Wide-ranging inquiry announced, deadline for submitting evidence is 15 December
Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights on Monday announced an important new inquiry to examine the rights of asylum seekers in the UK and the Government's policies and procedures relating to asylum seekers.
Image credit: UK GovernmentThe Committee's call for evidence here sets out the terms of reference of the inquiry.
Submissions are invited from organisations and individuals. Submissions should be concise — no more than 1,500 words — and need to be submitted by the 15th December deadline (they can be submitted via the link above - scroll down to the 'Start' button at the end of the page).
The wide-ranging inquiry will cover:
- "Safe and legal routes"
- Relocation of asylum seekers
- Detention
- Electronic tagging
- Legal aid, accommodation, and subsistence
- Right to work
- Modern slavery
- Nationality and Borders Act 2022
Joanna Cherry MP, the chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, said: "The UK has a long-standing obligation to provide a place of sanctuary to those fleeing war and persecution. We have launched this inquiry to examine whether the current approach to asylum meets the UK's human rights obligations. Are the current routes for asylum seekers to come to the UK adequate, and is it right for those excluded from 'safe and legal routes' to be punished for coming to the UK even if they have fled conflict or persecution? Can the UK outsource its asylum obligations to third countries and still ensure the human rights of those seeking asylum are protected?
"We want to look beyond fearful headlines about the cost of hotel accommodation or the numbers of asylum seekers arriving, to consider the experience of those going through the asylum system and the way they are treated. Fundamentally, is the way asylum seekers are treated appropriate and lawful, or is the UK Government falling short of the human rights standards designed to protect them, and all of us? Given the terrible conditions we have witnessed at Manston and the new Home Secretary's seeming delight at the prospect of further flights to Rwanda, this inquiry could not be more timely."
Nazek Ramadan, the director of Migrant Voice, told The Independent that the announcement of the inquiry "will force the government to face the fact that their hardline anti-migrant policies are not only ineffective and cruel, they also violate many people's basic human rights."