UK's asylum repayment plan garners criticism

Plans announced by the United Kingdom's Home Office to make people granted asylum in the country pay back around 10,000 pounds ($13,233) toward their costs once they start earning have drawn an angry backlash.

The measures are part of the new Immigration and Asylum Bill, and will require those given permission to stay to repay costs before they become eligible for permanent settlement.

Last year, around 4 billion pounds was spent on supporting asylum seekers and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the changes show that "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".

The announcement comes at a time when British politics is in limbo, between Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation as prime minister last week, and the likely appointment of his successor Andy Burnham, who may wish to make his own appointments to senior roles such as home secretary if he assumes the top job.

No costings have been revealed for how and when repayments will start to be taken, but Imran Hussain, director of external affairs at The Refugee Council, said the plan was "unfair and impractical" toward "people who are at risk of being destitute", and would make it "harder for families to rebuild their lives and stand on their own feet".

"The reason why many need asylum support is because the Home Office itself bans asylum seekers from working while their claims are being assessed … this new financial burden would only harm those who arrive on our shores with nothing," Hussain said.

Immigration has become a particularly volatile issue in the UK during the last decade, provoking heated debate and in some incidents public disorder, in particular over the issue of small boats crossing the English Channel from mainland Europe.

The terms of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union left it with no legislative means to send people back, meaning many are willing to run the risk of crossing one of the world's busiest shipping lanes for shelter.

Madeleine Sumption, director of the University of Oxford's Migration Observatory, questioned the economic value of the new proposals, observing that the government's aim seems to be to make the rules as restrictive as possible "while still remaining compliant with international refugee law and human rights law".

"In 2023 … an estimated 13 percent of people granted refugee status five years earlier were earning at least 20,000 pounds, with the rest either not working or on lower earnings," Sumption said. "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."

Zoe Dexter, housing and welfare manager at anti-trafficking charity the Helen Bamber Foundation, called the proposal "more performative cruelty from the government".

"It is an announcement without the detail or, more importantly, a credible plan to tackle chronic delays in the asylum system," Dexter said.