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Home Office’s ‘ludicrous’ asylum-seeker work ban has cost taxpayers £876m over 10 years
People join a solidarity event outside Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, in support of Asylum seekers housed at the former barracks
THE Home Office’s “ludicrous” work ban for asylum seekers has cost taxpayers £876 million over 10 years, according to new calculations.
Figures published today by the Lift the Ban coalition suggest that letting asylum-seekers get jobs could have generated the enormous sum through taxes, National Insurance contributions and savings made on asylum support.
Under the current policy, asylum-seekers can only work if they have been waiting 12 months for a decision and their job is listed on a highly restrictive shortage occupation list.
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