Asylum and Immigration

Written by Vincent Cable MP and published in Informer on Fri 31st Jan 2003

After the emotive coverage in the Daily Mail and the Sun I am getting many letters about asylum and immigration. There is clearly a problem; but it isn't the one grabbing the headlines.

First, the link with terrorism is small despite the horrific murder of the policeman in Manchester. Terrorists are more likely to enter as tourists or business visitors as in the US on September 11.

The IRA bombers did not need the pretext of asylum. The only effective weapon against terrorism is good intelligence.

Locking up thousands of asylum seekers on suspicion - including white farmers and black trade unionists fleeing Mugabe's hell in Zimbabwe - is a fatuous, and expensive, way of fighting Al Qaida.

Then, people say the controls are 'too weak'. They are, however, too strict for the wrong people. Entirely law-abiding people are subject to harassment and immigration red tape:

British nationals marrying overseas husbands or wives; or British nationals of Indian origin trying to bring relatives from overseas for family weddings of funerals; or Australians and Americans trying to renew work permits.

Third, contrary to press reports, many failed asylum seekers are deported. Many of the Yugoslavs who come to this part of London have now gone, sent back after the ending of the civil wars.

The real problem is that the immigration system is unbelievably inefficient. Files and passports get lost. Delays are interminable. Computers don't work. Telephones are always jammed.

That said it is difficult to separate out cheats from genuine asylum claims.

I am helping a lady in Twickenham who fled Iran after converting to Christianity. British officials tested her on the New Testament. She got one or two difficult questions wrong. They decided she was a cheat. If they deport her, and she is genuine, she could face death by stoning!