Date:11/10/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/10/11/stories/2002101100211500.htm

International

Asylum: setback to U.K. Govt. plan

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON OCT. 10. The Blair Government's bid to crack down on asylum-seekers was embroiled in a fresh controversy today after the House of Lords rejected two key proposals that would have paved the way for confining asylum applicants in special detention centres, and barred their children from attending mainstream schools.

A confrontation appeared to be looming as the Government, which has already earmarked several converted military barracks in isolated rural areas for the proposed centres, said it would not allow the vote in the Lords to `derail' its plans. "The provision of accommodation centres is key to the government's immigration reform programme. On that basis, we will not allow this crucial reform to be derailed by the House of Lords,'' a Home Office spokesman said.

The Tories joined hands with Liberal Democrats to defeat the Government's move which was widely denounced as `inhumane'. Critics argued that `dumping' frightened and traumatised asylum-seekers into segregated centres amid isolated surroundings would be cruel to people, already down on their knees. They also feared that, given the prejudice against refugees in the countryside, the move could cause tensions at the local community level.

Civil rights groups, working with refugees, supported the Lords' vote and hoped that the Government would review its decision. They suggested that smaller centres in urban areas, where the refugees did not feel condemned or being treated as criminals, would be a more `decent' way to deal with the issue. "We hope the Government will listen very carefully to the widespread concerns expressed in the House of Lords,'' Nick Hardwick of the Refugee Council said.

There was equally strong criticism of the proposal to bar children of asylum applicants from attending neighbourhood schools. Rejecting the proposal, opponents said it would "stigmatise and marginalise'' the refugee children. The most stinging opposition to the move came from senior Bishops in the Lords who believed it amounted to discrimination. Their view was supported by children's organisation. "This is a vote for all children...Child refugees deserve to be treated the same as every other child,'' a spokesman of the Children's Society said.

The setback came even as the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, came under attack for his plan to discourage refugees from the 10 Eastern European countries, which are about to join the E.U., on the ground that their membership of the E.U. meant that these were `safe' for their citizens.