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Adjournment debate on Thursday, 13 December 2007, in the House of Commons, led by Andrew Dismore. The answering member was Liam Byrne.

Asylum Seekers

Debate on a motion for the adjournment on asylum seekers. (Relevant documents: Government Response to the Tenth Report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Seventeenth Report, Session 2006-07, the Treatment of Asylum Seekers, HC 790; and the memoranda received by the Committee from the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, Citizens Advice, the Asylum Support Programme Inter-Agency Partnership and the Asylum Appeals Project.)

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
469 c145-88WH 
Session
2007-08
Department
Home Office
Chamber / Committee
Westminster Hall
Related items
Proceeding contributions
Neil Gerrard | 469 c156-7WH (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) said, the debate is not about who is or is not...
Andrew Dismore | 469 c151-5WH (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that the hon. Gentleman’s point matches the points that I am making. There were certai...
Show all contributions (59)
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 469 c151WH (Link to this contribution) On a perhaps tangential point, does the hon. Gentleman agree that prejudice against asylum seekers w...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 469 c160-2WH (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to contribute to this debate under your chairmanship, Mr. Bercow. It is also a plea...
Neil Gerrard | 469 c157-60WH (Link to this contribution) That is absolutely right. If we consider the matter just in terms of numbers of applications, which ...
Evan Harris | 469 c157WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, and he uses the term ““false claims.”” Part of the prob...
Neil Gerrard | 469 c157WH (Link to this contribution) Although the Government say that there is not a policy of enforced destitution, destitution is the r...
Speaker | 469 c167WH (Link to this contribution) It is not yet 4.23 pm, but all Members who were present have returned, so we will resume the debate....
Evan Harris | 469 c165-7WH (Link to this contribution) We have had an excellent debate on an excellent report. I confess an interest, in that I am a member...
Jon Cruddas | 469 c162-5WH (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to follow what I thought was a thoughtful and nuanced approach by the hon. Member for P...
Andrew Dismore | 469 c146WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is a member of my Committee, and knows its views. He must wait for me to build up...
Evan Harris | 469 c146WH (Link to this contribution) Is it the hon. Gentleman’s view, and that of the Committee, that the Government’s policies are desig...
Andrew Dismore | 469 c146-7WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point, and I shall develop it later. Our report was published in ...
Jeremy Corbyn | 469 c146WH (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend concede that among the many barriers facing asylum seekers or applicants to this...
Andrew Dismore | 469 c147-8WH (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes an important point. We did not specifically consider such cases, which is...
Lord Field of Birkenhead | 469 c147WH (Link to this contribution) My concern is women who leave abusive husbands or partners and seek accommodation in refuges. There ...
Andrew Dismore | 469 c149WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very important point. The Committee expressed concern about the shortage of c...
Jeremy Corbyn | 469 c148-9WH (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to detain my hon. Friend, but he has made a very valuable point. I hope that my hon. Frie...
Andrew Dismore | 469 c149-51WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention to illustrate the point. The fact remains t...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 469 c149WH (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the corollary of the use of section 4 is often, as in the case of...
Andrew Dismore | 469 c145-6WH (Link to this contribution) I should make it clear at the outset that our report did not deal with the question of who should or...
Liam Byrne | 469 c177-80WH (Link to this contribution) I have not spoken in a debate under your chairmanship, Mr. Bercow, and I am grateful for the opportu...
Damian Green | 469 c177WH (Link to this contribution) I am glad that the hon. Gentleman thinks that I am making a reasonable and civilised point. I shall ...
Evan Harris | 469 c177WH (Link to this contribution) I do not disagree. I was making the point that the hon. Gentleman was quoted as saying:"““The only r...
Evan Harris | 469 c181WH (Link to this contribution) I want not to respond to that point but to take the Minister back briefly to section 9 and section 4...
Liam Byrne | 469 c181WH (Link to this contribution) No. A second consultation was undertaken on draft regulations, but I am happy to write to the hon. G...
Andrew Dismore | 469 c181WH (Link to this contribution) We obviously disagree on the fundamental point, but would my hon. Friend go at least this far and sa...
Liam Byrne | 469 c181WH (Link to this contribution) If the result is that a child has to go into care, or if families are separated and the costs are mo...
Jeremy Corbyn | 469 c180WH (Link to this contribution) I acknowledge what the Minister says. There is a serious problem, and it is caused partly by the lac...
Liam Byrne | 469 c180WH (Link to this contribution) I share many such experiences. We are now testing whether the process can be made easier by having m...
Liam Byrne | 469 c182WH (Link to this contribution) The regulations will come to me next week, so I will be in a position to write to my right hon. Frie...
Lord Field of Birkenhead | 469 c181WH (Link to this contribution) Before my hon. Friend the Minister leaves the question of introducing new regulations, will those re...
Liam Byrne | 469 c182WH (Link to this contribution) My goal, together with the Department of Health, is to publish it in January.
Andrew Dismore | 469 c182WH (Link to this contribution) Obviously, we are disappointed not to have a little more of a lead today on what is going on. Howeve...
Andrew Dismore | 469 c186-8WH (Link to this contribution) I have one or two brief comments to make in response to the debate, which has been helpful. As has b...
Evan Harris | 469 c182WH (Link to this contribution) First, I should still like the Minister to respond—perhaps he has received a note now—about why ther...
Liam Byrne | 469 c182-4WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is talking about three things. First, the section 9 pilot review was delayed beca...
Neil Gerrard | 469 c184WH (Link to this contribution) I understand my hon. Friend’s point, but I have come across individuals who have not been honest abo...
Liam Byrne | 469 c184-5WH (Link to this contribution) That area of concern would benefit from a great deal more debate in the House and elsewhere. Section...
Evan Harris | 469 c167-8WH (Link to this contribution) Before the Division, I was discussing evidence-based policy making and saying that Opposition partie...
Evan Harris | 469 c171-2WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that interesting question, because it is important to discuss...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 469 c170WH (Link to this contribution) I do not think that it does a debate on transparency in immigration and asylum a lot of good to disr...
Evan Harris | 469 c168-70WH (Link to this contribution) Indeed. I certainly accept that point. Foremost in my mind was Chad. The issue of Sudan and Darfur h...
Jeremy Corbyn | 469 c168WH (Link to this contribution) I apologise for missing part of the debate, Mr. Bercow. I was at a meeting with the Department for I...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 469 c173WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend may get me into trouble with our Whips. My point is that the Government’s policy is p...
Damian Green | 469 c173WH (Link to this contribution) I am sure that is so, but the hon. Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) will understand that there are ma...
Andrew Dismore | 469 c172WH (Link to this contribution) I agree, but it was open to the Opposition to select the matter for debate on an Opposition day. I w...
Damian Green | 469 c172WH (Link to this contribution) This has been a fascinating debate on an important report, but I want to make a procedural point. In...
Damian Green | 469 c173WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that clarification, but I suspect that the Minister may not be. I agree with my ho...
Andrew Dismore | 469 c173WH (Link to this contribution) I made it clear in the first paragraph of my speech that the Committee accepts that some asylum seek...
Damian Green | 469 c174WH (Link to this contribution) That is a reasonable point, and I was about to say that one indictment of the current system is that...
Damian Green | 469 c174-5WH (Link to this contribution) I do not object in principle to the use of vouchers although, having spoken to many of the organisat...
Evan Harris | 469 c174WH (Link to this contribution) I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point, but support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum A...
Damian Green | 469 c175-6WH (Link to this contribution) Those are all cogent questions and I look forward to the Minister addressing them. One issue that h...
Andrew Dismore | 469 c175WH (Link to this contribution) This is an important point and one that the Committee raised. It is very difficult to prove that som...
Damian Green | 469 c176WH (Link to this contribution) It no doubt would be very interesting for the hon. Gentleman if I announced Conservative asylum poli...
Neil Gerrard | 469 c176WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said that he was coming to a conclusion. It would be very interesting if, before ...
Damian Green | 469 c177WH (Link to this contribution) It is my position that people who have no right to be here should not be here. That is not just my p...
Evan Harris | 469 c176WH (Link to this contribution) I can assure the hon. Member for Walthamstow (Mr. Gerrard) that my party supports his suggestions, b...
Subjects
Asylum Deportation Human rights Immigration controls Undocumented migrants Migrant workers Skilled workers
Link
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