Most rich countries allow asylum-seekers to work within a few months of applying
waiting room stretches the length and breadth of Britain. Somewhere in the queue is a 35-year-old Nigerian called Kemi. When she applied for asylum, in 2016, London seemed like heaven compared with the domestic abuse she suffered back home. She came to study but stayed after becoming pregnant, fearing that her baby, like her other two daughters, would suffer genital mutilation if she went back. Now, Britain seems closer to purgatory. She shares her flat with two other families.
The queue moves slowly. About half of asylum applicants wait more than six months for a decision, up from a fifth in 2015. Applications fell during this period, but staff were diverted to clear a backlog of candidates waiting more than ten years for a decision and to run the post-Brexit settlement scheme for Europeans, says Jill Rutter of British Future, a think-tank.The logjam has rekindled opposition to the work ban.
There is little evidence that the work ban deters migrants. Surveys of asylum-seekers find that only a sixth knew before they came to Britain that they would not be able to work. Kemi was among those who assumed she would find a job. Factors such as ability to speak the language and the presence of relatives and friends have a greater bearing on a migrant’s decision to come to a particular country than short-term concerns like the application process.
Lifting the ban would clearly help asylum-seekers themselves. Forced inactivity allows skills to atrophy and can contribute to mental illness, says Cornelius Katona of the Helen Bamber Foundation, a charity. The job ban also cheats the taxpayer, as in practice many asylum-seekers find work in the grey economy. Two-thirds of legitimate company bosses think they should be allowed to work after six months, according to a poll published on September 16th by Refugee Action, another charity.
The ban is at odds with the rhetoric of recent governments that benefit claimants must contribute to society. “It goes hugely against the man on the street’s common sense,” says Stephen Hale of Refugee Action. Lifting the ban may be too good an opportunity to pass up. The Home Office does not often have the chance to please do-gooders, populists and bosses at once."Employment-seekers"
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