United Kingdom may apply fee of 10 thousand euros to asylum seekers
Asylum seekers in the UK may have to repay the country around £10,000 for accommodation and basic living assistance before they become eligible to apply for permanent residence.
The announcement was made by the government on Monday (29), as part of its latest efforts to curb illegal immigration.
Immigration is one of the most controversial issues in British politics, being one of the main concerns of voters in opinion polls and fueling protests and community tensions.
The British Labor Party has intensified efforts to curb the arrival of immigrants, both legal and illegal, seeking to counter the rise of Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, which has promised to deport up to 600,000 asylum seekers.
Home Minister Shabana Mahmood said her latest reforms aim to reduce the burden on tax payers.
"Receiving asylum assistance is a right, but also a responsibility," she said. "Once people can contribute and repay the generosity of the British people, we hope they will do so."
According to the proposed rules, only adults with financial means would be charged, with contingencies in place to prevent them from being forced into poverty. The rules would not be applied retroactively, and children would be exempt from the fee.
These recent measures come at a politically delicate time for the Labor Party, which is facing internal divisions over the extent to which immigration policy should be tightened, as well as wider uncertainty arising from Keir Starmer's announcement that he will step down as Prime Minister.
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The Home Office estimates that accommodation for asylum seekers costs, on average, £23.25 per person (approximately R$160) per night in temporary accommodation and £144 (approximately R$1,000) in hotels, in addition to a weekly subsistence payment.
In total, the annual cost of accommodation and assistance for asylum seekers was estimated at around £4 billion last year.
Source: CNN