LIB DEMS OFFER A REALISTIC APPROACH TO ASYLUM - Dakers condemns Tory asylum policies

12.00.00am GMT Tue 15th Mar 2005

The Conservatives want to send all asylum seekers to an "offshore processing centre" while their claims are considered, but they admit they have no idea where this would be or how it would work.

In response, the Lib Dem Prospective MP for Brentford & Isleworth Andrew Dakers commented,

"No less an authority than the UN High Commission for Refugees has condemned the Tories' 'Fantasy island' policy.

"The Tories seem intent on using asylum and immigration issues as a cheap way to try and boost their poll ratings. Andrew Lansley MP (now their Shadow Health Secretary) admitted this (in 1995) when he said that immigration was an issue which 'played particularly well in the tabloids and has more potential to hurt [Labour].'

"Michael Howard said last year that as the son of a man who was given asylum in Britain he owed his life to this country. The next day he announced plans for arbitrary quotas on the numbers of refugees which would mean Britain turning away people genuinely fleeing persecution. His own father would almost certainly have been removed from Europe to a far away refugee camp under the Tories' policies."

THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS APPROACH TO ASYLUM, IMMIGRATION & BORDER CONTROL

For centuries Britain has had a proud record of granting safe refuge to those fleeing persecution, and in turn, refugees have enriched our culture and wealth immeasurably. However, Labour has presided over an inefficient and unfair asylum system. One in five decisions are found to be wrong on appeal.

The Liberal Democrats would take asylum decisions away from the Home Office and give the job to an independent agency. Our asylum system must be firm and efficient to ensure that those who need our help get it, while those who don't qualify are quickly removed. The Lib Dems would end asylum seekers' dependence on benefits, allowing them to work so they can pay their own way, and use their skills to benefit us all. A common European asylum policy would make sure that there are common standards and fair sharing of refugee settlement.

Immigration should based on economic need, not arbitrary quotas. We should see immigration as an opportunity, not a threat. Migrant workers make a net contribution of £2.5bn a year to the UK economy and social care & health services, for example, would collapse without the support they provide.

The Lib Dems would increase openness by commissioning an independent assessment of the level of need for migrant workers every year, by sector of industry. For industries with a need for migrant workers we would operate a sector-based 'Green Card' scheme to run parallel to the mainstream work permit system. We would also re-introduce exit controls to alert the authorities when an individual's leave to remain has expired but there is no record of them leaving the UK.

More, better equipped police would be more effective at combating terrorism than ID cards. The Lib Dems would set up a National Border Force to tackle cross-border terrorism, drug smuggling and people trafficking.