Refugees
(asked on 22nd February 2022) - View Source
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the response by Safe Passage, the Hummingbird Project, and Kent Refugee Action Network to their proposed new plan for immigration; and what provision they intend to make for the specific needs of refugees and asylum seekers for (a) accommodation, (b) education, and (c) employment.
We note the joint report by the young people of Safe Passage, the Hummingbird Project and Kent Refugee Action Network, ‘Safe routes from the perspective of young refugees – our response to the New Plan for Immigration’, published on 25 June 2021.
As part of the New Plan for Immigration, there was an engagement and consultation process which ran from 24 March 2020 to 6 May 2021. During this time, the Home Office encouraged stakeholders and members of the public to share their views on its proposals via an online questionnaire.
The Home Office’s response to the consultation was published in July 2021 and can be found here:
The New Plan for Immigration will deliver the most comprehensive reform of the asylum system in decades. It includes plans to set up accommodation centres to provide basic accommodation for asylum-seekers who would otherwise be destitute. We will only accommodate people in the centres after an individual assessment shows it’s suitable and safe for them. We also continue to seek opportunities to expand the number of areas participating in our dispersal area accommodation system.
Asylum seekers’ children under 18 will continue to have access to full-time education and continuous support in line with our duty under section 55 of the Borders Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009.
In terms of employment, we will allow asylum seekers to work if their claim has been outstanding for 12 months or more through no fault of their own. Those permitted to work are restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL).