Asylum Hotels and Illegal Channel Crossings Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Home Office
Jim Shannon
Main Page: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)Department Debates - View all Jim Shannon's debates with the Home Office
Asylum Hotels and Illegal Channel Crossings
Jim Shannon Excerpts(3 weeks, 4 days ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Dame Angela Eagle
We have restarted asylum processing, and we are looking into what we can do to speed up the appeals backlog that we inherited. We will create a system that is faster, firmer and fairer so that we can get people out of asylum hotels, which are not a sustainable model for the future.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Minister for her answers to the questions that others have posed. There is a clear difference between asylum seekers—those fleeing persecution, those who are threatened—and economic migrants. How can the Government gain control of accommodation for those who are economic migrants to reduce this horrific bill? In my constituency, as in others, people are sleeping on floors in the homes of family members because the Housing Executive that has responsibility back home cannot cope with demand. How will the Minister, and the Government, ensure that families and children are housed, whether they are asylum seekers or British citizens?
Dame Angela Eagle
My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister made some announcements recently about the capacity to increase house building in this country in order to deal with some of the pressure on demand. It is important from an asylum seeker point of view that we make the system work end to end much faster so that we can get people through it, deport those who have no right to be here, and integrate those who have been accepted as asylum seekers.