Chloe Smith: the Immigration Bill helps genuine refugees

Chloe Smith, MP for Norwich North, has today completed committee work in Parliament on the new Immigration Bill, which will introduce new sanctions on illegal immigration, protect our public services and tackle exploitation of low-skilled workers.  This follows her work in 2014 on the Modern Slavery Act.

 

Chloe’s work on this Bill will help to: 

·         introduce new sanctions on illegal workers and rogue employers

·         provide better coordination of regulators that enforce workers’ rights

·         prevent illegal migrants in the UK from accessing housing, driving licenses and bank accounts

·         introduce new measures to make it easier to enforce immigration laws and remove illegal migrants including failed asylum seekers.

Chloe has used her work on the committee to draw a link between controlling the costs of illegal migration, and being better able to support genuine refugees. 

She has said during the committee:

 

“As the UNHCR says:  If the asylum system is both fast and fair, then people who know they are not refugees have little incentive to make a claim in the first place, thereby benefitting both the host country and the refugees for whom the system is intended.

“We need to be able to save public money where somebody is not eligible for support in order to be able to do more where somebody is—like the 20,000 Syrian refugees whom we all wish to welcome to this country.”

 

Ministers revealed during the committee the cost of providing support to those people whose claim for asylum and any appeal has failed.  As a snapshot in March this year, the UK was providing support to an estimated 15,000 failed asylum seekers, their dependents and others, which cost an estimated £73 million throughout the year. 

 

Following the terrorist attacks in Paris, where it is reported that one attacker entered Europe by boat along with refugees, Chloe also signalled her support today for measures in this Bill which prioritise resources to those genuine refugees who need humanitarian help.

 

Chloe comments:

“I don’t think it’s right for public money to be used to support illegal migrants, including those whose asylum claims have been found to be without merit, who can leave the UK and should do so.  In particular, I think we should be saving this kind of public money to be better able to support genuine Syrian refugees.

 

“As the Home Secretary has emphasised in the Commons, both the UNHCR and the Home Office screen and document those refugees. After the dreadful and callous Paris attacks, people will rightly expect this process to be robust; this Bill helps by allowing resources to be prioritised to genuine refugees.

 

“Britain is one of the most successful democracies in the world. No attacks or abuse of the system can reduce that. We should welcome genuine refugees and stand firm against flouting of the rules, or cynical trafficking, or the worst kind of deceit meant to do us harm.  People in Norwich are generous and welcoming but naturally want our resources to be used wisely and compassionately.”