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REFUGEE ACTION RESPONSE TO TODAY'S REPORT BY THE HOME AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

Thursday June 2nd 2011

In response to the Home Affairs Committee report on the UK Border Agency, Dave Garratt, the Chief Executive of Refugee Action, said: "The report deals with many different areas of immigration. It must be remembered that asylum is unique in that if people can show they have fled persecution in their home country, they have a right to remain in the UK. This is a fundamental right enshrined in international law.

"The asylum backlog had left many people in dire circumstances and often destitute for years. As UKBA concludes work on the backlog, it is vital that moving forward they work on improving the decision-making process and ensure that all people seeking asylum experience a fair process and receive proper legal representation. It is only by improving the system, making it more efficient and ensuring that people have faith in the decisions being made, that we can prevent asylum seekers falling through the cracks in future."

ENDS

Refugee Action is an independent, national charity working to enable refugees to build new lives in the UK. We provide practical advice and assistance for newly arrived asylum seekers and long-term commitment to their settlement through community development work, and received 30,000 visits from asylum seekers last year. As one of the countrys leading agencies in the field, Refugee Action has 30 years’ experience in pioneering innovative work in partnership with refugees.