Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Let asylum seekers work

Asylum seekers are blocked from working in the UK but could make a net contribution of £42m to the economy if restrictive rules were lifted.

At the low end of its estimates, it was  found that if 25% of eligible asylum seekers worked on national minimum wage they would make a net contribution to the economy of £9.2m. If all of those eligible worked on the national average wage, the net contribution would be £124.4m.

People seeking asylum in the UK are only allowed to work if they have been waiting on a claim for 12 months or more and they can fill a role on the shortage occupation list, which includes positions such as geophysicists. This means people are essentially banned from working while they wait months, and often years, for a decision on their claim, living on the £5.39 a day the government provides.

 80 organisations including non-profit organisations, thinktanks, businesses and faith groups, are calling on the government to give asylum seekers and their adult dependents the right to work after waiting six months for a decision on their claim, and unconstrained by the shortage occupation list.

Stephen Hale, the chief executive of Refugee Action, said: “It’s madness that people fleeing the horrors of conflict and persecution are unable to work for long periods after they arrive in the UK. It is deeply damaging to those it affects, makes integration far harder and is bad for the UK economy and public finances. Lifting the ban has strong public support. People seeking asylum tell us every day that they feel worthless and that being unable to use their skills over a long period of time forces them to be dependent. They want to give back to the country that has protected them. It’s time for change. We urge the government to move rapidly to grant the right to work for people seeking asylum.”

In a report that details arguments in support of the change, Lift the Ban estimates that if half of the 11,000 asylum seekers aged 18 or over who are waiting on a decision were able to work full-time on the national average wage, the government would receive £31.6m a year from their tax and national insurance contributions (NICs). It would also save £10.8m on the cash support it provides. About 94% of the asylum seekers the coalition surveyed said they would like to work if they had permission, 74% had secondary-level education or higher and 37% held an undergraduate or postgraduate degree. The latter figure is close to the 42% of the total UK population classed as graduates.


The most common case against relaxing the rules on asylum seekers’ rights to work is the so-called pull factor, which argues that foreigners would deliberately travel to the UK to seek asylum in order to access the labour market. The report says researchers have widely discredited this argument, including one study commissioned by the Home Office that showed little to no evidence of a link between economic rights and entitlements and the destination choices of those seeking asylum. Asylum seekers in Spain are permitted to work after six months and there is no labour market test or restrictions placed on the jobs they are allowed to do. Canada has no formal waiting period for access to the employment market. Once a person has completed an initial interview with federal authorities they can apply for a work permit. Asylum seekers in Denmark can work after six months, subject to certain conditions.
The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said: “This ban is cruel and self-defeating. We shouldn’t be wasting the talent and skills of these workers. People seeking asylum must be given the right to work and contribute. These damaging restrictions are in no one’s interest.”

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