PUBLIC confidence in the immigration system is being undermined by the "vexatious" use of appeals and legal challenges to asylum rulings, a Government minister has warned.
Immigration Minister Phil Woolas, who has gained a reputation for outspoken remarks since his appointment last month, said he stood by a claim in an interview with The Guardian that some lawyers and NGOs were 'playing the system to the nth degree'.
"Some lawyers have raised false hopes and played the legal system to the disadvantage of having fair decisions being taken on behalf of asylum seekers," he told BBC Radio 4's PM programme.
"The difficulty is that if the system is subject to what I believe, on occasion, to be the vexatious use of appeals and judicial review, then it does inevitably cause confusion, it diverts resources and, more importantly, it undermines confidence in the minds of the public.
"That is what I am appealing to the legal profession to help me with - to build confidence in the system amongst the public."
Mr Woolas, however, stressed that his comments referred to only some immigration lawyers - "not even a significant minority".
In his Guardian interview, he had complained that there was an "industry" in challenging asylum rulings, which was making it increasingly difficult to offer asylum to genuine refugees.
He recounted the case of one asylum seeker who came to his constituency office in Oldham.
"One lady showed me the scars on her thighs from where the soldiers had raped her, so I know," he told the paper, "but I cannot take a decision on that lady's behalf if I am fogged by cases that are misusing the law."
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Woolas warns on appeals
November 18, 2008
Immigration Minister Phil Woolas

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Rt Hon Dr Rev MC Spanner MP QC FCA FRICS JP OK (18/11/2008 at 19:39)
For aminute there I thought you represented the elected government. Do something about it.
Ace Shakespeare , manchester (18/11/2008 at 22:36)
Jay B, oldham (19/11/2008 at 10:04)
because not to do so will continue to destruction of our society as we know it and the destruction of your own party!
have some guts and tackle it straigh on. to dilly dallying on little bits here and there.
kailash, Stalybridge (19/11/2008 at 11:41)
International migration will be one of the most complex challenges in this globalised international community. These challenges need to be resolved with sensitivity and imagination for the world to benefit from the positive features that international migration can offer. The total number of asylum seekers globally are estimated at one million even though the bulk of the applicants seeking better improved economic opportunity and quality of life do so in the garb of asylum seekers. The difficulty in processing and differentiation between the genuine and the ‘pseudo-asylum seekers’ is a complex exercise resulting in incalculable human hardship to individuals who are genuinely in need of protection from policies of persecution faced in their country of residence or have forced to seek asylum for reasons which have received international acceptance. Mechanisms, procedures, and training of relevant personnel to clearly differentiate among these categories require to be evolved and consensus reached among destination country policies which are both humane and symmetric should be the priroty of Mr Woolas and not to secure political points. Communities - from schools right through to local authorities - need to be encouraged to develop a more realistic understanding of immigration and asylum matters.
What is required is neither fortress Britain, nor open-door Britain. , instead, we need is tightening the immigration system as necessary and deal with the abuses so that public support for a controlled and selective migration which benefits Britain is maintained.
Ace Shakespeare , manchester (21/11/2008 at 11:57)
THE EU costs Britain a staggering £106,117 PER MINUTE, new research revealed last night.
UK taxpayers will pick up a bill of almost £56billion for this year’s EU