New immigration laws could stop billions of pounds meant for overseas aid being used to cover spiralling asylum costs after nearly £3.7billion was diverted to fund housing for small boat arrivals last year
- The Illegal Migration Act could close off funding for housing small boat arrivals
- Last year nearly £3.7billion was diverted to cover asylum costs at home
New immigration laws may prevent ministers using billions in overseas aid to cover spiralling asylum costs in Britain.
A watchdog, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI), said the new Illegal Migration Act could ‘close off the main source of funding’ for housing small boat arrivals.
As the Channel crisis intensified last year nearly £3.7billion was diverted from Britain’s overseas aid fund to cover asylum costs at home.
But new laws which will prevent migrants from claiming asylum in this country may mean that funding can no longer be used, with costs covered from the Home Office’s budget instead.
It came as a senior Tory MP revealed that plans to use barracks at Catterick Garrison to house asylum seekers have been abandoned.
New immigration laws may prevent ministers using billions in overseas aid to cover spiralling asylum costs in Britain. Pictured: A group of people thought to be migrants being brought into Dover yesterday
A group of people thought to be migrants are driven away from the Border Force compound in Dover, Kent, on Tuesday
In March, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was said to have been ‘showing leadership’ by bringing forward proposals to use the barracks, which is located in his north Yorkshire constituency.
Speaking in the Commons, senior backbencher Sir Edward Leigh questioned savings from the Home Office’s new asylum centres – such as the one planned for former RAF base at Scampton, Lincs.
READ MORE: Migrant flashes hand sign as Border Force bring group ashore after 286 crossed the English Channel in five vessels yesterday
‘When the Prime Minister announced that he was imperilling £300million worth of levelling up on RAF Scampton he said he was going to lead by example by accepting migrants into Catterick camp in his constituency,’ Sir Edward said.
‘Home Office officials have now informed us that is not happening, so where is the leadership in that?’ Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said: ‘We do believe that this policy is in the national interest.
‘It’s right that those coming to this country are accommodated in decent but never luxurious accommodation so we don’t create a pull factor to the UK.’
The ICAI report, published today WEDS, says aid funding can only be spent on ‘in-donor refugee costs’ if individuals are awaiting an asylum decision.
The new immigration Act – which was passed by Parliament earlier this year but has yet to be fully brought into force – strips illegal migrants of the ability to lodge asylum claims.
Dr Tamsyn Barton, the ICAI’s chief commissioner, said: ‘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.’
It came as a senior Tory MP revealed that plans to use barracks at Catterick Garrison to house asylum seekers have been abandoned (file image)
The new immigration Act – which was passed by Parliament earlier this year but has yet to be fully brought into force – strips illegal migrants of the ability to lodge asylum claims
Sarah Champion, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons’ International Development Committee, described the finding as a ‘spectacular own goal’ for the Government.
The Home Office said it is still assessing the Act’s impact on aid spending.
In the Commons, Mr Jenrick also confirmed it will be ‘weeks’ before asylum seekers can move back onto the Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset.
The first occupants arrived on the 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 – in the vessel’s water system.
Mr Jenrick said the barge would be back in use ‘as soon as possible’ once tests were complete.
The number of small boat migrants to have reached Britain so far this year is 21,372, after 286 arrivals on Monday.
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.’
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