A new report by the Home Affairs Select Committee on asylum has found some serious problems with the system.
The report criticised the backlog of cases awaiting an initial decision, the treatment of people within the system and the quality of decision making, reflecting the Refugee Council’s own concerns.
Chief Executive of the Refugee Council Maurice Wren said:
Failing to treat asylum seekers with dignity and, simultaneously, failing to deal effectively and fairly with their claims has created an expensive and counter-productive bureaucratic nightmare that all too often denies vulnerable people the protection from persecution and oppression they desperately need.
In particular, the Government should be ashamed that it has to be told by a parliamentary committee to stop forcing pregnant women to move around the country for bureaucratic convenience.
The Refugee Council is now calling on the Secretary of State to use the recommendations in the report as the basis for achieving an asylum system that is fair, efficient and commands public confidence.
