REGULATORY · MARKET STRUCTURE · UK
UK trial offers cash for asylum departures
Change
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced a trial scheme offering failed asylum seeker families up to £40,000 to leave the UK, with forcible removal sought if they do not accept within seven days.
Why Now
The trial offers incentive payments of up to £10,000 per person, capped at four people per family (up to £40,000 per family), for failed asylum seeker families to leave the UK. Families have seven days to accept the incentive payment. The government would seek to forcibly remove failed asylum seekers who do not accept the incentive payments. The scheme is expected to target about 150 families living in taxpayer-funded accommodation. A separate voluntary returns programme already offers up to £3,000 in financial support to asylum seekers who choose to leave the UK.
Impact
- • Incentive payments are capped at £40,000 per family (up to £10,000 per person, maximum four people).
- • A seven-day acceptance window is specified for the incentive payments.
- • The trial is scoped to about 150 families in taxpayer-funded accommodation.
- • Forcible removal is stated as the next step for those who do not accept the incentive payments.
Who Recalculates
- • Failed asylum seeker families
- • Home Office returns and immigration enforcement operations
- • Asylum accommodation providers
Source
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