Frightening, Frantic and Furious

Press release from the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns

On 29 October 2001, David Blunkett, Home Secretary for the Labour government, unveiled his "radical reform for a more robust asylum system".

Electronic tagging, quarantine and deportation were the three main platforms of his speech.

Not one word of Blunkett's long awaited review, is an improvement on the present system, and the reforms are an insult to all those who contributed to the review.

The new measures include:

Electronic tagging:

Smart cards. The new biometric card will include photographic and fingerprint details of the asylum seeker. This will enable the Home Office to pinpoint the location of any asylum seeker, wherever they use it.

Quarantine:

Accommodation Centres will keep asylum seekers isolated from British and ethnic communities.

Deportation:

Removal Centres, will concentrate on holding persons who have been arrested at the point of refusal of their claim.

Induction centres:

Will be mini Oakingtons, with the main aim being how fast the UK government can deport asylum seekers.

Reporting centres:

All asylum claimants will have to report to these centres (when operational), which are presently run by Wackehut. This is where people who have been refused asylum, will be informed of the refusal, arrested and taken to a removal centre.

Voucher system still intact:

The value of the voucher which is exchangeable for cash will rise from £10 to £14 but the total value of vouchers will remain at 70% of Income Support levels. 'Smart cards' will be phased in from January 2002 but are not expected to replace vouchers before, Autumn 2002..

Dispersal system:

Dispersal will continue unabated, away from London and the south. Only new arrivals from Autumn 2002, will be placed in reception centres.

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In July 1998, the government published a consultation document on immigration control. The proposals in the document "Fairer, Faster and Firmer - a modern approach to immigration and asylum" strengthened the existing legislation, and became the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act.

In 1999 it was impossible to imagine a more misconceived and draconian piece of legislation. Blunkett's "radical reform for a more robust asylum system" has proved us wrong.

Fairer, Faster and Firmer has become Frightening, Frantic and Furious.

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What next?

At the NCADC AGM in June of this year, the campaigns passed the following motion.

"It was agreed that dispersal and vouchers humiliate asylum seekers and the system does not work. In the light of that decision it was decided that NCADC should write to all the refugee agencies that are implementing National Asylum Support Service (NASS) policies and ask them to no longer take part in the shambles that NASS has created. It was recognised that the system is such that there is a conflict of interest between the role of advocate and NASS contractor."

We agreed to wait for the review before taking any action, now the review has taken place and it is quite clear that nothing has changed and things will get worse.

Should the voluntary sector pull out of implementing NASS policies, let us have your opinion.

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Back ground materials:

Break the Links - No Collusion with the Dispersal System
http://www.ncadc.org.uk/letters/news24/cohen.html

Radical reform for more robust asylum system
http://www.asylumsupport.info/reform.htm

Asylum, Migration And Citizenship - Home Secretary's Statement To The House Of Commons: Home Office 29 October 2001
http://www.asylumsupport.info/citizenship.htm

Report Of The Operational Reviews Of The Voucher And Dispersal schemes Of The national Asylum Support Service
http://www.asylumsupport.info/review.htm

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National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (NCADC) 110 Hamstead Road Birmingham B20 2QS Phone: 0121-554-6947 Fax: 0870-055-4570 E-mail ncadc@ncadc.org.uk Web site: http://www.ncadc.org.uk/
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