On 20 Jul 2021: Mary Foy voted against a series of changes to the law on immigration and nationality, against permitting the removal of asylum seekers with applications pending to other countries and against provisions aimed at discouraging unsafe and dangerous routes of entry. Show vote
  • On 19 Oct 2020: Mary Foy voted to allow those in the EU who wish to make a claim for asylum in the UK, and who would have been eligible for transfer to the UK under EU regulations, to enter the UK to make their claim. Show vote
  • On 30 Jun 2020: Mary Foy voted to retain rights for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, spouses, vulnerable adults and dependant adults to join a family member who is legally present in the United Kingdom. Show vote
  • On 22 Jan 2020: Mary Foy voted to require ministers to seek to negotiate with the EU to allow unaccompanied children seeking asylum to join their relatives by moving from the UK to the EU or vice-versa, and voted against merely requiring the Government to set out its policy on this subject. Show vote
  • On 8 Jan 2020: Mary Foy voted to retain a requirement for ministers to seek to negotiate an agreement with the EU to enable unaccompanied child refugees to join their relatives. Show vote

Minor votes

  • On 18 May 2022: Mary Foy was absent for a vote on Programme for Government — Amendment from the Leader of the Liberal Democrats Show vote
  • On 26 Apr 2022: Mary Foy voted to require that, so far as possible under new asylum laws, no refugees will be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom and to require a court or tribunal breaching that principle to make a declaration to that effect. Show vote
  • On 20 Apr 2022: Mary Foy voted to explicitly require that no refugees will be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom as a result of the operation of new asylum laws. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Mary Foy voted to explicitly require that no refugees will be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom as a result of the operation of new asylum laws. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Mary Foy was absent for a vote on Nationality and Borders Bill — After Clause 37 — Refugee Resettlement Schemes — 10,000 Refugees Per Year Show vote

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