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IRR > European Race Bulletin > United Kingdom > Asylum seekers and refugees

New reception arrangements to be phased in

By Liz Fekete

16 December 2002

In October 2001, the home secretary, David Blunkett, put forward his proposals to scrap 'the humiliating and demeaning voucher system', reform dispersal and overhaul current reception arrangements for asylum seekers.

All asylum seekers will be also introduced with an Application Residence Card.

How will the new system work?

The government will spend £250m creating a four-tier system of asylum centres covering each stage of the process including induction, reporting, accommodation and removal. At the same time, it will start phasing out the use of rundown council estates and private accommodation to house asylum seekers. In place of vouchers, the government will introduce 'smart' identity cards which would comprise a combined photo, fingerprint and cash card.

Detention and surveillance

Blunkett said that from the moment someone applied for asylum s/he would be tracked as well as supported.

Accommodation

While the principle of dispersal from London and the South East will remain, a national network of asylum centres will be created.

• Induction centres: A small network of induction centres near Heathrow and Croydon, where asylum seekers will stay for between 10 and 14 days, where asylum seekers will register claims for support and accommodation before advancing to the next stage of the asylum process.
• Reporting centres: All asylum applicants will be required to regularly attend a reporting centre where they can be advised of key decisions on their cases. Final decisions on asylum claims would be handed over to applicants at a reporting centre which, in the words of the Home Office, would 'guarantee removal where necessary'.
• Accommodation centres: Those asylum seekers allocated accommodation will be dispersed throughout the country to accommodation centres in the region that can best offer them support taking into account language 'clustering' and individual needs. However, those who fail to stay in the centres or turn up late will lose their right to support.
• Removal centres: The network of detention centres, including Oakington and Campsfield House, will rise to increase the number of deportations. The use of prisons for asylum seekers will end.

Application residence cards

Smart ID cards will replace existing standard acknowledgement letters and will contain photograph and fingerprint data, checkable on existing immigration and asylum fingerprint system equipment. Blunkett has denied that the cards are being introduced as a test run for a national identity card scheme.

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© Institute of Race Relations 2002