00:01I know the British people do not want to close the doors.
00:04But until we restore order and control, those who seek to divide us will grow stronger.
00:10In recent years, asylum claims have hit a 40-year low.
00:14And now, across Europe, countries are tightening their systems in similar ways.
00:19We must act too.
00:22We will do so by making refugee status temporary, not permanent.
00:27A grant of refugee status will last two and a half years, not five.
00:32It will be renewed only if it is impossible for a refugee to return home.
00:37Permanent settlement will now come at 20 years, not five.
00:42I know this country welcomes people who contribute.
00:46For those who want to stay and are willing and able to, we will create a new work and
00:51study visa route solely for refugees, with a quicker path to permanent settlement.
00:56To encourage refugees into work, we will also consult on removing benefits for those who
01:02are able to work but choose not to.
01:06Outside of the most exceptional circumstances, family reunion will not be possible, with a
01:12refugee only able to bring family over if they have joined a work and study route and
01:18if qualifying tests are met.
01:20While over 50,000 were granted refugee status in the last year, more than 100,000 claimants
01:28and failed asylum seekers remain in taxpayer-funded accommodation.
01:34And we know that criminal gangs use the prospect of free bed and board to promote their small
01:38boat crossings.
01:40We have already announced that we will empty asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament.
01:45And we are exploring a number of large military sites as an alternative.
01:51We will now also remove the 2005 legislation that created a duty to support asylum seekers,
01:57reverting to a legal power to do so instead.
02:02While we will continue to support those who play by the rules, those who do not, be that
02:07through criminality or antisocial behaviour, can have their support removed.
02:12We will also remove our duty to support those who have a right to work.
02:18It is right that those who do receive support pay for it if they can.
02:23So those with income or assets will have to contribute to the cost of their stay.
02:29This will end the absurdity that we currently experience, where an asylum seeker receiving
02:33£800 each month from his family, and who had recently acquired an Audi, was receiving
02:40free housing at the taxpayer's expense, and the courts judged that we could do nothing
02:45about it.
02:48These measures are designed to tackle the pull factors that draw people into this country.
02:53But reducing the number of arrivals is just half of the story.
02:58We must also enforce our rules and remove those who have no right to be here.
03:05This will mean restarting removals to countries where they have been paused.
03:09In recent months, we have begun voluntary removal of failed asylum seekers to Syria once again.
03:15However, there are still many failed asylum seekers here from Syria, most of whom fled a regime
03:21that has since been toppled.
03:23Other countries are planning to enforce removals, and we will follow suit.
03:29Where a failed asylum seeker cannot be returned home, we will also continue to explore the possibility
03:35of return hubs, with negotiations ongoing.
03:39We must remove those who have failed asylum claims, regardless of who they are.
03:45Today, we are not removing family groups, even when we know that their home country is perfectly
03:51safe.
03:52There are, for instance, around 700 Albanian families living in taxpayer-funded accommodation,
04:00having failed their asylum claims.
04:02This is true despite an existing returns agreement, and that Albania is a signatory to the European
04:10Convention on Human Rights.
04:13So we will now begin the removal of families.
04:16Where possible, we will encourage a voluntary return.
04:20But where an enforced return is necessary, that is what we will do.
04:24Where the barrier to a return is not the individual, nor the UK Government, but the receiving country,
04:31we will take action.
04:33I can announce today that we have told Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Namibia,
04:39that if they do not comply with international rules and norms, we will impose visa penalties
04:44on them.
04:46And I am sending a wider message here.
04:49Unless other countries heed this lesson, further sanctions will follow.
04:55Much of the delay in our removals, however, comes from the sclerotic nature of our own system.
05:02In March of this year, the appeals backlog stood at 51,000 cases.
05:08This Government has already increased judicial sitting days, but reform is required.
05:14So we will create a new appeals body staffed by professional independent adjudicators.
05:20And we will ensure there is early legal representation available to advise claimants and ensure their
05:26issues are properly considered.
05:29Cases with a low chance of success will be fast-tracked.
05:33And claimants will have just one opportunity to claim and one to appeal, ending the merry-go-round
05:39of claims and appeals that frustrate so many removals.
05:44While some barriers to removal are the result of process, others are substantive issues related
05:50to the law itself.
05:52There is no doubt that the expanded interpretation of parts of the European Convention on Human
05:57Rights has contributed.
06:00This is particularly true of Article 8, the right to a family life.
06:04The courts have adopted an ever-expanding interpretation of this right, and as a result, many people
06:10have been allowed to come to this country when they would otherwise have had no right to.
06:15And we have been unable to remove others when the case for doing so seems overwhelming.
06:21This includes cases like an arsonist sentenced to five years in prison whose deportation was
06:27blocked on the grounds that his relationship with his sibling may suffer.
06:32And more than half of those detained are now delaying or blocking their removal by raising
06:36a last-minute rights claim.
06:40Article 8 is a qualified right.
06:42That means we are not prevented from removing individuals or refusing an application to move
06:48to the UK if it is in the public interest.
06:52To narrow Article 8 rights, we will therefore make three important changes in both domestic law
06:58and our immigration rules.
07:02Firstly, we will define what exactly a family is, narrowing this down to parents and their
07:08children.
07:09Secondly, we will define the public interest test so the default becomes a removal or refusal,
07:16with Article 8 rights only permissible in the most exceptional circumstances.
07:21Thirdly, we will tighten where Article 8 claims can be heard, ensuring only those who are living
07:29in the UK can lodge a claim rather than their family members overseas, and that all claims
07:34are heard first by the Home Office and not in a courtroom.
07:40We will also pursue international reform of a second element of the European Convention,
07:45the application of Article 3, the Prohibition on Torture and Inhuman Degrading Treatment or
07:51Punishment.
07:52We will never return anyone to be tortured in their home country.
07:58But the definition of degrading treatment has expanded into the realm of the ridiculous.
08:04Today we have criminals we seek to deport but discover we cannot because the prisons in
08:09their home country have cells that are deemed too small, or even mental health provision that
08:15is not as good as our own.
08:18As Article 3 is an absolute right, a public interest test cannot be applied.
08:24For that reason, we are seeking reform at the Council of Europe, and we do so alongside
08:30international partners who have raised similar concerns.
08:35But it is not just international law that binds us.
08:38According to data from 2022, over 40 per cent of those detained for removal claim they
08:44were modern-day slaves.
08:46This well-intentioned law is being abused by those who seek to frustrate a legitimate removal.
08:53So I will bring forward legislation that tightens the modern slavery system to ensure that it
08:58protects those it was designed for and not those who seek to abuse it.
09:04Taken together, these are significant reforms.
09:08They are designed to ensure that our asylum system is fit for the modern world, and that
09:12we retain public consent for the very idea of providing refuge.
09:18We will always be a country that offers protection to those fleeing peril, just as we did in recent
09:23years, when Ukraine was invaded, when Afghanistan was evacuated, and when we repatriated Hong Kongers.
09:31For that reason, as order and control is restored, we will open new, capped, safe and legal routes
09:39into this country.
09:42These will make sponsorship the primary means by which we resettle refugees, with voluntary
09:47and community organisations given greater involvement to both receive refugees and support them, working
09:54within caps set by Government.
09:57We will also create a new route for displaced students to study in the UK and another for
10:02skilled refugees to work here.
10:05And of course, we will always remain flexible to new crises across the world as they happen.
10:11I know the British people do not want to close the doors.
10:15But until we restore order and control, those who seek to divide us will grow stronger.
10:21It is our job, as a Labour Government, to unite where there is division.
10:26So we must now build an asylum system for the world as it is.
10:31One that restores order and control.
10:33One that opens safe and legal routes to those fleeing danger across the world.
10:38And one that sustains our commitment to providing refuge for this generation and those to come.
10:45I know the country we are.
10:47We are open, tolerant and generous.
10:50We are the greater Britain that those on this side of the House believe in, not the little
10:55England that some would wish we would become.
11:01These reforms are designed to bring unity where others seek to divide.
11:06Madam Speaker, I commend this statement to the House.
Comments