More than half of asylum seekers rejected under tightened laws will remain in UK

More than half of the people whose asylum and visa claims will be rejected under tightened human rights laws will continue to live in the UK, according to the Home Office’s own assessment. Documents released on Tuesday show that plans to set new limits on article 8 of the European convention on human rights are expected to result in another 11,700 people having their claims rejected. But an impact assessment shows that 55% of those refused under article 8 reforms are expected to remain in the UK. The documents were released after Shabana Mahmood introduced the immigration and asylum bill to parliament. It proposes to charge asylum seekers £10,000 before they are given settled status, a new appeals system without judges, and new restrictions on trafficking claims. Imran Hussain, the director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, said the bill could cause “chaos in the Home Office and for the next prime minister for years to come”. He added: “It would create a whole new architecture of bureaucracy for the Home Office by building a new appeals system and imposing an unfair extra tax on refugees, while ignoring the poor quality of initial decisions that is actually driving significant delays and costs. “Every day in our frontline services, we see men, women and children from countries like Afghanistan and Sudan, who have escaped torture, devastating war and persecution from brutal regimes. …