Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the asylum system on the vulnerability to gender-based violence and exploitation of women seeking safety; and what steps she has taken to mitigate this impact.

While the wellbeing of those in the asylum system is important, it is also vital to continue cracking down on illegal working, and protect those employers and employees who will play by the rules from being undercut.

However, the Government provides specific support to migrant victims of VAWG through the Migrant Victims Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC) and works with sector leads on this group to ensure they are part of the broader strategy on VAWG.

Asylum seekers who have had their claim outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own, can currently apply for permission to work in jobs on the Immigration Salary List (ISL). The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under regular review, and recently published a White Paper setting out the Government’s plans for reform in relation to the exploitation and abuse of migrant workers, and a wide range of other areas.

The Home Office also continues to invest in a programme of transformation to speed up asylum decision making and therefore reduce the time people spend in the asylum system. This approach will ensure that genuine asylum seekers can be accepted quickly and gain access to the labour market, and those who are not can be removed to their home country.