An inquiry has said that Britain’s asylum system is inhumane and urged the Government to improve the treatment of refugees.
The Independent Asylum Commission (IAC), whose members include senior clergy, lawyers and academics, made 46 recommendations to the Home Office, including ways to speed up the handling of claims in a report today.
The report, entitled ‘Safe Return’ said there are 283,500 failed asylum seekers in Britain. Previous estimates have put the figure as high as 500,000.
The recommendations, which follow a two-year inquiry, aim to address the failings of the system from the moment claimants are first interviewed.
The report says a “culture of disbelief” persists among officials which is stacking the odds against genuine refugees.
The effect of post-traumatic stress as a result of rape and torture is not considered carefully enough by those interviewing claimants, say the commissioners.
The report calls for an end to locking up children, pregnant women and torture victims in detention centres.
It also said that “dawn raids” by immigration officers should be phased out except in extreme circumstances.
“Voluntary return should be the standard procedure of return for refused asylum seekers… Enforced return should be a certainty for those who do not comply, but also a last resort,” it said.
Failed applicants who are unable to return through no fault of their own, such as Zimbabweans who oppose president Robert Mugabe’s regime, should be given temporary permission to work, it added.
Other recommendations covered changes to the role of voluntary groups in helping failed asylum seekers and the alleged use of destitution as a tool to drive claimants out of the country.
Ifath Nawaz, co-chairwoman of the commission and President of the Association of Muslim Lawyers, said: “We hope the Government and political parties will take note of our recommendations, which we believe are necessary to restoring public confidence.
“The current system serves nobody’s interests – with over a quarter of a million refused asylum seekers still here and officially destitute, people like the Zimbabweans in a state of limbo – unable to go back but prevented from working in the UK in the meantime.
“And at the same time we are incapable of ensuring the return of some of those who do not need sanctuary and who we want to leave the UK.”
Earlier this year, the commission said the system was “not yet fit for purpose”.