New Fast Track Pilot For Asylum Claims

Home Office press release Tuesday 18th March 2003

A new fast track pilot scheme will radically reduce the time taken to process asylum claims from arrival to removal, the Home Office announced today.

It will be piloted at Harmondsworth Removal Centre. Up to ninety asylum seekers at a time with straightforward claims will be detained throughout the process, providing they meet the detention criteria. This will enable unfounded claimants under the scheme to be removed from the UK in about a month. It will begin in April.

An order under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 will be laid before Parliament this week, which will set out the timetable for dealing with appeals.

Home Office Minister Beverley Hughes said:

"Building on the radical reforms in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act, and the success of Oakington's fast track process, this new pilot will enable us to process and remove failed asylum seekers from the UK within about a month of their arrival.

"Last October, the power to detain asylum seekers for the purpose of making a speedy decision, as we do at Oakington, was upheld as lawful by the House of Lords. We are therefore extending the use of this power to Harmondsworth Removal Centre for the pilot.

"New Rules to be laid before Parliament later this week will also enable us to also pilot a much faster appeals process. In order to effect this new procedure, we will detain straightforward claimants to enable a quick initial decision and swift removal after any appeal, providing they meet the criteria for detention.

"We are continuing to drive forward our radical programme of asylum reform, building on the most successful elements of our strategy. The figures for November and December of last year showed the beginning of a downward trend, following implementation of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act and new border security measures in France.

"We have already announced our intention to extend the list of countries to which asylum seekers can be returned without a drawn out appeal process in the UK, and extended the UK's border security measures in France to Belgium and the Netherlands.

"This new scheme is a further expansion of our strategy - if successful we intend to extend it."

Asylum Appeals Minister Baroness Scotland said:

"The Government is committed to a fair appeals process which gives everyone full access to legal advice. The Rules will ensure that the appeals process gives all applicants a fair hearing but does not get used as a delaying tactic to the removal process by people with unsuccessful claims"

Those considered to have straightforward claims will be detained pending a quick decision. If unfounded, they will continue to be detained pending removal while any appeal is heard, providing they meet the detention criteria. Detention is considered necessary to ensure claimants are readily available at each stage to facilitate the fast track process. There will be a sharp focus on high-quality decision making, with on-site access to legal advice and, so far as possible, the same caseworker and legal representative dealing with an application from start to finish.

The measures build on the successful Oakington process, where swift determination of cases from a list of countries from which claims are presumed to be unfounded, has significantly reduced the number of claims from those countries. This includes claims from Czech and Polish nationals, which fell from 75 and 135 in October, to just 20 and 40 in December respectively. The list of countries is being extended to include a further seven under an order currently before Parliament.

Measures in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act to simplify the procedures for appeals and prevent appeals without merit being used to frustrate the process will commence on 1 April.

Improving the speed and efficiency with which claims are processed is part of a radical reform of the asylum system, designed to cut the number of unfounded asylum claims by half by September. The Home Office is exceeding targets for the number of decisions made within two months.

Notes for editors

1. A negative order will be laid before Parliament on 20 March.

2. Those with straightforward claims will initially be detained pending a swift initial decision. If the claim is refused or for any reason cannot be dealt with in accordance with the pilot timescales, a decision about further detention will be made in accordance with existing detention criteria. Detention in this category of cases will therefore normally be where it has become apparent that the person would be likely to fail to keep in contact with the Immigration Service or to effect removal.

3. The Government's plans for a radical overhaul of the immigration, asylum and nationality system were set out in the White Paper - Secure Borders Safe Haven - published on 7 February 2002 (Home Office press notice 038/02).

4. The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act received Royal Assent on 7 November 2002 (Home Office press notice 294/2002).

5. The provisional asylum figures for 2002 were published on 28 February 2003 (Home Office press notice 058/2003).

6. The list of countries from where asylum claims are presumed to be unfounded was announced on 7 October 2002 (PN 267/2002). The ten countries are Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The proposed extension was announced on 6 February 2003 (PN 036/2003). The seven countries are Albania, Bulgaria, Jamaica, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania and Serbia + Montenegro (previously the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia).

Source for this page: Home Office press release Tuesday 18th March 2003

The contents of this page are the sole responsibility of the author/s.

==============
Disclaimer: NCADC's web site is an important part of our work in educating the public on immigration, asylum and anti-deportation issues. As part of that work our web site hosts news and views from different individuals, organisations and campaigns working in the same field as us. The contents of named/signed articles are the sole responsibility of the author/s and are not necessarily endorsed by NCADC.