THE Home Office has reportedly rejected the Scottish Government’s proposal for a pilot scheme allowing asylum seekers to work sooner when arriving in the country.
In November, the Scottish Government sent a formal proposal to the Home Office for permission to launch a pilot scheme which would allow asylum seekers to work after six months following their arrival in Scotland, instead of the current 12.
The rejection of the plans follows figures released by the Scottish Refugee Council on Monday which showed 62% of Scots support giving people the right to work while waiting for a decision on their asylum applications.
According to The Scotsman, which has seen the letter to the Scottish Government from the Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum Angela Eagle, the proposal has been rejected.
The plans proposed would have seen job restrictions eased also.
The newspaper said the asylum minister stated, “there are no immediate plans to change the existing policy on permission to work for asylum seekers”, and that she added she was “unable to commit to exploring feasibility of this proposal further at this time”.
According to The Scotsman, Eagle (below) said in the letter that the Home Office would “encourage asylum seekers who are waiting on the outcome of their claim to undertake volunteering activities”.
She also claimed, “those in need of protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach”.
However, refugees are not legally required to claim asylum in the first safe country they reach under the 1951 Refugee Convention, which the UK is signed up to.
Previously, Labour supported asylum seekers being able to work after six months, but have since reversed their position.
The UK Government has now lined up with the former Tory government's position.
Eagle's comments in the letter follow new research which found a majority of Scots support people being given the right to work while awaiting a decision on their asylum application.
Scottish Refugee Council’s polling found 47% of people believe that asylum seekers receive more than £50 each week, while 23% believe it is £100 or more.
However, people living in accommodation where meals are provided receive £8.86 per week and people staying in accommodation with facilities to cook their own meals receive £49.18 per week.
SNP Equalities Minister Kaukab Stewart (below) said: “We believe giving people seeking asylum the right to work from an earlier point can have a positive impact on them, their families and our communities.
“In November, I wrote to the UK Government setting out a proposal to enable people seeking asylum to be granted permission to work sooner and asking the Home Office to engage with us to agree a pilot. I am disappointed that the UK Government has replied that it is unable to commit to explore the proposal.
“The Scottish Government remains keen to discuss the pilot with the UK Government and would also welcome discussion on improvements which could be made to the current policy for granting permission to work for people seeking asylum.”
Sabir Zazai, chief executive of the Scottish Refugee Council, said: “It’s great to see the high level of support for the right to work for people in the asylum system.
“Many of the men and women using our services have expressed their frustration at not being able to work and provide for themselves and their families. We have been told repeatedly, ‘we don’t want handouts, we want to work’.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Allowing asylum seekers the right to work would undermine our wider economic migration policy, by enabling migrants to bypass established work visa rules.
“There is no intention to change the existing rules in any part of the UK, and asylum seekers remain eligible to apply for permission to work if their claim has been outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own.”
