Charity urges asylum work reform

The report claims as many as 100,000 children could be affected

Asylum seekers should be given the right to work after six months in the UK, a leading children's charity says.

Thousands of children are condemned to a life of poverty as current laws stop their parents from working while their cases are processed, Barnardo's said.

It said there could be as many as 100,000 children of asylum seekers in the UK; the government disputes this.

It said Barnardo's view did not reflect reforms of the past year, adding that asylum claims were at a "15-year low".

'Shocking' disadvantages

New procedures brought in by the Home Office mean families arriving in the UK claiming asylum will now be swiftly returned to their own country if their claim is unsuccessful.

Barnardo's says current laws mean asylum seekers cannot support themselves and their children while they are waiting for their claim to be dealt with.

It wants the backlog in cases to be dealt with as quickly as possible, with any parents staying in the UK longer than six months being allowed to work.

In a report, called Like Any Other Child?, it said some asylum seekers had had to wait as long as 10 years before their cases were resolved.

For those whose cases have been languishing in the old system, often for years, there is a desperate need for a new approach Martin Narey Barnardo's chief executive

It said their children faced "shocking" disadvantages because of their parents' small benefits allowance, often living in damp and unsafe housing.

It added some youngsters also suffered "aggressive racial abuse" and had to move schools.

Asylum seekers also had to deal with the uncertainty of living for years without knowing whether they may have to leave the UK and take their children back to countries the youngsters' had no experience of.

'Top priority'

Barnardo's chief executive Martin Narey said: "For those whose cases have been languishing in the old system, often for years, there is a desperate need for a new approach and in particular a moral and economic case for allowing parents trapped in the backlog to work and support their children.

"Often they have skills the UK needs and they have no wish to live on government handouts."

Immigration Minister Liam Byrne described the report as "pretty wide of the mark and way behind the reform of the last 12 months".

He said: "The facts are that asylum claims are now at a 15-year low, new fast-track asylum teams are on track to resolve the majority of new cases in six months or less, and families with children are amongst the top priority that our new 900-strong legacy team will conclude this year.

"We will, I'm afraid, remove anyone with no right to be in the UK, as humanely as possible."