People granted asylum in the UK will have to repay around £10,000 towards the cost of their accommodation and support once they start earning, under government plans announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
The measure, part of the upcoming Immigration and Asylum Bill, is designed to recover costs from all adults with sufficient funds. Asylum seekers who have the right to work must pay the flat-rate fee before they are eligible to settle permanently. Those whose claims are rejected and leave the country will have to repay the costs before they can return to the UK.
“Refugees must repay £10,000 asylum support before settling, under new Home Office bill.”
Mahmood said the changes would demonstrate “asylum support is a right, but it is also a responsibility”. She added: “Once people can contribute and repay the generosity of the British people, we expect them to do so.”
The Home Office has not determined the earnings threshold that would trigger monthly instalments, but the arrangements are expected to resemble a student loan. The home secretary will have the power to adjust the charge and repayment thresholds to ensure they are “fair to the taxpayer and will not force any migrant into destitution”.
Around £4bn of taxpayers’ money was spent on supporting asylum seekers last year, according to the Home Office. The average cost of housing an asylum seeker for one night in private-rented accommodation is £23.25, and £144 in a hotel, while subsistence payments range from £9.95 to £49.18 per person per week.
Dr Madeleine Sumption, director of the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory, said the measures would move the immigration system “in a more restrictive direction”. “The government goal appears to be to tighten up that system as much as they can while still remaining compliant with international refugee law and human rights law,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The Refugee Council criticised the plans as “unfair, impractical” and amounting to an “extra tax on refugees”. Its director of external affairs, Imran Hussain, said: “The reason why many need asylum support is because the Home Office itself bans asylum seekers from working while their claims are being assessed. Asylum support is only given to people who are at risk of being destitute, so this new financial burden would only harm those who arrive on our shores with nothing.”
Under the bill, eligible adults will likely pay an amount each month above a set threshold, similar to a student loan. Migrants need settled status – indefinite leave to remain – to permanently live, work and study in the UK, and the repayment will be a prerequisite for that status.