Illegal Migration and Reforming the Asylum System
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the numbers of those seeking asylum in the United Kingdom was rising. In 2019, the United Kingdom received 35,700 new asylum claims, a 21% increase on the previous year. 1 At the end of 2020, there were 109,000 asylum claims being progressed in the asylum system with 73% of these having been in the system for over one year. 2 This includes cases that are being worked towards initial or final decision, as well as cases that have reached a conclusion where the individuals are due to be removed from the United Kingdom.
	As a result, the asylum system costs approximately £1 billion per year. 3
	The Government wants to improve its ability to provide protection to those who would be at risk of persecution on return to their country of nationality. To that end, this Act consolidates a test against which an asylum claim will be assessed, with a clear framework to set the standard for testing what amounts to a "well-founded fear of persecution". The Act also clarifies the definition of "persecution" to make clear the requirements for qualifying for protection, in line with the 1951 Refugee Convention.
	This Act also reduces the criminality threshold so that those who have been convicted and sentenced to at least 12 months’ imprisonment can be considered for removal in line with Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention.
	In the 12 months ending September 2019, around 62% of asylum applicants to the United Kingdom had entered the country irregularly (40% clandestinely, 22% without relevant documentation) with the remainder largely thought to have arrived regularly (e.g. on a visa), before subsequently applying for asylum. 4
	Methods of irregular entry can be unsafe, dangerous and leave migrants open to exploitation by organised crime groups. One such method of entry is across the English Channel via small boats, which saw a significant increase in 2020 and 2021.
	This Act introduces a comprehensive set of measures to discourage irregular entry and improve the Home Office’s ability to remove those with no right to remain in the United Kingdom. This is aimed at reducing the rapid intake of cases into the asylum system to improve the speed at which asylum seekers receive a decision, benefitting both the UK taxpayer and the asylum seekers themselves.
	The sections in this Act will create a differentiated approach: how someone arrives in the United Kingdom will have an impact on the type of status granted in the United Kingdom if their asylum claim is successful. Under the framework created by this Act, people who enter the United Kingdom and engage the United Kingdom’s protection obligations under the Refugee Convention may be granted temporary protection status where they do not meet certain conditions (aligned with those set out in Article 31(1) of the Refugee Convention). This includes circumstances where an individual does not come directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened, does not claim asylum without delay or, where relevant, does not show good cause for their illegal entry or presence
	Temporary protection status will not include a defined route to settlement in the United Kingdom, but individuals may be eligible to apply for long residency settlement after 10 years if the necessary requirement are met. It will restrict family reunion rights and may only allow recourse to public funds in cases of destitution. People granted temporary protection status will be expected to leave the United Kingdom as soon as they are able to or as soon as they can be returned or removed, once no longer in need of protection.
	The current asylum accommodation estate will be expanded to include basic full board accommodation centres. These centres may accommodate particular cohorts of asylum seekers and failed asylum seekers who are in need of support, in order to resolve their immigration status more efficiently and facilitate their removal where their claim has been refused. Examples include, but are not limited to, asylum seekers whose claims are being considered, and failed asylum seekers who fall to be removed from the United Kingdom once the practical arrangements are completed.
	This Act also contains provisions that allow individuals to be removed to a safe third country before their asylum claim has been considered, providing opportunity for extraterritorial processing models to be developed in the future in line with the United Kingdom’s international obligations. This is likewise aimed at removing any incentives which may attract economic migrants to the United Kingdom and to incentivise people to claim asylum in the first safe country.
	In 2019, around 1 in 6 asylum seekers to the United Kingdom had already made an asylum claim in another European country. 5 Following the end of the Transition period, changes to the Immigration Rules were brought into effect which amended legal powers to treat cases as inadmissible (i.e. the United Kingdom does not take responsibility for assessing the asylum claim) where individuals have passed through safe countries or have connections to a safe country where they could have made a claim for asylum.
	Through this Act, inadmissibility rules have been clarified and placed into primary legislation. This is aimed at encouraging asylum seekers to claim asylum in the first safe country they reach and to deter onward travel to the United Kingdom – often at the hands of criminal facilitators.
	Since 2015, the United Kingdom has received, on average, more than 3,000 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children per year. Where age was disputed and resolved from 2016-2020, 54% were found to be adults. 6 There are safeguarding risks if people over 18 are treated as children and placed in settings, including schools, with children.
	This Act seeks to strengthen the framework for determining the age of people subject to immigration control, including those seeking asylum. This includes establishing a decision-making function in the Home Office to allow the Secretary of State to conduct age assessments. The measures also create a right of appeal against age assessment decisions and look to establish a framework for the use of scientific technology in decisions about age.