Bishops urge Blunkett to scrap asylum vouchers

The new Home Secretary's 'tough 'n' tender' reforms could reflect the Church's criticisms of the asylum system, reports Luke Coppen
THE CHURCH has welcomed signs that the Government is preparing to scrap the controversial voucher system for refugees.
But it warned that the indications could be little more than "a PR exercise", designed to avert an embarrassing rebellion at this year's Labour conference.
The Church was responding to a report at the weekend that the new home secretary, David Blunkett, is considering replacing the voucher system as part of a Government review of asylum policy. The system provides an estimated 80,000 asylum seekers with vouchers for food and other essentials. These are worth only 70 per cent of income support levels.
The home secretary was also reported to want to lift the ban on refugees working for their first six months in Britain, as part of a "tough 'n' tender" reform package.
The bishops of England and Wales appealed to Mr Blunkett on Monday to return cash benefits to refugees and to restore them to social security levels.
"The voucher system stigmatises and humiliates asylum seekers as they go about purchasing their daily needs in designated shops. The voucher system has also contributed to the climate of poor race relations across the country," said a statement by the bishops' office for refugee policy.
"We believe that restoring welfare benefits to asylum seekers and allowing them the right to work while they wait for a decision on their claims is a more humane way to support asylum seekers. These measures would be consistent with our commitment to the 1951 UN Convention of Refugees on the protection and assistance of asylum seekers."
The bishops' comments came a day after the Pope issued a powerful appeal for countries to respect the Convention. Speaking at his summer residence, Castelgandolfo, the Pontiff said that 50 years to the day after it was first signed, the agreement remained "the foundation on which the international protection of refugees rests".
The Church has sharply criticised the voucher system since it was introduced in April 2000. It has placed the Government under sustained pressure to abolish the scheme, which it believes is a violation of asylum seekers' human rights.
In May 2000, the bishops urged the Government to "uphold the letter and the spirit" of the 1951 Convention, ensuring that the UK had
both "an effective and humane" asylum system.
In October, Bishop Patrick O'Donoghue, chairman of the office for refugee policy, said that the UK's "rigid" asylum regime threatened to deny refugees the fundamental right to protection.
He said: The rights of asylum seekers are put at risk by a narrow interpretation of legal instruments that are intended to protect them. They suffer under the rigidity of the new suppoit system, from lack of access to legal advice, from limitations on the right to appeal, and from a system increasingly geared towards deterrence and detention:
A spokeswoman for the Home Office denied that the voucher system would be scrapped completely.
She said: "We've been conducting a version of the voucher system for some time. We're certainly not scrapping it entirely."
New Home Office figures reveal that it has cost the Government £15.6 million to introduce the voucher scheme. Over the past 12 months, over 48,000 asylum seekers have received £26.1 million in vouchers. A single adult receives just £36.54 week in vouchers and cash, equivalent to 70 per cent of social security levels.