“Migrants will be required to pay off the full amount"
Asylum seekers face having to pay back around £10,000 towards the cost of their accommodation and support once they start earning, under government plans.
The new measures, which are part of the Immigration and Asylum Bill, are aimed at recovering costs from all adults with sufficient funds.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has set out the plans amid pressure to reduce £4 billion asylum costs.
She said: “Receiving asylum support is a right, but it is also a responsibility.
“Once people can contribute and repay the generosity of the British people, we expect them to do so.”
Asylum seekers are expected to repay about £10,000, with the Home Office able to adjust the charge. Those deemed to have sufficient funds would face a flat rate charge.
Those whose claims have been rejected and leave the UK will have to repay the costs before they can return.
The Home Office said: “Migrants will be required to pay off the full amount before being eligible for settlement.”
Imran Hussain, director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, said:
“Imposing what amounts to an extra tax on refugees, who the Home Office accepts have arrived here after fleeing persecution, torture and war is unfair, impractical and makes it much harder for families to rebuild their lives and stand on their own feet.”
In 2023, an estimated 13% of people granted refugee status five years earlier were earning at least £20,000, with others not working or on lower incomes.
Madeleine Sumption, director of the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory, said:
“The data suggests that unless thresholds were significantly below the minimum wage, a relatively small share of people granted asylum would earn enough to make contributions to the scheme.
“Overall, the impact of the scheme on public finances is likely to be relatively small because it is a means-tested payment for a very low-income population.
“It is possible that the scheme could have some other impacts, such as discouraging asylum seekers from taking up accommodation if they can find other support, or discouraging them from working once they get refugee status because they face a higher effective tax rate.”
The Home Office has not determined how much people would need to earn before making monthly instalments.
The average cost of housing an asylum seeker in private-rented accommodation is £23.25 per night, and £144 in hotels, while subsistence payments range from £9.95 to £49.18 per week.
According to the Home Office, 24% of 16 to 64-year-olds granted asylum between 2015 and 2023 were in employment in the first year in which they arrived in the UK.
That number rose to around 48% two years after refugee status was granted.
Of those who were in employment eight years after receiving refugee status, 37% had been in full-time work with median earnings of £23,000, with just 40% earning more than the minimum wage.
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