Stephen's views on immigration

For centuries Britain has had a proud record of granting safe refuge to those fleeing persecution. In turn, refugees have enriched the UK's culture and wealth immeasurably. That record is under threat, however, by the Government, which has created a system that manages to be both bureaucratic and inhumane.

As an MP representing a constituency with a large number of asylum seekers and those who already have refugee status, I have been concerned about this issue for some time. During the previous session of Parliament I signed Early Day Motion 1620 which called on the Government to repeal a particularly ineffective and inhumane section of the Asylum and Immigration Act of 2004, whereby failed asylum seekers refusing to leave the UK are left to face economic destitution and the removal of their children.

Almost every week in my advice surgeries for the last four and a half years I have met someone who is experiencing a severe delay in the determination of their asylum case. The cases cover mainly people fleeing conflict or denial of their human rights in Somalia or Kurds from Iraq, Turkey and Iran as well as political dissidents from Zimbabwe and Iran. Many of the cases are what the Home Office terms "legacy cases" for which they have a target determination date of 2011. It is not unusual for some people to have been waiting for 5 years. During this period people are entitled to publicly provided housing and food vouchers but, apart from in a tiny number of exceptional cases, they are not allowed to work. I think this is lunacy.

It is an economic loss to the country as we are failing to harness the talents of asylum seekers and the contribution in taxes that they could make. Not all asylum seekers are the same but my general impression is that many of them are highly skilled, talented and resourceful people. Britain misses out on their contribution and they are denied the dignity of work and the ability to provide for themselves and their families.

This leads to financial hardship and social isolation. Many of the people I meet are visibly distressed and there is a growing problem of depression and mental illness. What is even worse, in my opinion, are the cases that have actually been determined where asylum has been denied but the government does not force a return to the country of origin. This is a very common experience for Somalians. Their case may be over as far as the Home Office are concerned but they know that there is no way of the individual being returned because it is too dangerous for commercial operators to fly there! People in this category are in an even worse situation, as they are not entitled to further state support let alone the right to work. They are stuck in a human rights no mans land.

My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I think that this situation is a moral outrage. If cases were determined promptly then a case could be made for a short period of state dependency. But this is not the case and hasn't been so for several years, so there appears to be little prospect of improvement. Asylum seekers should be allowed to work to restore some normality and dignity to their lives and for Britain to benefit from those who have taken shelter in our country.

The focus of the Liberal Democrat asylum policy is to create a firm but fair system. We will end asylum-seekers' dependence on benefits, allowing them to work if their claim has taken longer than two months to assess, so they can pay their own way, use their skills to benefit everyone, and to reduce the cost to the public purse. We believe this would eliminate the vast majority of destitution among asylum seekers. We are also committed to examining over the next Parliament the level of support for those who are unable to work for some reason.

The Home Office has an unenviable record of poor and delayed decisions. The backlog of decisions to be made has more than doubled since the second quarter of 2007, to 8,700 in the second quarter of 2008. In 2008, 70% of asylum applications were initially refused. However, 23% of cases that went to appeal in 2008 were successful. These figures are unacceptable, and illustrate just how dysfunctional the current asylum system is.

We will transfer responsibility for assessing asylum claims away from the Home Office to a dedicated independent agency similar to the Canadian system, to sort out the mess, ensuring that those who need help get it, whilst those who don't can't abuse the system. This would also guarantee decision making which is free from political considerations. The UNHCR would be heavily involved. The independent Canadian asylum agency has only 1% of decisions overturned at appeal. As well as fast-tracking manifestly unfounded claims, we would also adopt the Canadian model and fast-track claims which are clearly well-founded (e.g. known human rights activists fleeing oppressive regimes). We would also work to ensure greater cooperation between EU states and the development of safe routes for asylum seekers.

We have also campaigned fiercely for an end to the inhumane and unnecessary detention of children in immigration detention centres. Around 1,000 children are detailed every year, some for months on end, as the Government believe that families pose a risk of absconding. There is no evidence to suggest this is true, and we have called instead for the introduction of alternative measures and an immediate end to this disgraceful practice.

We believe that these changes would create a system which is firm enough to stop unfounded claims whilst treating those people genuinely in need of sanctuary fairly and humanely. I am very proud that people in our city care about our fellow human beings and that there are voluntary groups to give them practical support and advocacy. I am a keen supporter of the work being done by a variety of these groups to declare Bristol a 'City of Sanctuary'. Now we just need to make the government listen!

My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I will continue to press the Government on this matter to ensure that the rights enshrined in the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees and the European Convention on Human Rights are upheld. A humane asylum system that protects and cares for refugees must remain one of the UK's greatest legacies.