Evidence submitted by Refugee Action (AIA
18)
INQUIRY INTO
ASYLUM AND
IMMIGRATION APPEALS
Refugee Action has been invited to submit written
evidence for the above inquiry. Due to the nature of our work,
we are only qualified to comment on the work of the Asylum Support
Adjudicators. However, this is an area in which we have some expertise.
Refugee Action (RA) was founded in 1981 and
is a charitable company limited by guarantee. The principal object
of the charity is the relief of persons who have become displaced
persons or refugees from their countries of origin or domicile
by reason of hostilities, persecution, oppression, discrimination,
natural disasters or other like causes, and their families and
dependants who are in conditions of need, hardship and distress.
RA advises refugees and asylum seekers, helping them to rebuild
their lives in the United Kingdom. It provides advice and emergency
accommodation to thousands of newly arrived asylum seekers, and
assists them to access benefits and accommodation provided by
the National Asylum Support Service (NASS). It assists refugees
allowed to stay in the United Kingdom to access mainstream benefits.
RA also promotes the integration of refugees by promoting refugee
community organisations and wider networks of voluntary and statutory
authorities. It provides an advice service for refugees and asylum
seekers considering voluntary return to their countries of origin.
OUR ROLE
WITH NEWLY
ARRIVED ASYLUM
SEEKERS
Since 31 March 2000, we have been heavily involved
in the work of the National Asylum Support Service (NASS). Under
the terms of our grant agreement with NASS we our funded to:
(i) Provide a "Reception" service
to newly arrived asylum seekers who are in need of support.
(ii) Provide a "One Stop" service
for Asylum seekers "dispersed" to the regions by NASS
as part of their support package.
I will expand on these a little: The reception
service provides advice and assistance to newly arrived Asylum
seekers which includes:
— Advice on available support options.
— An assessment of any immediate vulnerability.
— Assistance with an application for
support to NASS.
— Provision of "Emergency Accommodation"
(where appropriate) while NASS decide whether and where to support
the client.
— A "briefing" for the client
at point of dispersal.
The "One Stop" service provides advice
and other forms of voluntary and community support to Asylum Seekers
once they have been dispersed. This is a wide-ranging service
which can include:
— "Front Line" advice and
advocacy on all aspects of the NASS support system, such as accommodation
problems, changes of circumstances (births, family breakdown,
family reunion etc), travel to immigration interviews, withdrawal
of NASS support, access to cash payments and "move on"
from the NASS system after an asylum decision.
— A range of other services, including
gender specific services, befriending schemes, youth projects,
development of statutory and voluntary sector provision, "second
tier" advice to other advice providers and access to volunteering
opportunities.
OUR ROLE
IN RELATION
TO ASAThroughout all of the above
work, we have needed to advise and assist clients through the
Asylum Support Adjudicators (ASA) appeal process. These appeals
can cover a variety of issues, but can broadly be defined as being
about either the refusal or withdrawal of support by NASS, or
the type or substance of the support offered by NASS. This could
include, for example:
— Refusal of support on the grounds
that the client was not destitute.
— Ending of support for failure to
travel to dispersal accommodation.
— Ending of the cash element of support
(due to allegations of working etc).
— Inappropriate dispersal.
— Lack of recognition of particular
accommodation needs (young children, special needs).
— Inappropriate decision on the amount
of cash support.
In the initial stages of a disputed issue between
a client and NASS, we will attempt to advocate on the client's
behalf to NASS. This may involve a number of steps to properly
represent the client's position to NASS. Where a client is still
not satisfied, our role has been to make clients aware that an
appeals process does exist and then assist them in making this
appeal.
SUCCESS OF
APPEALS TO
ASA
Appeals to ASA generate an extremely high number
of successful outcomes for asylum seekers. The following table,
taken from the ASA website, gives results of all appeals decided
upon for the period April 2002 to October 2002 (results beyond
October are not so far available):
|
Result of appeal
|
Number | % of total
(rounded)
|
| Substituted decision |
352 | 12 |
| Decision Withdrawn (NASS)
| 1,216 | 40 |
| Remitted to NASS | 362
| 12 |
| Dismissed | 364
| 12 |
| Invalid | 650
| 22 |
| Appeal Withdrawn (appellant)
| 63 | 2 |
| Total appeals decided |
3,007 | 100 |
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In total, therefore, the result was positive for the asylum
seeker in 64% of appeals. This state of affairs is improved yet
further for the appeals that RA has assisted clients in making
(we assist in approximately 25 appeals a month across our offices
and, although we do not keep statistics on the issue, normally
find that at least 20 of these are successful for the client).
We suspect that this is both because the client benefits from
having trained advice workers putting their case forward, and
because we are less likely to put forward an appeal which turns
out to be invalid.
EFFICIENCY AND
IMPORTANCE OF
ASA
We would like to stress how vital a body like ASA is in ensuring
the fairness and efficiency of a welfare providing public body
such as NASS. Without ASA, the only recourse for many of the clients
we see would be to work with a solicitor to take a NASS decision
to Judicial review. This would be both time consuming and massively
expensive, involving court time and legal fees for both sides
(Given the number of appeals which are heard by ASA, it would
probably also cause a large backlog of cases waiting to be heard).
Perhaps more importantly, many of the issues which ASA decides
upon are extremely detailed relating to the minutia of NASS policy
(about which they are experts). We believe it would be inappropriate
to expect the courts to also gain knowledge of this level of policy
detail.
POLICY AND
PROCESS IMPROVEMENTSWe
would also suggest two improvements to the current ASA appeals
process, which would, we believe, add to the efficiency and fairness
of the system
1. Support while appeal is heard
The most important improvement we would suggest is for clients
to continue to be supported while their appeal is heard. Asylum
seekers are often vulnerable people who lack the basic support
networks that many UK residents take for granted. Without NASS
support, asylum seekers are far more likely to be destitute and
homeless, or to have to resort to illegal working to support themselves.
Taking away support from these people should not be done lightly.
Given that so many asylum seekers regain their support after an
appeal, we believe it is unjust to deprive them of support, through
no fault of their own, while the appeal is being heard.
We are also worried that to deny support throughout the appeal
process will deter people from exercising their right to appeal.
If people are trying to survive while destitute, or trying to
find some way of supporting themselves when they have no right
to work, it is far less likely that they will be able to submit
or properly support an appeal. Certainly our advice teams find
it very difficult to support somebody who has nowhere to live
through an ASA appeal.
Furthermore, we believe that the cost of supporting people
while an appeal is being heard (3-4 days for a written appeal,
9-10 days if it is heard orally) will be minimal, especially in
comparison to the social and economic cost of having destitute
people living within communities and the bureaucratic cost of
arranging the re-instatement of support.
2. We also believe that the timescale for submitting
an appeal against the termination of support should be extended;
this currently stands at two days. There are many obstacles which
hinder the submission of an ASA appeal, such as:
— Ignorance of right of appeal.
— Concern over immediate future.
— Inability to complete appeal form without advice/support.
In addition, it is often appropriate for us to try to negotiate
with NASS to see if the termination/refusal of support can be
withdrawn without the need for the case to go through an appeal.
However, we are often constrained here by the client's need get
an appeal submitted on time. A slightly longer time in which to
attempt to reach agreement might well remove the need for an appeal
altogether.
We therefore believe that a fairer and more efficient timescale
for the submission of appeals would be five days.
Dave Garratt, Deputy Director
Asylum Advice
April 2003
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