Over 200 organisations call for new direction on asylum policy in open letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham

More than 200 asylum and refugee charities and migrant support organisations have this week written to the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, to call on his Government to adopt a new approach to asylum and abandon what they describe as costly and cruel policies.

The open letter was coordinated by Asylum Matters and signed by 289 individuals and 219 organisations, including Doctors of the World UK, Freedom from Torture, and JCWI. You can download it here.

It outlines a "blueprint to fix the broken asylum system". Nathan Phillips of Asylum Matters explained: "It's perfectly possible to build an asylum system with welcome at its heart that is both efficient and cost effective. Our blueprint is based on real evidence and the expertise of hundreds of people and organisations living and working in the asylum system who are ready to work with the new Prime Minister to build an asylum system that works better for everyone."

The letter says that successive governments have relied on increasingly restrictive asylum policies that have failed to improve public confidence while increasing costs and creating hardship for people seeking asylum. It criticises recent and proposed measures including the proposed £10,000 "refugee tax", the expansion of ex-military accommodation sites for asylum seekers, changes to refugee settlement rules, and plans to increase the use of immigration detention.

The organisations describe such measures as representing "performative cruelty that fails on its own terms" and argue they have resulted in higher public spending without achieving their intended objectives.

As a result of the "hostile approach" adopted by successive governments, the asylum system is "unnecessarily cruel, costly, ineffective and chaotic - with integration outcomes and community cohesion undermined," the letter states.

To fix the system, the letter outlines 13 recommendations for Andy Burnham's government. They include restoring and expanding safe legal routes to the UK, ending the ban on employment for asylum seekers after six months, increasing legal aid provision, extending support for newly recognised refugees transitioning into communities, and replacing immigration detention with community-based alternatives.

It calls on the Government to scrap the current Asylum and Immigration Bill and fully repeal the Illegal Migration Act 2023 and the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, noting that the Acts criminalise people seeking asylum, leading to refugees facing imprisonment in the UK after fleeing war and persecution.

Government plans for 'earned settlement' and the new, temporary 'core protection' model for refugees should also be scrapped, the organisation say. They note the measures would "leave refugees and migrants in years of limbo and uncertainty" and "make it near impossible for people to integrate with any certainty or stability".

The organisations invite the new Prime Minister to meet with representatives from the asylum sector to discuss the proposals and work together on reforms that they argue would be more effective, less expensive and more humane than the current approach.

Andy Durma of Newcastle's West End Refugee Service commented: "The new Prime Minister has a unique opportunity to end counterproductive asylum policies that punish people for trying to rebuild their lives. It is in all our interests to build an inclusive, contributing society – not one where people's belonging in the UK comes with an expiry date."

The Prime Minister last week reappointed Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary, indicating that no changes are expected in immigration and asylum policy. Mahmood said: "It is an honour to remain as Home Secretary in Andy Burnham's Cabinet. I may be biased, but it's the best job in the business. We have begun the work of major reform, to make our streets safer and our immigration system fair for all. Now let's finish the job."