HIGH COURT RULING ON RESTORING FOOD AND SHELTER FOR DESTITUTE ASYLUM SEEKERS

Early day motion 766, tabled 25 February 2003 by Lynne Jones (Labour). Signed by 29 members.

That this House welcomes the High Court ruling on 19th February restoring food and shelter for destitute asylum seekers; notes that despite the Home Secretary's comment to the BBC that 'Frankly, I'm personally fed up with having to deal with a situation where Parliament debates issues and the judges then overturn them', this provision was never debated in the Commons; is deeply concerned that the organisations, working with refugees have reported people turning up freezing cold, hungry, exhausted and confused; notes the finding of the Joint Committee on Human Rights that it is difficult to envisage a case where a person could be destitute without there being a threat of violation of Articles 3 and or 8 of the ECHR and the Committee's comment that 'We reiterate that the Secretary of State has a duty under Section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 to avoid that risk'; further notes that on 21st October 2002, in a written answer, the honourable Member for Stretford and Urmston, the Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Community Cohesion, admitted that 65 per cent of people receiving positive decisions had made in-country asylum claims, further notes that in 1996, the Social Security Advisory Committee, the main UK advisory body on Social Security, held that there are many valid reasons why people do not make their asylum claims immediately on arrival including lack of knowledge of the process, language difficulties and fear of officialdom; and is disappointed at the Home Secretary's decision to appeal against the ruling of the High Court.

Signatures by party: Labour 22, Plaid Cymru 2, Scottish National Party 2, Labour/Co-operative 1, Liberal Democrat 1, UUP 1.