Clause 11 - Unfounded human rights or asylum claim

Part of Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 10:00 am on 22 January 2004.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Beverley Hughes Beverley Hughes Minister of State (Citizenship and Immigration), Home Office, Minister of State (Home Office) (Citizenship, Immigration and Counter-Terrorism) 10:00, 22 January 2004

The amendment removes from the list of states designated under section 94 the 10 countries that will join the European Union on 1 May 2004. It is a regularisation and tidying-up exercise, because from 1 May, nationals of the 10 states will benefit from free movement rights under European law. Individuals from those countries are unlikely to apply for asylum after 1 May, given that they would gain no extra benefit to that to which they are already entitled under EU law.

We receive few asylum claims from nationals of existing EU states. If an EU national makes an asylum claim, appeal rights against a refusal of the claim are governed by the Immigration (European Economic Area) (Amendment No.2) Regulations 2003. They provide that there is no appeal right if, as we would expect, a claim is certified to be unfounded. There is an appeal right if the claim is refused and not certified, but that happens rarely, if ever. From 1 May, the regulations will supersede section 4 of the 2002 Act in relation to nationals of the 10 accession countries. Section 94 will no longer be relevant, hence our deletion of those states from the list.