A discussion paper urged the government to acknowledge the fact that a wider range of interests existed in the field of migration than just those of British business, and to re-direct its efforts towards more comprehensive reform of asylum and immigration policy, with migrants and sending countries being admitted into full partnership in determining the process of change.
Source: Don Flynn, Tough as Old Boots? Asylum, immigration and the paradox of New Labour policy, Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (020 7251 8708)
Links: Paper (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2003-Dec
Following consultation, the government announced action to prevent access to the National Health Service by so-called 'health tourists'. Failed asylum seekers and others with no legal right to be in the country would be stopped from receiving free treatment for conditions which arose after their legal status had been finally determined; the dependants and spouse of someone who was permanently resident in the United Kingdom would no longer be able to visit the country briefly to obtain free treatment unless they had permanent residence themselves; and business travellers and their dependants who fell ill or were injured on a trip to the United Kingdom would no longer be eligible. Doctors warned that it was not their role to be the agents of the state in policing eligibility for healthcare.
Source: Press release 31 December 2003, Department of Health (020 7210 4850) | National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989: Consultation - Summary of outcome, Department of Health (08701 555455) | Press release 30 December 2003, British Medical Association (020 7387 4499)
Links: DH press release | Consultation summary (pdf) | BMA press release | Refugee Council press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Dec
The United Kingdom population was projected to increase gradually from an estimated 59.2 million in 2002 to reach 64.8 million by 2031, according to new figures from the Government Actuary. The projections were based on the estimated population at the middle of 2002, and replaced the previous (interim) 2001-based national projections. Environmental campaigners expressed concern at the increase. A group opposed to large-scale immigration challenged the long-term assumption that, over the period to 2031, there would be a net annual increase in the population from immigration of 103,000 people.
Source: 2002-Based Population Projections, Government Actuary's Department (020 7211 2600) | Press release 18 December 2003, Optimum Population Trust (07976 370221) | 2003 Population Projections, MigrationwatchUK (01869 337007)
Links: Report (links) | ONS press release (pdf) | Home Office press release | Population Trends article | OPT press release | MigrationwatchUK report | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Dec
A committee of MPs said that it supported in principle the proposed removal - under the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill - of taxpayers' support from those with no right to asylum: but it recommended that the government should give assurances that the relevant clause would not come into effect until the House of Commons was satisfied that in practice it would not lead to significant numbers of children being taken into care.
Source: Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill, First Report (Session 2003-04), HC 109, House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Dec
The Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill was given a second reading, despite a rebellion by 23 Labour MPs. The Bill would remove benefits from failed asylum seekers, including families with children, who refused to co-operate with their removal; and remove the High Court's powers to scrutinise immigration and asylum decisions by judicial review, as well as barring claims under the Human Rights Act in such cases. Campaigners said the Bill was inconsistent with government commitments on improving child protection, and that reducing appeal rights would remove a vital check on initial decisions that were 'notoriously poor'. Barristers said that the proposals had 'no place in any decent society'.
Source: Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 17 December 2003, columns 1587-1684, TSO | Press release 16 December 2003, Refugee Children s Consortium c/o Save the Children (020 7703 5400) | Press release 17 December 2003, Amnesty International UK (020 7814 6241) | Press release 15 December 2003, Bar Council (020 7242 0082)
Links: Text of Bill | Hansard | Refugee Children's Consortium press release | Amnesty press release | Bar Council press release | Refugee Council press release | JUSTICE briefing (pdf) | Liberty briefing (pdf) | HOC research briefing (1) (pdf) | HOC research briefing (2) (pdf) | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2003-Dec
The government published a Bill to further restrict asylum applications. There would be new criminal sanctions to deter traffickers from telling asylum seekers to deliberately destroy their travel documents in order to lodge false claims or frustrate removal; a new offence of trafficking for purposes other than sexual exploitation - such as domestic slavery with a penalty of up to 14 years in jail; and a single tier of appeal, restricting access to judicial review, and eliminating judicial review against removal directions. More families would be 'encouraged' to return voluntarily by ending their unlimited right to support when the legal process had been exhausted and when they were able to take up a voluntary, paid route home. Campaigners expressed 'outrage' at the possibility that in some cases children of asylum seekers might be separated from their families and taken into care, and warned that measures in the Bill might seriously endanger the lives of asylum-seekers. The leader of the opposition Conservative party described the plans as 'despicable'.
Source: Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc) Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 26 November 2003, Save the Children (020 7703 5400) | Press release 25 November 2003, Amnesty International UK (020 7814 6241) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 26 November 2003, column 18, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Home Office press release | Hansard | SCF press release | Amnesty press release | Refugee Council press release | Methodist Church press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2003-Nov
A report said that enforced health screening of asylum seekers at ports of entry could push those people most in need of healthcare 'underground'.
Source: Richard Coker, Migration, Public Health and Compulsory Screening for TB and HIV, Institute for Public Policy Research (020 7470 6100)
Links: Report (pdf) | IPPR press release (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
The government announced measures aimed at cutting 'abuses' of the asylum legal aid system. Changes included an accreditation scheme for lawyers, a unique file number for asylum seekers, and a reduction in the amount of legally-aided advice offered to applicants.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 27 November 2003, columns 37-40WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | DCA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
Researchers found that media coverage of asylum seekers and refugees was characterised by stereotyping, exaggeration and inaccurate language. It said the Press Complaints Commission, in consultation with refugee organisations, should develop 'soft guidelines' on news reporting on asylum and immigration issues.
Source: Sara Buchanan, Bethan Grillo and Terry Threadgold, What s the Story?: Results from research into media coverage of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, Article 19 (020 7278 9292)
Links: Report (pdf) | IRR press release
Date: 2003-Nov
An estimated 153,000 more people arrived to live in the United Kingdom for at least a year in 2002 than left to live elsewhere, according to migration estimates. This estimate of net in-migration was lower than the estimate of 172,000 for 2001; it was also slightly lower than the estimates for 1999 and 2000 (163,000 in both years).
Source: International Migration Estimates 2002, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Nov
An official summary of statistics on immigration in 2002 was published. Applications for asylum, excluding dependants, increased by 18 per cent to 84,130. Overall, an estimated 42 per cent of applications resulted in either grants of asylum (10 per cent), exceptional leave to remain (23 per cent) or allowed appeals (10 per cent). There was a 22 per cent increase in the number of after-entry decisions. Grants of settlement rose by 7 per cent to 116,000: this was mainly due to a rise in employment-related grants and other grants on a discretionary basis. The total number of persons removed from the United Kingdom was 65,460, an increase of 33 per cent on the previous year. There was an estimated net inward migration of just over 153,000 persons, 10 per cent lower than 2001.
Source: Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2002, Cm 6053, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Nov
A paper (by a group opposed to large-scale immigration) called for the United Kingdom to pull out of 'outdated' international conventions and for the government to fix an upper limit on the size of the immigrant population.
Source: Asylum and Immigration: Programme of action, MigrationwatchUK (01869 337007)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Nov
A report said that the United Kingdom needed new legal ways to allow the immigration of low-skilled workers within a 'managed migration' policy. The pressures driving migration were so powerful that ever more draconian entry limits would have no further effect.
Source: Russell King, Nicola Mai and Mirela Dalipaj, Exploding the Migration Myths, Fabian Society (020 7227 4900) and Oxfam GB
Links: Summary | Fabian Society press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
The number of people who applied for asylum in the third quarter of 2003 was 11,955 (13 per cent higher than the previous quarter, but 40 per cent lower than a year earlier). The government said that it had met its target to halve the number of asylum applicants, comparing 4,225 applications in September 2003 with 8,770 in October 2002. Campaigners criticised the erosion of protection to people fleeing human rights abuses in their home countries.
Source: Asylum Statistics: 3rd Quarter 2003 - United Kingdom, Home Office (020 7273 2084) | Press release 27 November 2003, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Press release 27 November 2003, Amnesty International UK (020 7814 6241)
Links: Report (pdf) | Home Office press release | Amnesty press release | Refugee Council press release
Date: 2003-Nov
The government began consultation on new powers to investigate legal advisers suspected of abusing the asylum appeals system; to introduce a single tier of appeal; to introduce sanctions for those who destroyed or discarded their travel documents; to introduce measures to speedily return those who had already claimed asylum in safe third countries; and to end support for families able, but unwilling, to return home. The Refugee Council said that the single biggest cause of delay in the asylum system was the poor quality of initial decision-making by the Home Office.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 27 October 2003, columns 1-2WS, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 27 October 2003, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Press release 27 October 2003, Refugee Council (020 7820 3042)
Links: Hansard | Home Office press release and consultation letter | Refugee Council press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
The government announced changes to the 'highly skilled migrant programme', designed to make it easier for skilled people to come and work in the United Kingdom. Changes included reducing the overall points required to qualify; introducing less demanding criteria for applicants aged under 28; and taking account of graduate partners achievements. In addition, from the summer of 2004, foreign nationals who had studied maths, science or engineering at a UK institution would be able to work in the UK for 12 months following graduation under the new 'science and engineering graduates scheme'.
Source: Press release 31 October 2003, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release
Date: 2003-Oct
The government announced that the National Asylum Support Service would be given a new regional structure, in order to improve local consultation over the dispersal of asylum seekers.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Answers 22 October 2003, column 636W, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2003-Oct
The schools inspectorate said that schools were providing a 'good education' for asylum-seeker pupils. Staff funded by the ethnic minority achievement grant generally made a vital contribution towards supporting asylum-seeker pupils and their families. They also provided valuable advice, training and teaching support for class teachers. Schools in inner-city areas serving diverse communities were often more proficient in managing the admission of the asylum-seeker pupils, because they were more used to dealing with high levels of pupil mobility and had staff with experience and expertise in teaching pupils with English as an additional language. Teachers said the report confirmed that the children concerned were best educated in mainstream schools.
Source: The Education of Asylum-seeker Pupils, HMI 453, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833) | Press release 22 October 2003, Association of Teachers and Lecturers (020 7930 6441)
Links: Report (pdf) | Ofsted press release | ATL press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
The government announced that up to 15,000 families who sought asylum in the United Kingdom prior to 2 October 2000, the majority of whom were being supported out of public funds, would be considered for permission to live and work in the country.
Source: Press release 24 October 2003, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release | IAS press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
A collection of essays said that few countries handled migration well, for four significant reasons: the speed and depth of change which migration brought challenged our sense of identity and community; migration controls were difficult to enforce, undermining public confidence; managing migration required difficult political and policy trade-offs; and these tensions catapulted governments into reaction, leaving little political space to explore optimal alternatives and demonstrate to the public that migration could be managed to mutual advantage.
Source: Sarah Spencer (ed.), The Politics of Migration: Managing opportunity, conflict and change (special issue of The Political Quarterly, Blackwell)
Links: IPPR press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
The Press Complaints Commission said that journalists should not use the phrase 'illegal asylum seeker'. It said the term was inaccurate and misleading, and had led to a large number of complaints.
Source: Press release 23 October 2003, Press Complaints Commission (020 7353 1248)
Links: PCC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
A report by a committee of MPs responded to a government consultation paper on proposed cuts in publicly funded legal services for immigration and asylum. It said that it 'strongly supported' proposals for a new accreditation scheme: but that other proposals were 'hurried and not obviously thought through'. The Lord Chief Justice reportedly attacked the 'truly horrendous' legal costs run up in three test cases brought by asylum seekers, which he said were many times greater than any damages that could have been awarded. A High Court judge reportedly said that the soaring number of court applications for financial help by destitute asylum seekers was wasting 'vast amounts of public money' and clogging up the courts.
Source: Immigration and Asylum: Government's proposed changes to publicly funded immigration and asylum work, Fourth Report (Session 2002-03), HC 1171-I, House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522) | The Guardian, 17 October 2003 | The Guardian, 16 October 2003
Links: Report | Consultation document | IAS press release | Guardian report 31/10 | Guardian report 17/10 | Guardian report 16/10
Date: 2003-Oct
A study found that although an independent documentation centre might provide more objective information on asylum seekers' country of origin, there would continue to be practical, operational and methodological difficulties associated with compiling the information.
Source: Beverley Morgan, Verity Gelsthorpe, Heaven Crawley and Gareth Jones, Information on Asylum Seekers Country of Origin: Evaluation of its content and usefulness, Research Study 211, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Study (pdf) | Findings (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
An official report looked at ways in which government, the voluntary sector and employers could work more effectively together to help refugees into work.
Source: Working to Rebuild Lives: Preliminary report towards a refugee employment strategy, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
An official report said that, in 2001, an estimated 172,000 more people migrated to the United Kingdom than from it: this was slightly higher than the revised estimates for 1999 and 2000, both of 163,000. An article outlined the method by which the Office for National Statistics revised the estimate in the light of the 2001 Census results.
Source: International Migration: Migrants entering or leaving the United Kingdom and England and Wales, 2001, Series MN 28, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034) | 'Revised international migration estimates 1991-2001', Population Trends 113, Autumn 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf) | Home Office press release | Population Trends article (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
A report argued that environmental refugees should be officially recognised and protected by the international community. Such a move was an essential response to a 'mounting and unavoidable' crisis.
Source: Molly Conisbee and Andrew Simms, Environmental Refugees: The case for recognition, New Economics Foundation, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Links: Report (pdf) | NEF press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Sep
The Home Secretary admitted that the government had no accurate estimates of the number of failed asylum seekers living illegally in the United Kingdom. The opposition Conservative Party said it planned a network of 'holding centres' for asylum applicants on offshore islands.
Source: The Guardian, 22 September 2003 | The Guardian, 9 September 2003
Links: Guardian report | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Sep
The Court of Appeal ruled that the level of destitution experienced by an asylum seeker (in the case before it) did not constitute inhuman or degrading treatment, and therefore there had not been a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. The government welcomed the ruling, saying that it 'reinforces the message that those who do not claim asylum as soon as possible cannot expect to be supported merely because they assert they have no means of supporting themselves'. The Refugee Council said that there remained a grey area in the law, that would only be resolved when the government repealed its 'harsh and inhuman' legislation: until then, it would continue to face many more cases in the courts, taking up unnecessary time and resources.
Source: R ('T') v Secretary of State for the Home Department, Court of Appeal | Press release 23 September 2003, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Press release 23 September 2003, Refugee Council (020 7820 3042)
Links: Text of Judgement | Home Office press release | Refugee Council press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Sep
The United Nations reportedly protested to the government (in a letter from the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees to the Lord Chancellor) over plans to cut publicly funded legal advice to asylum seekers, from 100 hours to a maximum of only 5 hours work, to help them make their case to an immigration officer. The UN warned that access to effective legal counselling and representation was a key procedural safeguard.
Source: The Guardian, 1 September 2003
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Sep
A report examined the accommodation needs of asylum seekers. It called for a more constructive approach by government towards asylum seekers, and measures to improve their public image and promote better community cohesion.
Source: Providing a Safe Haven - Housing asylum seekers and refugees, Chartered Institute of Housing (024 7685 1700)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Aug
The opposition Conservative party proposed that immigrants should undergo compulsory screening for infectious diseases, and should be barred from entry if they were considered a possible burden to the National Health Service.
Source: Before It's Too Late: New agenda for public health, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000)
Links: Consultative document (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Aug
The number of people who applied for asylum in the second quarter of 2003 was 10,585 (34 per cent lower than the previous quarter, and 47.3 per cent lower than a year earlier). Campaigners attacked the setting of targets for reducing asylum applications.
Source: Asylum Statistics: 2nd Quarter 2003 - United Kingdom, Home Office (020 7273 2084) | Press release 28.8.03, Amnesty International UK (020 7814 6241)
Links: Report (pdf) | Home Office press release | Amnesty press release | IPPR press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2003-Aug
In 2002, applications for asylum (excluding dependants) increased by 18 per cent to 84,130; applications for British citizenship rose by 6 per cent to 115,170; and 115,895 people were granted settlement in the United Kingdom, an 8 per cent increase.
Source: Tina Heath, Richard Jeffries and Adam Lloyd, Asylum Statistics: United Kingdom 2002, Statistical Bulletin 08/03, Home Office (020 7273 2084) | Jill Dudley and Simon Woollacott, Persons Granted British Citizenship United Kingdom: 2002, Statistical Bulletin 09/03, Home Office (020 7273 2084) | Jill Dudley, Gill Turner and Simon Woollacott, Control of Immigration: Statistics: United Kingdom, 2002, Statistical Bulletin 10/03, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Bulletin 08/03 (pdf) | Bulletin 09/03 (pdf) | Bulletin 10/03 (pdf)
Date: 2003-Aug
The chief inspector of prisons called for an end to the practice of holding the children of asylum seekers for lengthy periods in detention centres, in the light of a follow-up inspection (by the Scottish education inspectorate) at a detention centre in Scotland.
Source: Update on Educational Provision: Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre South Lanarkshire, HM Inspectorate of Education (0131 244 0649)
Links: HMIE report (pdf) | HMIP press release | HMIP report (2002) (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Aug
A report from a group opposed to large-scale immigration said that annual immigration to the United Kingdom from the new Eastern European members of the European Union could be as much as four times higher than the government's estimate.
Source: The Impact of EU Enlargement on Migration Flows, MigrationwatchUK (01869 337007)
Links: Report (pdf) | MigrationwatchUK press release
Date: 2003-Aug
The government began consultation on proposed ceremonies for those granted United Kingdom citizenship. New citizens would have to pledge loyalty to the United Kingdom.
Source: Citizenship Ceremonies, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jul
A report from a think-tank opposed to large-scale immigration said that estimates of the number of new homes required in England over the next 20 years had been seriously underestimated, because they did not take into account current levels of immigration. It said that detailed analysis of the government's household projections for England for the period 1996-2021 revealed that the figure of 65,000 for net inward migration included as part of the calculations was only one third of the actual level.
Source: The Impact of Immigration on England s Housing, MigrationwatchUK (01869 337007)
Links: Report (pdf) | MigrationwatchUK press release
Date: 2003-Jul
A new book described the rationale for dispersal policies, reviewed how such policies had been implemented in three European countries (the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Sweden), and identified good practice. It concluded by challenging the need for dispersal programmes.
Source: Vaughan Robinson, Roger Andersson and Sako Musterd, Spreading the 'Burden'?: Review of policies to disperse asylum seekers and refugees, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jul
The report of an independent review said that the National Asylum Support Service needed 'urgently to improve its operational performance and standards of customer care'. The government refused to release the full report.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 15.7.03, columns 30-31WS, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 17.7.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Hansard | Home Office press release | Key findings | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jul
Researchers said that more than a quarter of refugee children living in the United Kingdom had significant psychological disturbance.
Source: Mina Fazel and Alan Stein, 'Mental health of refugee children: comparative study', British Medical Journal 19.7.03
Links: Article | BMJ press release
Date: 2003-Jul
The government began consultation on proposals for stricter enforcement of the rules on illegal working by asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.
Source: Prevention of Illegal Working: Proposed changes to document list under Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Consultation document (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
A report from a think-tank opposed to large-scale immigration said that the United Kingdom should renounce the 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees; temporarily withdraw from the European Convention of Human Rights; and construct a new national framework of laws that would enable the government to disqualify certain categories from asylum (such as those who damaged the channel tunnel).
Source: Asylum Laws: A Way Forward, MigrationwatchUK (01869 337007)
Links: Report (pdf) | MigrationwatchUK press release
Date: 2003-Jul
An all-party group of MPs warned that mandatory HIV tests for asylum seekers could increase the risk to public health by deterring those already here from being tested.
Source: Migration and HIV: Improving lives in Britain, All-Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS, c/o Neil Gerrard MP (020 7219 6916)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jul
A report said that a lack of legal protection for the thousands of migrant workers who arrived in the United Kingdom each year was giving the green light to unscrupulous gangmasters, agencies and employers to exploit foreign workers on a 'massive' scale.
Source: Overworked, Underpaid, and Over Here, Trades Union Congress (020 7467 1294)
Links: TUC press release
Date: 2003-Jul
The High Court ruled that the practice of denying state support, including food and shelter, to asylum seekers who failed to claim refugee status as soon as they arrived in the country amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. The judge said that it was 'not inevitable' that anyone refused asylum support would be able to establish a breach of their human rights, and that some asylum seekers were more 'resilient or resourceful' than others: but he ruled that the 'degrading treatment' threshold had been breached in the cases considered. The government said that it would appeal.
Source: The Guardian, 1.8.03
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jul
A report said that the government's failure to address local concerns about the resettlement of asylum seekers was contributing to ill feeling and hostility. It was found that local communities were worried about asylum seekers 'overwhelming' their area and putting pressure on local services. The authors argued that the government and those implementing policy needed to treat local communities with respect, and make some of the new facilities and support available to them as well as asylum seekers.
Source: Lisa D Onofrio and Karen Munk, Understanding the Stranger, Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees (020 7848 2103)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on asylum removals.
Source: Government Response to the Committee's Fourth Report: Asylum Removals, Second Special Report (Session 2002-03), HC 1006, House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs' report
Date: 2003-Jul
A think-tank briefing examined issues such as who asylum seekers were, where they came from, why they left their countries of origin, why they came to the United Kingdom, how many asylum applications the UK received, and whether the UK received more than its fair share of asylum seekers.
Source: Asylum in the UK: IPPR fact file, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
A paper said that government policies were damaging efforts to provide proper services to asylum seekers and to integrate them into the community. It highlighted examples of good practice in providing housing and services to asylum seekers.
Source: Providing a Safe Haven Housing asylum seekers and refugees, Chartered Institute of Housing (020 7833 9712)
Links: Report (pdf) | CIH press release
Date: 2003-Jun
An estimated 480,000 people arrived to live in the United Kingdom for at least a year in 2001, and 308,000 left to live elsewhere, according to revised migration estimates. This revised estimate of net in-migration of 172,000 was slightly higher than the revised estimates of 163,000 for both 1999 and 2000.
Source: Press release 12.6.03, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: Press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
A report (from a group opposed to large-scale immigration) warned of the potential impact on the National Health Service of the cost of treating rising numbers of patients with infectious diseases, resulting from increased asylum and immigration. But a medical report warned that serious infectious diseases could be driven underground if countries adopted a 'fortress' approach to immigration.
Source: Health Consequences of Current Immigration Policy, MigrationwatchUK (01869 337007) | Report by Kelley Lee (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), reported in The Observer, 22.6.03
Links: Report (pdf) | Observer report
Date: 2003-Jun
The European Commission declined to endorse a plan by the United Kingdom for 'zones of protection' to be created for refugees close to their country of origin. Legal rights campaigners attacked the plan, saying that it would involve a breach of human rights law, and published a legal opinion supporting this. The government reportedly planned to proceed with pilot schemes along with other willing countries.
Source: Towards more Accessible, Equitable and Managed Asylum Systems, COM(2003) 315 final, Commission of the European Communities (+352 2929 1) | Press release 20.6.03, JUSTICE(020 7329 5100) | The Guardian, 4.6.03
Links: EU Commission report (pdf) | Home Office press release | JUSTICE press release (pdf) | Legal opinion (pdf) | IAS press release | Refugee Council briefing paper | Catholic Church press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jun
Research into the personal experiences of asylum applicants from 37 countries found that people sought asylum out of deep fear for their lives; that it was extremely difficult for people legally to gain asylum in the United Kingdom; that in many cases their general health deteriorated after arrival; that the denial of access to work caused depression and hopelessness; and that those who were allowed to stay often suffered discrimination in job seeking.
Source: Asylum Voices: Experiences of people seeking asylum in the United Kingdom, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (020 7523 2121)
Links: CTBI press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
The government published two consultation papers, proposing measures to 'eliminate duplication and waste' in legal aid. There would be measures to reduce the funds spent on 'very high cost' criminal cases (lasting over 25 days or costing over 150,000); an independently assessed accreditation for solicitors working on asylum cases; maximum fees for asylum work; restricting the advice available for each asylum seeker to five hours; and removing 'less serious' matters from the scope of the Criminal Defence Service (which provides assistance for those under investigation at police stations).
Source: Delivering Value for Money in the Criminal Defence Service, Lord Chancellor s Department (020 7210 8500) | Public Consultation on Proposed Changes to Publicly Funded Immigration and Asylum Work, Lord Chancellor's Department
Links: Consultation document (CDS) | Consultation document (asylum) | LCD press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jun
The government announced a number of changes to the working holidaymaker scheme to encourage young people from all Commonwealth countries to participate in it. These included raising the upper age limit from 27 to 30; and allowing participants, after 12 months in the United Kingdom and if they met the necessary criteria, to take up work-permit employment.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 20.6.03, columns 21-22WS, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 20.6.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Hansard | Home Office press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jun
A study assessed the impact of asylum policies on the numbers and pattern of applications to European Union states for the period 1990 2000. Direct causal links were difficult to establish between asylum policy initiatives and asylum applications. Direct pre-entry measures (designed to regulate entry) appeared, in the short term at least, to have been the most effective in stemming or redirecting asylum flows: but changes in asylum policy and practice often had unpredictable or limited effects. Race relations campaigners said that the research showed that attempts to deter asylum seekers through hardline measures were unlikely to be effective.
Source: Roger Zetter, David Griffiths, Silva Ferretti and Martyn Pearl, An Assessment of the Impact of Asylum Policies in Europe 1990 2000, Research Study 259, Home Office (020 7273 2084) | Press release 26.6.03, Institute of Race Relations (020 7837 0041)
Links: Volume I (pdf) | Volume II (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Home Office press release | IRR press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jun
A survey of British research conducted between 1996 and 2001 concluded that there was a serious lack of data and other factual knowledge about processes of immigrant and refugee integration.
Source: Stephen Castles, Maja Korac, Ellie Vasta and Steven Vertovec, Integration: Mapping the Field, Online Report 28/03, Home Office (web publication only) | Claire Fyvie, Alastair Ager, Gavan Curley and Maja Korac, Integration: Mapping the Field - Distilling policy lessons from the "mapping the field" exercise, Online Report 29/03, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report 28/03 (Word file) | Report 29/03 (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
A study concluded that enlargement of the European Union from 2004 would increase net immigration to the United Kingdom by 5-13,000 per year.
Source: Christian Dustmann, The Impact of EU Enlargement on Migration Flows, Online Report 25/03, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
The number of people who applied for asylum in the first quarter of 2003 was 16,000 (32 per cent lower than the previous quarter, and 18 per cent lower than a year earlier). The government said the figures were early signs of the success of its measures to cut abuse of the system and tackle 'pull factors'. Commentators pointed to factors, such as the closing of the Sangatte centre in northern France, which had made the reduction in numbers easier to achieve.
Source: Asylum Statistics: 1st Quarter 2003 - United Kingdom, Home Office (020 7273 2084) | Press release 22.5.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report (pdf) | HO press release | IPPR press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-May
A report summarised discussions at an official conference (held in June 2002) on the government's integration strategy for refugees. The conference brought together policy makers, academics, non-governmental organisations, and refugees. It aimed to generate a common understanding of current challenges in this area, and the policy mechanisms in existence to meet them.
Source: Carolyne Ndofor-Tah, Liz Clery and Janis Makarewich-Hall (eds.), UK National Integration Conference: An Evidence Based Approach to Integration, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-May
A committee of MPs said it was very difficult to address the problem of over-staying by failed asylum seekers effectively in the absence of reliable statistics; that embarkation controls should be reinstated at United Kingdom borders, to enable credible estimates to be made; and that the government should explore the most appropriate method for building a complete picture of net migration into the United Kingdom. The MPs also attacked the setting of 'wholly unrealistic' targets for removals, which they said discredited asylum policy. They said that the rising number of asylum seekers was unsustainable and would inevitably lead to social unrest.
Source: Asylum Removals, Fourth Report (Session 2002-03), HC 654, House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | IAS press release | Refugee Council press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-May
A think-tank report argued that the National Health Service was open to abuse by overseas visitors fraudulently claiming free treatment. It called for the government to collect data on the cost to the NHS of asylum seekers, 'health tourists' and other immigrants. The government accused the report of 'deliberately obscuring the debate', and said that it confused concern about abuse of the asylum system through 'health tourism' with legitimate migration to the United Kingdom.
Source: Harriet Sergeant, No System to Abuse: Immigration and health care in the UK, Centre for Policy Studies (020 7222 4488) | Press release 23.5.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report (pdf) | CPS press release | HO press release
Date: 2003-May
A think-tank report said that war, repression and human rights abuses drove more people to seek asylum in the United Kingdom than poverty. It argued that European governments needed to address the underlying factors that forced people to leave their countries of origin if they hoped to reduce the number of asylum applications.
Source: Stephen Castles, Heaven Crawley and Sean Loughna, States of Conflict: Causes and patterns of forced migration to the EU and policy responses, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: IPPR press release | Summary | HO press release
Date: 2003-May
A report catalogued the denigration of asylum seekers in the press and media, around the issue of the Sangatte refugee centre in northern France.
Source: What's the Story? Sangatte: a case study of media coverage of asylum and refugee issues, Article 19 (sara@article19.org.uk)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-May
Refugee organisations described a claim by a senior police officer that immigration was linked to a crime wave as 'unfortunate and irresponsible'.
Source: The Observer, 18.5.03 | The Guardian, 19.5.03
Links: Observer article | Guardian report
Date: 2003-May
A think-tank report argued that the government's proposals for asylum processing centres outside European Union borders were unlikely to work unless they were part of a comprehensive new system for managing migration.
Source: Theo Veenkamp, Tom Bentley and Alessandra Buonfino, People Flow: Managing migration in a New European Commonwealth, Demos, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Demos press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Apr
The government announced details of a new 'humanitarian protection' system to replace the routine granting of exceptional leave to remain. From 1 April 2003 it would be granted (for three years) only to those who, while not qualifying for refugee status, would face serious risks if returned to their country of origin - defined as serious risk to life or person arising from the death penalty, unlawful killing or torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 1.4.03, column 54WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2003-Apr
The Chief Inspector of Prisons published the first inspection reports under new powers to inspect immigration removal centres. The inspections covered five establishments that, although operating differently, all 'needed to improve conditions for the diverse and vulnerable group of people in their care'. Campaigners called for an end to the use of indefinite and arbitrary immigration detention.
Source: Introduction & Summary of Findings: Inspection of five Immigration Service custodial establishments, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (020 7035 2103) | Press release 8.4.03, Bail for Immigration Detainees (020 7247 3590) | Press release 8.4.03, Refugee Council (020 7820 3042)
Links: Report (pdf) | HMIP press release | Home Office press release | BID press release (pdf) | Refugee Council press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Apr
The government announced a fast-track pilot scheme aimed at greatly reducing, to about one month from arrival, the time taken to effect the removal of those with unfounded claims. The scheme will be piloted at Harmondsworth Removal Centre from April 2003.
Source: Press release 18.3.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Mar
The Court of Appeal dismissed, on procedural grounds, the government's appeal against a High Court ruling over a new law which would deny state support to 'late' applicants for asylum. But it upheld the principle underlying the new law. The Home Secretary said the procedures would be redrawn to meet the Court's criticisms (although he had previously indicated that to do so would make them 'unworkable'): he also said the policy of refusing benefits to asylum seekers who make late applications remained lawful and would continue. Campaigners called for the law to be scrapped.
Source: The Queen on the Application of 'Q' & Others v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, Court of Appeal Judgement, Court Service (020 7210 2266) | Press release 18.3.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Press release 18.3.03, Liberty (020 7403 3888) | Press release 18.3.03, Shelter (020 7505 4699)
Links: Text of judgement | Guardian report | HO press release | Liberty press release | Shelter press release | Refugee Council briefing (pdf)
Date: 2003-Mar
The High Court upheld a challenge to provisions in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 which (from 8 January 2003) deny food and shelter to asylum seekers who fail to lodge a claim as soon as practicable after they arrive in the United Kingdom. The Court ruled that the provisions breached their human rights. The government said it would appeal. The Home Secretary said: 'Frankly, I'm personally fed up with having to deal with a situation where Parliament debates issues and the judges then overturn them'. Homelessness campaigners called on the government to abandon the relevant section (55) of the Act.
Source: R(Q) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (and five parallel test cases), 19.2.03 | Press release 19.2.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Press release 19.2.03, Shelter (020 7505 4699)
Links: Text of judgement (pdf) | HO press release | Refugee Council press release | BBC news report | Shelter press release
Date: 2003-Feb
The government responded to a House of Lords report on illegal immigration. It said it agreed that efforts to improve enforcement of current legislation on illegal working should be integrated with initiatives to ensure that labour market demands can be met through legal sources.
Source: Press release 13.2.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Press release | HOL report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
The government began consultation on a revised and consolidated set of procedural rules for the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, taking into account new jurisdictions for the Commission in the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 and the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.
Source: Draft Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Procedure) Rules 2003: Consultation paper, Lord Chancellor s Department (020 7210 8500)
Links: Consultation Document | Draft rules (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
Researchers examined the economic and social factors associated with ethnic minority migrants labour market outcomes. After allowing for factors which influence the likelihood of getting a job, such as educational qualifications, most male migrants were found to be just as likely to be in employment or active in the labour market as the existing population. But female ethnic minority migrants were found less likely to be economically active, and hence employed, than females from the majority population. Educational qualifications were found to be critical to ethnic minority migrants labour market success.
Source: Michael Shields and Stephen Wheatley Price, The Labour Market Outcomes and Psychological Well-being of Ethnic Minority Migrants in Britain, Online Report 07/03, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
A report examined the characteristics of migrants in the labour market. It found that migrants represent a significant and growing minority, making up about 10 per cent of the working age population. Migrants generally fare worse than those born in the United Kingdom, in terms of participating in the labour market and finding work. The employment rate among migrants is around 64 per cent, compared to around 75 per cent for the UK-born.
Source: Russel Haque, Migrants in the UK : A descriptive analysis of their characteristics and labour market performance, based on the Labour Force Survey, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
The government said it was considering the suitability of a smaller-scale accommodation centre for asylum seekers at HMS Daedalus in Gosport, Hampshire. At the same time it confirmed that it would not be pursuing, for the trial, sites at Sully Hospital (South Glamorgan), AirWest (Edinburgh) and RAF Hemswell (Lincolnshire).
Source: Press release 11.2.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
The Prime Minister confirmed a commitment (first given in a television interview) that the government would halve the number of asylum seekers by September 2004.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 12.2.03, columns 860-861, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Guardian report 7.2.03 | Guardian report 8.2.03
Date: 2003-Feb
A report contained a study of women asylum seekers in the United Kingdom, providing details about their sociological backgrounds, the grounds on which they claim asylum, and the nature of the abuse they experienced in their country of origin.
Source: Women Asylum Seekers in the UK: A gender perspective some facts and figures, Refugee Women s Resource Project/Asylum Aid (020 7377 5123)
Links: Report (Word file)
Date: 2003-Feb
The number of people who applied for asylum in the fourth quarter of 2002 was 23,385, the highest on record (4 per cent higher than the previous quarter, and 32 per cent higher than a year earlier). The government said that a fall in the figures between the months of October and December showed the the early impact of tighter immigration rules and border security measures.
Source: Asylum Statistics: 4th Quarter 2002 - United Kingdom, Home Office (020 7273 2084) | Press release 28.2.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
Researchers analysed the impact of immigration on labour market outcomes of already resident workers. They found no strong evidence of large adverse effects of immigration on the employment or wages of existing workers.
Source: Christian Dustmann, Francesca Fabbri, Ian Preston and Jonathan Wadsworth, The Local Labour Market Effects of Immigration in the UK, Online Report 06/03, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
A leaked government report proposed that most asylum seekers should be deported to designated United Nations 'protection areas' where their applications would be processed by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Campaigners attacked the plans over the risk to human rights and to the position of women and child refugees (because of a lack of security guarantees in the protection areas).
Source: The Guardian, 5.2.03 | Women s Asylum News, 29.2.03, Refugee Women s Resource Project/Asylum Aid (020 7377 5123)
Links: Guardian report | WAN article (Word file)
Date: 2003-Feb
A report summarised a study (conducted in 2001) which examined the provision of healthcare services for asylum seekers in areas to which they had been dispersed. It investigated the accessibility and quality of healthcare provision for asylum seekers in dispersal areas; examined the impact of dispersal on the health of asylum seekers; and identified existing and emerging good practice. Although most asylum seekers were relatively healthy on arrival, there were sometimes health problems associated with travelling long distances during dispersal. This was particularly the case for certain groups of asylum seekers, such as elderly people and pregnant women.
Source: Mark Johnson, Asylum Seekers in Dispersal - Healthcare Issues, Online Report 13/03, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
Researchers examining the labour market performance of immigrant groups found that, overall, differences between United Kingdom-born ethnic minority individuals and UK-born whites are smaller on average than between minority immigrants and UK-born whites. However, the level of economic disadvantage varied strongly between ethnic groups, with Pakistanis and Bangladeshis found to be most disadvantaged.
Source: Christian Dustmann, Francesca Fabbri, Ian Preston and Jonathan Wadsworth, Labour Market Performance of Immigrants in the UK Labour Market, Online Report 05/03 Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
Researchers examined support services for asylum seekers in Scotland.
Source: Aileen Barclay, Alison Bowes, Iain Ferguson, Duncan Sim and Maggie Valenti, Asylum Seekers in Scotland, Scottish Executive, TSO (0870 606 5566)
Links: Report (pdf) | Report | Findings (pdf) | Findings
Date: 2003-Feb
Consultation began on new rules of procedure for immigration and asylum appeals. The appeal time limits for people detained under the Immigration Acts would be reduced from 10 working days to 5. In addition, tribunals would gain a new power to issue a 'no merits certificate' in those instances where they believe that an appeal or application has no merit.
Source: Immigration and Asylum Appeals (Procedure) Rules 2003: Proposals for new rules, Lord Chancellor s Department (020 7210 8500)
Links: Consultation Document | Draft rules (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jan
A think tank argued that the 'chaos' in the asylum and immigration system, and the potential for widespread misuse of public services, make the introduction of entitlement cards an urgent priority. It said that the cost of an entitlement card would be rapidly recouped by a reduction in the 'misuse' of public services.
Source: Response to the Government's Consultation Exercise on Entitlement Cards, MigrationwatchUK (01869 337007)
Links: No link
Date: 2003-Jan
The Conservative Opposition called for all asylum seekers to be detained while the security services investigate whether they have any terrorist links.
Source: The Guardian, 29.1.03
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jan
A think-tank pamphlet argued that immigration is out of control, and that the only way to stop abuses of immigration law and protect the country against the acts of terrorism associated with asylum seeking is to repeal the Human Rights Act.
Source: Myles Harris, Tomorrow is Another Country, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Summary | Press release
Date: 2003-Jan
The Refugee Council made proposals to end the 'frenzy' around asylum and immigration policy. It said the government should concentrate on producing fair and fast decisions on asylum claims, through adequate resourcing; that it should immediately restore welfare support to destitute asylum seekers; that asylum seekers should be housed in small centres in urban areas; and that asylum seekers should be allowed to work while their asylum claim is being assessed.
Source: Press release 28.1.03, Refugee Council (020 7820 3042)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Jan
Tough new rules to tackle 'abuse' of asylum support and benefits came into force on 8 January 2003 (section 54 and schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002). Asylum seekers who do not claim asylum when they arrive at a port or as soon as possible afterwards will no longer be given support for living costs or help with housing. Those who fail the 'habitual residence test' - an existing test which stops people claiming income-related benefits if they have only very tenuous connections to the United Kingdom - will no longer be able to get support from local authorities. Campaigners said they would mount a legal challenge to the new rules. Thirteen leading voluntary organisations signed a joint statement of protest, saying that the new regime 'will cause homelessness, force people on to the streets and deprive them of essentials such as food and clothing'.
Source: Press release 8.1.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Press release 7.1.03, Liberty (020 7403 3888) | Joint statement by Shelter (020 7505 4699) and others
Links: HO press release | Text of Act | Liberty press release | Joint statement
Date: 2003-Jan
A think tank said that around 109,500 dependants of asylum seekers have been omitted from official figures for overall immigration in recent years.
Source: Press releases 6.1.03 and 13.1.03, MigrationwatchUK (01869 337007)
Links: Press release page
Date: 2003-Jan
The Prime Minister said that the United Kingdom might consider withdrawing from its obligations under the European convention on human rights if the latest measures to reduce the number of asylum seekers failed.
Source: The Guardian, 27.1.03
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jan