New scheme will pay failed asylum seekers thousands of pounds to leave UK

UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Thursday unveiled a new pilot scheme that will offer some failed asylum seekers 10,000 pounds per person, capped at 40,000 pounds for families, to vacate British taxpayer-funded accommodation and leave the country.

In a major policy speech at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank on immigration reforms in London, the South Asian heritage minister said refugees who refused to accept the "incentive payment" would face being forcibly deported.

The Home Office said the scheme, inspired by a successful system in Denmark, is expected to target about 150 families in the first phase within a week, estimated to save 20 million pounds for the British taxpayers.

"This government will now pilot a similar model for families who are failed asylum seekers. A small number of whom will now be offered an increased incentive payment of 10,000 pounds per person and up to a maximum of 40,000 pounds per family," said Mahmood.

"To put that in important context, today a family of three in asylum hotel accommodation costs up to 158,000 pounds per year. Should these incentives prove effective, they will represent a significant saving to the taxpayer.

"Where a voluntary removal is refused, we will escalate to an enforced removal for those who can be returned to their safe, home country," she said.

The minister also stressed that asylum seekers who break the law, or work illegally, will lose their right to state-funded accommodation and support payments.

"The generosity of the British people will become conditional on those seeking asylum following the law, living by our rules and not working illegally. Taxpayer-funded accommodation will be reserved for those who: have no right to work and will otherwise be destitute," said Mahmood.

Her latest set of announcements come a day after she applied an "emergency brake" on student visas for Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan with Afghans also subject to a skilled worker visa ban due to a surge in asylum claims from these countries.

"I will also impose visit visas on Nicaragua and St Lucia as their visa-free entry has created a back door into this country. I introduce all of these measures in an attempt to bring our systems of legal migration and asylum into line with this [Labour] party's values," she said at the IPPR.

Mahmood reiterated some of her previous announcements to highlight that the "privilege" of settling in the UK should be "earned, and not automatic", with the qualifying period for settlement doubling from five to 10 years.

"There will be certain conditions that must be met in order to qualify: a clean criminal record, no debt to the taxpayer, a history of being in work and paying taxes, and higher standards of English language," she added.

It comes on the back of a policy unveiled earlier this week to make asylum status in the UK temporary, to be reviewed after 30 months.