Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill — Only allow destitute asylum seekers and those under residence restrictions to live in accommodation centres for a maximum of 10 weeks — rejected — 11 Jun 2002 at 19:27

The majority No voters rejected an amendment^[1] to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill.

The Bill gives the government the power to set up accommodation centres for destitute asylum seekers and people with residency restrictions^[2]. The intention of the amendment in this vote was to only allow these people to stay in an accommodation centre for a maximum of 10 weeks. However, the amendment was defeated.

The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill became law in 2002. Its main aims were to:^[3]

• Allow asylum seekers to be detained at any time
• Disallow appeals from within the UK from failed asylum seekers who are citizens of a specific country
• Deny asylum seekers support unless they make their claim "as soon as reasonably practicable" after arrival into the UK
• Create accommodation centres to house destitute asylum seekers

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• [1] Oliver Letwin MP, House of Commons, 11 June 2002
• [2] Clause 14 in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill
• [3] Based on The Guardian's A-Z of legislation

Debate in Parliament | Historical Hansard | Source |