Announcing the changes, home secretary David Blunkett said asylum seekers who had been dispersed to the North and Midlands would have to stay there if they wanted housing after being granted leave to remain in the UK.
The measure is designed to ease pressure on housing in London and the South-east.
Other amendments mean:
- failed asylum seekers who stay in the country will be forced to do unpaid community work
- people given leave to remain will be offered loans rather than the backdated income support payments they get now
- appeals against the deprivation of British nationality and against deportation will be heard together, speeding up the process.
- there will be a package of hardline measures to prevent sham marriages.
Blunkett said: "People who have been granted refugee status must recognise that with these rights come responsibilities."
Bharti Patel, head of policy at the Refugee Council, condemned the amendments.
She said: "This is yet another example of the government presenting asylum as a problem.
"The amendments have been tabled at such a late stage that it's going to be problematic in terms of scrutiny, and there's been no consultation.
"The proposal around dispersal is not conducive to integration, and we believe that people should be allowed to choose where they live.
"It is only natural they want to go to places with strong support networks, such as London."
Source
Housing Today
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