I recognise that this is a very important issue; the UK has a proud tradition of providing a place of safety for those in need, and it is absolutely clear that refugees very often have great skills to offer and can make an enormous contribution to our country.
Each claim for asylum is carefully considered and where it is found that individuals are in need of protection, asylum is given. Those with refugee status have immediate and unrestricted access to the labour market.
Asylum seekers are allowed to apply for permission to work in jobs on the Shortage Occupation List if their claim has not been decided after 12 months through no fault of their own. I have put my name to a letter by Baroness Stroud calling on the Government to “consider extending the right to work to asylum seekers and their adult dependents who have been awaiting a decision for over six months.”
As Baroness Stroud has said, “YouGov polling shows that over 80 per cent of people polled agree that asylum seekers should be given the right to work. The Government have offered right to work to Ukrainians because of the clear benefits the policy brings to the economy and integration. It seems strange that at a time of labour shortages, we would keep any asylum seeker - including Afghan, Syrians or Hong Kongers - out of work while they await a decision. It is a policy which would bring a significant tax windfall and aide integration and chimes with the conservative conviction that work is the best route out of poverty."
