Asylum seekers to pay £10,000 before settlement in UK

The UK government has introduced legislation that would require some asylum seekers to repay the cost of the support they received before becoming eligible for settlement, a move expected to see affected individuals pay up to £10,000 (about N18 million) where they have the financial means.

The proposed reforms, contained in a bill introduced to Parliament on Tuesday, grant the Home Office new powers to recover the costs of asylum support, including accommodation and subsistence payments, from adults who previously received such assistance and later acquire sufficient financial resources.

Under the proposed rules, repayment would become a condition for settlement for eligible individuals. The measures would also apply to former asylum seekers who leave the UK and later seek to return. The Home Office said the policy is intended to reduce the financial burden of the asylum system on taxpayers by ensuring those who can afford to contribute repay part of the public support they received.

“The cost of asylum accommodation on the British taxpayer is too high,” the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said. “We have already reduced asylum costs by £1 billion, but it is also right that we ask those who can contribute to do so. Receiving asylum support is a right, but it is also a responsibility. Once people can contribute and repay the generosity of the British people, we expect them to do so.”

According to Home Office estimates, the average cost of accommodating an asylum seeker is £23.25 per person per night in dispersal accommodation and £144 per night in hotels. Weekly subsistence payments range from £9.95 to £49.18 per person.

Government figures also show that around 25 per cent of people aged 16 to 64 granted asylum between 2015 and 2023 entered employment within the same calendar year they received refugee status. The figure rises to 50 per cent two years after asylum is granted.

Among those employed eight years after being granted refugee status, 37 per cent were in full-time work with median annual earnings of £23,000, while 40 per cent earned above the national minimum wage. The Home Office said the proposed reforms are designed to ensure asylum recipients who are financially able take responsibility for the public costs associated with their stay in the UK.