Home Office officials are being rewarded with shopping vouchers for helping to ensure failed asylum seekers lose their attempt to stay in the country. Official guidance obtained by the Guardian shows that immigration staff have been set a target of winning 70% of tribunal cases in which asylum seekers are appealing against government decisions that they should leave the UK. These officers are also incentivised by Home Office reward schemes involving gift vouchers, cash bonuses and extra holidays.
Critics said it was a new low for officers to be rewarded for outcomes that meant asylum seekers being asked to leave the UK for countries where they claim to be facing persecution or war. The incentives undermine confidence in the fairness of the system.
Sarah Teather MP, a prominent Liberal Democrat and former minister, said schemes such as this one "completely undermine any sense that the system will give a fair hearing to those who come here seeking sanctuary from war and persecution. If the Home Office wants to reduce the number of appeals they lose, they should improve the quality of the decisions they make in the first place."
James Packer, of Duncan Lewis solicitors, said: "The Home Office expects its officials to win a specific number of appeals and can reward them if they exceed their 'target'. This is a clear incentive to bad practices. I am especially dismayed to discover that a mandatory success rate of 70% applies in asylum appeals where people's lives are at stake. We believe these measures are unlawful as well as immoral and have written to the Home Office making it clear that we will bring a legal challenge unless these incentives are withdrawn."
The firm believes some cases with strong grounds for appeal are being withdrawn by the Home Office on the day of the tribunal because officials fear they will lose and risk failing to meet their target of winning 70% of cases. The applicant then has to wait even longer for the Home Office to make a fresh decision.
Emma Mlotshwa, coordinator of the charity Medical Justice, which works to protect the health of immigration detainees, said: "This is deeply disturbing. We have cases of people who have survived torture, claimed asylum, had their cases rejected and have then been forcibly removed from the UK. On arrival in their home country they have been tortured again. The fact that some Home Office officials may have received rewards for helping secure decisions to remove such people from the UK is very worrying indeed."
Critics said it was a new low for officers to be rewarded for outcomes that meant asylum seekers being asked to leave the UK for countries where they claim to be facing persecution or war. The incentives undermine confidence in the fairness of the system.
Sarah Teather MP, a prominent Liberal Democrat and former minister, said schemes such as this one "completely undermine any sense that the system will give a fair hearing to those who come here seeking sanctuary from war and persecution. If the Home Office wants to reduce the number of appeals they lose, they should improve the quality of the decisions they make in the first place."
James Packer, of Duncan Lewis solicitors, said: "The Home Office expects its officials to win a specific number of appeals and can reward them if they exceed their 'target'. This is a clear incentive to bad practices. I am especially dismayed to discover that a mandatory success rate of 70% applies in asylum appeals where people's lives are at stake. We believe these measures are unlawful as well as immoral and have written to the Home Office making it clear that we will bring a legal challenge unless these incentives are withdrawn."
The firm believes some cases with strong grounds for appeal are being withdrawn by the Home Office on the day of the tribunal because officials fear they will lose and risk failing to meet their target of winning 70% of cases. The applicant then has to wait even longer for the Home Office to make a fresh decision.
Emma Mlotshwa, coordinator of the charity Medical Justice, which works to protect the health of immigration detainees, said: "This is deeply disturbing. We have cases of people who have survived torture, claimed asylum, had their cases rejected and have then been forcibly removed from the UK. On arrival in their home country they have been tortured again. The fact that some Home Office officials may have received rewards for helping secure decisions to remove such people from the UK is very worrying indeed."
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