Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill — Burden of proof should be on the government not the asylum seeker when the issue of a late claim arises — rejected — 24 Oct 2002 at 17:59

The majority Not-Contents rejected an amendment^[1] to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill.

The Bill allows the government to refuse support to asylum seekers who make a late claim^[2]. It is also the asylum seekers responsibility to prove that they did not make a late claim. The amendment in this vote aimed to reverse this so that it would be the government's responsibility to prove the asylum seeker made a late claim. However, it 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] Lord Goodhart, House of Lords, 24 October 2002
• [2] Section 55 in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act
• [3] Based on The Guardian's A-Z of legislation

Debate in Parliament | Historical Hansard | Source |