Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill — Refuse support to asylum seekers who make a late claim — 5 Nov 2002 at 19:27

The majority Aye voters passed an amendment^[1] to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill. The amendment gives the government the power to refuse support to asylum seekers who do not make a claim "as soon as reasonably practicable" after arriving into the UK.

The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill became law in 2002. Its main aims were to:^[2]

• 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] Motion on Lords amendment, House of Commons, 5 November 2002
• [2] Based on The Guardian's A-Z of legislation

Debate in Parliament | Historical Hansard | Source |