Asylum system ‘riddled with abuse’ and needs fundamental change says Jenrick

Robert Jenrick said targets to reduce migration are not particularly helpful, despite his party previously setting them, as ITV News reports

The UK’s asylum system is “riddled with abuse” and migrants will be asked to share hotel rooms, Robert Jenrick has claimed as the government pushed to reduce net migrations.

The immigration minister said unique landmark deals with France are seeing a “big increase” in the number of interceptions on the beaches.

But he said the asylum system – which according to him has a backlog of more than 150,000 cases – must be changed “fundamentally”.

Despite the push to reduce net migration, Mr Jenrick told the show that targets on migration are not particularly helpful.

This is despite previous vows by the Conservative Party to keep the number below 100,000 people per year. Net migration to the UK last year is estimated to have reached a record 606,000.

Mr Jenrick also deflected questions on how many people had been deported under a "gold standard" agreement reached with Albania aimed at removing people who have crossed the English Channel to the UK.

On the issue of asylum seekers, Mr Jenrick told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that the system is "riddled with abuse".

"We have to be honest with ourselves, the way to tackle that is by changing fundamentally the way we handle asylum,” he added.

Mr Jenrick said the Illegal Migration Bill to detain migrants who arrive through unauthorised means before returning them home or to a third country, such as Rwanda, will alleviate the pressure.

“That will create the deterrent we desperately need, it will break the business model of the people smuggle gangs and it will stop the system from coming under intolerable pressure like it is today,” he said.

Mr Jenrick said he did not think it was unreasonable to ask asylum seekers to share rooms after a group this week apparently refused to enter a Pimlico hotel where the Home Office had asked them to sleep “four people per room”.

In a letter to the Home Secretary, the leader of Westminster City Council expressed his “deep concern” that around 40 refugees were placed in the borough on Wednesday night “without appropriate accommodation or support available” and no prior communication with the local authority.

Speaking about the incident, Mr Jenrick told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “As I understand what happened here was that these migrants, who had themselves said that they were destitute, they had nowhere to stay, we had offered them a safe bed with board and lodgings in a good-quality hotel in central London.

“Yes, some of them had to share with other people. These are single adult males: I don’t think that’s unreasonable.

“We want to reduce the cost to the taxpayer. Some people said that wasn’t good enough and they wanted their own ensuite bedrooms, and the Home Office took the perfectly reasonable view that we’ve got to look after the taxpayer here.

“And if you’re genuinely destitute, of course you’d accept that, and common sense prevailed and, I think, almost all of the migrants in question accepted the accommodation.”

He denied it was government policy to tell asylum seekers they have to share four to a room in hotels, but said it was “completely fair and reasonable” to ask single adult males to share a room.

“We don’t want to be using hotels at all. These are taking away valuable assets for the local business community, for society, you know, people’s weddings and personal events have had to be cancelled because of that.

“But where we are using them, it’s right that we get good value for money for the taxpayer.

“And so if single adult males can share a room, and it’s legal to do so, which will obviously depend on the size of the accommodation, then we’ll ask people to do that.

“I think that’s a completely fair and reasonable approach,” he told Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.

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