Home Affairs Committee announces follow-up work on Channel crossings and asylum system
26 October 2023
The Home Affairs Committee has announced it will carry out follow-up work on Channel crossings and the asylum system. The work will examine what progress has been made a year on from the publication of its report Channel crossings, migration and asylum-seeking routes through the EU.
In its response to the report, the Government committed to fix and modernise the ‘broken asylum system’. This included deterring and reducing illegal migration, reducing the caseload backlog and reducing the £2billion annual cost of the asylum system. The Home Affairs Committee will investigate what progress the Government has made in achieving these policy aims and ask what more needs to be done.
Chair comment
Chair of the Home Affairs Committee, Dame Diana Johnson said:
“A year ago, the Home Affairs Committee published its report into Channel Crossings. We called for an asylum system that was fair and efficient, with policy based on detailed evidence that sought to protect the UK’s borders while offering sanctuary to those in need. We also called for greater co-operation with European partners to clamp down on the criminal gangs facilitating these dangerous journeys.
“With the legality of the Rwanda scheme still to be decided by the Supreme Court, Bibby Stockholm finally accommodating residents, and the Government seemingly intent on winding down hotel accommodation, it is an important to revisit this issue.
“We will be looking at how UK policy has progressed in the past year and asking what impact it has had on Channel Crossings. We will also look at how the Government has performed in its commitment to reduce the asylum backlog and reduce the cost of asylum accommodation.”
Details of evidence sessions and other supporting work will be published in due course.
Further information
Image credit: Elspeth Keep/UK Parliament