Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 76
76
Deferred
Paragraph: 225
Government lacks compelling evidence for widespread abuse of the National Referral Mechanism for asylum.
Conclusion
The Government’s evidence for individuals ‘abusing the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) system to gain asylum’ is not compelling. There may be a few examples of individuals attempting to take advantage of the NRM, but the Home Office has failed to produce sufficient evidence to support its assertions of widespread abuse. A small number of cases cannot be allowed to jeopardise effective use of the NRM, which provides invaluable support to victims of human trafficking, nor should the Government conflate victims of human trafficking with irregular migration.
Government Response Summary
The government did not directly address the committee's finding that evidence for widespread NRM abuse is not compelling. Instead, it stated it is monitoring and evaluating the New Plan for Immigration and related Acts, revising the work to include the Illegal Migration Act 2023.
Paragraph Reference:
225
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
77. The Home Office is monitoring and evaluating the New Plan for Immigration and the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, and has revised this work to take into account the Illegal Migration Act 2023. The programme monitoring will analyse data from a range of indicators to assess whether the measures introduced are meeting our objectives. Evaluation will be conducted in line with HM Treasury Magenta Book principles to provide detailed insight on the process, impact and value for money of changes implemented, and will be integrated into the delivery of the Acts.