Asylum seekers to pay 10 000 towards – Asylum seekers will be made to pay up to £10,000 towards the cost of their accommodation and support once they start earning, Shabana Mahmood has announced.
They must pay off the full amount before they can be eligible for settled status under the plans.
Eligible adults will likely pay off an amount each month above a set threshold – similar to a student loan.
Migrants need settled status, or indefinite leave to remain, to be able to permanently live, work, and study in the UK.
The Government said it spent £4 billion on accommodation and support for asylum seekers last year, and the Home Office estimates the average cost per person per night of accommodating asylum seekers is £23.25 in dispersal accommodation and £144 in hotels – while subsistence payments range from £9.95 to £49.18 per person per week.
Home Secretary Ms Mahmood described the cost is “too high”.
“We have already reduced asylum costs by £1 billion, but it is also right that we ask those who can contribute to do so,” she added.
“Receiving asylum support is a right, but it is also a responsibility. Once people can contribute and repay the generosity of the British people, we expect them to do so.”
Asylum seekers are expected to have to pay a total of around £10,000, but the Home Secretary will be able to adjust the amount, the Home Office said.
Those liable for the cost who leave the UK will be made to pay in full if they want to come back at a future date, the department added.
The powers needed to recover the costs will be set out by the Immigration and Asylum Bill when it is introduced to Parliament on Tuesday.
Dr Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said it was likely that only a relatively small share of people granted asylum would actually earn enough to pay towards the scheme.
It could also discourage asylum seekers from working once they get refugee status to avoid the cost, she said.
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“The data suggests that unless thresholds were significantly below the minimum wage, a relatively small share of people granted asylum would earn enough to make contributions to the scheme,” she continued.
“The impact of the scheme on public finances is likely to be relatively small, because it is a means-tested payment for a very low-income population.
“It is possible that the scheme could have some other impacts, such as discouraging asylum seekers from taking up accommodation if they can find other support (such as family members or a charity), or discouraging them from working once they get refugee status because they face a higher effective tax rate.
“In practice, it is hard to predict how large either effect might be.
“How the proposed flat rate £10,000 repayment compares to the actual cost of asylum support will depend a lot on how long people wait for a final asylum decision and what share are in hotels.
“For example, the cost of supporting person who waits for a year in a hotel would be over £50,000, while the cost for someone in much cheaper HMO (house in multiple occupation) accommodation who only waits six months would be under £6,000.”
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