Treatment of asylum seekers "inhuman and degrading"
The asylum seekers system must not "become abused"
Also In The News
|
Random House, translated from the Russian by Arch Tait, hardback, 323 pages, £17. |  |
Friday, 30, Mar 2007 08:02
The treatment of asylum seekers in the UK is often "inhuman and degrading", a new parliamentary report has concluded.
Parliament's joint committee on human rights (JCHR) described the system as "overly complex" and "poorly administered", meaning those seeking refuge were unable to access adequate information about support which they were entitled to.
In other cases "desperate and destitute" asylum applicants had been denied support altogether, the report concluded.
The study reflects the findings of a report published earlier this week by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, which claimed that withholding access to public funds from failed asylum seekers at the same time as denying them the right to work forced thousands to rely on charity or to seek work illegally.
Following their own investigation parliamentarians recommended that asylum seekers, whose appeals against deportation had been delayed for reasons outside their control, should be granted the right to work on a "limited" basis in order to support themselves.
The JCHR also said that access to healthcare should be based upon the principle of "common humanity" and that dying individuals should not be deported to countries where they would not have access to palliative care.
Pregnant asylum seekers should also be given access to antenatal care while living in Britain and those with serious infectious diseases should be treated in order to protect public health, the committee added.
The report also condemned a "significant increase" in the number of asylum seekers detained in Britain and expressed particular concern about the impact of the policy on vulnerable people such as children, pregnant women, victims of torture and those with serious health problems.
Commenting on the report, committee chairman Andrew Dismore MP said: "The system of asylum seeker support is a confusing mess, and the policy of enforced destitution must cease."
"Asylum seekers as a group do not always get the greatest sympathy from society or the media but what we have seen and heard provides very hard evidence of appalling treatment that no human being should suffer," he added.
Meanwhile, fellow committee member and Liberal Democrat MP Dr Evan Harris accused the government of hypocrisy in pledging to provide aid to people in Africa whilst failing to allow African refugees living in Britain access to health services.
"The disgraceful treatment of seriously ill people from Africa who are in this country is in stark contrast to the rhetoric of ministers when it comes to the same people living and dying in Africa," he said.
Responding to the report immigration minister Liam Byrne said the UK remained committed to providing a safe haven for those fleeing torture or persecution, but added: "If the asylum system is to work it is vital that we do not let it become abused.
Accusing the committee's members of confusing the status of asylum seekers with those whose applications had been refused, Mr Byrne added: "We simply do not think that it is right that those without any right to be in the UK should be given the right to work or access other services."