Blunkett to review asylum dispersal

Refugee families have been attacked in Glasgow

An urgent review of the way asylum seekers are dispersed across the UK has been ordered by Home Secretary David Blunkett.

It follows the murder of a Turkish refugee in Glasgow, a knife attack on an asylum seeker in Hull and protests over detention conditions in Cardiff.

Although Mr Blunkett is not said to be considering abandoning the dispersal system, he is understood to be concerned about the way it is working in practice.

The dispersal system is in chaos

Ann Widdecombe

The home secretary wants to look at how asylum seekers are integrated into local communities.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "The principle of dispersal is here to stay.

"It is how it works on the ground.

"The home secretary has been concerned since he took office about some aspects of the way dispersal is working."

The internal operational review will also focus on whether there is sufficient consultation with local councils when asylum seekers are placed in their care and whether there is a need for tighter scrutiny of contractors who supply their housing.

Refugees flee

Shadow home secretary Ann Widdecombe said the announcement of a review was effectively an admission that the dispersal system was not working.

She said the government must now accept the case for secure detention centres for all newly-arrived asylum seekers.

"They are not in control of the numbers who are applying. The dispersal system is in chaos," she said.

The dispersal system itself is not a bad one bit it has to be handled very sensitively

UNHCR spokesman

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said dispersal is "inherently a perfectly reasonable idea".

"But it doesn't seem to have been working very well in certain parts of the UK, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"In other parts I think it has worked quite well but clearly the events in Glasgow and Hull last week make a review very, very welcome."

Mr Colville called for more work to be done preparing local populations for the arrival of dispersed asylum seekers and for swift action to be taken at the first sign trouble.

'Vilification' claim

He also rejected the idea of building more secure detention centres as they were "the worst possible thing to do to people".

Days ago the UNHCR repeated criticism of the "climate of vilification" asylum seekers face in Britain from some politicians and some sections of the media.

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell also welcomed Mr Blunkett's review, but said it did not go far enough.

"What is now required is a full-scale review of Britain's policy towards asylum seekers," he said.

David Blunkett: concerns over dispersal system

Tension has surfaced in areas like Glasgow because many locals feel asylum seekers are receiving preferential treatment for housing and social welfare benefits.

The refugees have said they are becoming increasingly worried about the threat of violence and want the government to guarantee their safety.

Some have already fled Glasgow because of the trouble, although the city council has given reassurances that it is doing all it can to stamp out racial harassment.

The city has so far taken all the asylum seekers that have been sent to Scotland, with the majority staying in the Sighthill area, which has been at the centre of recent disturbances.

Two Scottish council's have offered to help with the dispersal of asylum seekers in Scotland.

Fife Council has offered 100 houses to asylum seekers and West Dunbartonshire Council has confirmed it has 50 homes available.