Britain: About 30,000 asylum-seekers and their families are expected to be allowed to remain in Britain following an anouncement yesterday by Home Secretary Mr David Blunkett. Critics said Britain would now act as a magnet for asylum-seekers.
The government said that 15,000 asylum-seeker families, whose cases were taking years to resolve, were living on state benefits and draining taxpayers' money. They would now be allowed to work.
Mr Blunkett said the 15,000 families would likely amount to some 30,000 people. Only families who lodged their claims before October 2000 will be eligible. Families who have failed in their applications but not been removed will be considered.
He said that going ahead with the amnesty had been a "difficult decision". In what he described as a "one-off exercise", the offer will apply to families who sought asylum in the UK before October 2000.
The Home Office is currently supporting 12,000 families who fall into that category, with up to a further 3,000 supporting themselves by working illegally.
People who have committed a criminal offence or lodged multiple asylum applications will be excluded from the deal, as will so-called "asylum shoppers", who have previously made an asylum claim in another European country.
Mr Blunkett said: "Granting this group indefinite leave to remain and enabling them to work is the most cost-effective way of dealing with the situation and will save taxpayers' money on support and legal aid."
Critics instantly jumped on the announcement as a sign of what they said was a chaotic asylum system and of a failure to deport thousands of bogus asylum- seekers.
"This decision will make Britain a magnet for asylum- seekers, who now know that even if their cases are rejected they could be allowed to stay," said Mr Oliver Letwin, the opposition Conservative Party's spokesman on home affairs.
"The British people will be appalled at this latest sign of the government's abject failure to sort out the chaos in the asylum system," he said.
Asylum and illegal immigration have caused huge headaches for the Blair government and asylum is expected to be one of the key issues in the next general election. Mr Blunkett described the latest move as a clearing of the decks before new procedures kick in that are aimed at making the system less open to abuse.