A watchdog has warned that the Home Office will have to find an extra £2 billion a year to fund the housing of illegal migrants when its new “stop the boats” law comes into force.
According to the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI), ministers could be blocked from diverting millions of pounds from Britain’s foreign aid budget when the Illegal Migration Act is fully implemented.
Powers created by the new law, which received Royal Assent in July, will prevent the Home Office from using the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget to cover asylum costs, including accommodating migrants in hotels.
Last year the department spent £2.4 billion of the foreign aid budget on asylum costs, with £1.9 billion of it going towards housing tens of thousands of migrants in hotels.
However, the ICAI—which scrutinises how the government spends its development budget—said the new act will “close off the main source of funding the government is using to house asylum seekers”
This is because the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), of which the UK is a member, states that aid funding can only be spent on “in-donor refugee costs” if individuals are awaiting an asylum decision.
It says that if migrants who arrive by unauthorised means in the UK are deemed illegal and barred from receiving asylum, then aid funding would not be eligible to be used on accommodation pending their removal.
Safe Third Country
The government’s plans to fully enact the Illegal Migration Act, which plans to deport illegal arrivals to Rwanda, is currently paused due to a legal challenge.The Rwanda plan was first unveiled in April 2022 in an attempt to deter crossings on the English Channel on small boats.
It has been subject to several legal challenges, including the latest at the Court of Appeal where judges ruled that Rwanda had not provided enough safeguards to prove it is a “safe third country.”
Two out of the three judges found that there was a risk that asylum seekers sent to Rwanda could then be forced back to the country from where they were originally fleeing.
This means the UK government’s immigration policy contravenes the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects against torture.
Suella Braverman said this did not mean that Rwanda itself was not safe, and is currently challenging the ruling.
The home secretary told MPs she respected the judgement, but added it was “disappointing” and that the government would be challenging it.
Dr. Tamsyn Barton, the ICAI’s chief commissioner, said the new rules would mean the Home Office having to meet the costs out of its own budget rather than the Foreign Office’s.
“Our analysis of the aid rules suggests that the Illegal Migration Act, if fully implemented, could close off the main source of funding the Government is using to house asylum seekers,” she said.
Dr. Barton said that using the aid budget on hotel costs for asylum seekers rather than supporting people in their home countries is “inequitable as well as inefficient.”
Diphtheria Cases
Reacting to the ICAI report (pdf), published on Wednesday, Labour MP Ms. Champion said the finding was an “own goal” for the government.“Spending billions of our greatly reduced foreign aid budget in the UK—the bulk of it on hotels for the tens of thousands of people awaiting an asylum decision in a horribly backlogged system—was always counter-productive,” she said.
“Spending in this manner was against the spirit of the ODA rules and now it seems with the Illegal Migration Act, the government has made its policy in breach of those same rules.
“It’s a spectacular own goal for the government. ODA needs to be allowed to return to tackling the reasons people flee their homes, not deal with the consequences.”
The Home Office said it is still assessing the Act’s impact on ODA spending, but insisted it acts in accordance with the OECD rules. A government spokesman said: “It is vital that we deter people from risking their lives in extremely dangerous small boat crossings.
“The Illegal Migration Act will mean that people who come to the UK illegally will not have a right to stay.
“Instead they will be liable to be returned either to their home country or relocated to a safe third country, breaking the business model of people smugglers and stopping the unprecedented strain on our asylum system.”
The report comes as figures showed fresh cases of diphtheria among asylum seekers in England have been reported for the first time since January, and Channel crossings continued for a fourth day in a row.
Since the start of September, 1,271 migrants have been detected crossing the Channel, according to Home Office figures.
Pictures showed groups of men being brought ashore on Tuesday amid hot, dry and calm conditions at sea before boarding a coach to be driven away from a Border Force compound in Dover, Kent.
On Monday, 286 people made the journey in five boats, taking the provisional total for the year so far to 21,372.
Barge Delays
Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick revealed that it could be weeks before migrants are moved back on board the Bibby Stockholm barge.He told MPs those claiming asylum would be moved back onto the barge in Dorset “as soon as possible”, providing safety checks showed no “cause for concern” and he expects this to take place “within weeks.”
The first number of immigrants arrived on the Bibby barge last month but were moved off again just days later after tests revealed Legionella—the bacteria which can cause the potentially fatal Legionnaires’ disease—was present.
Since then, ministers and officials have been unable to say when migrants would be back on board.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman insisted the giant vessel is safe amid threats of legal action from firefighters.
Conservative MP Richard Drax, whose South Dorset constituency is home to the barge, asked in the Commons “when and if” migrants would return.
Mr. Jenrick replied: “It was very unfortunate that migrants had to be moved off the barge over the summer. We deeply regret that. We did take a very precautionary approach.
“Tests have subsequently been carried out and the definitive answers to those tests will be received very shortly.”
It comes as UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data showed three cases of diphtheria among asylum seekers were reported in England in August, taking the total number of cases for 2022 and 2023 to 77.
The total previously stood at 74 after one case was reported in January. No further cases were recorded between February and July, the figures show.
The Home Office refused to confirm if any of the latest cases were found among people on board the Bibby Stockholm or those staying at former RAF airbase Wethersfield Airfield in Essex, which opened to migrants for the first time in July, when asked by the PA news agency.
Highly Contagious
Fifty-five of the diphtheria cases have been recorded in the South East, seven in London, and there were fewer than five in each of the following areas: East of England, West Midlands, South West, North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber, the latest report said, but no breakdown by county is provided.A department spokeswoman said: “The health and welfare of asylum seekers in our care is of the utmost importance. There has been a very small number of cases of diphtheria and all individuals have been treated.
“The Home Office liaises with the UKHSA regarding suspected diphtheria and infection cases. This can include safely moving individuals to more appropriate accommodation to support their safe isolation.”
Asylum seekers with symptoms of the highly contagious disease were put into isolation last year amid an increase in the number of infections among people arriving in the UK.
But ministers and health officials insisted the risk of the public getting diphtheria is very low and infections are rare.
At the time, Ms. Braverman faced criticism about overcrowding and outbreaks of disease at Manston amid concerns a man held there may have died from a diphtheria infection.
