Priti Patel to launch overhaul of Britain’s ‘fundamentally broken’ asylum system

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PRITI Patel will declare Britain’s asylum system is “fundamentally broken” — and launch the biggest overhaul in decades.

The Home Secretary will target criminal gangs, illegal migrants and unscrupulous lawyers who are failing genuine refugees and costing taxpayers £1billion a year.

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She will vow to end years of inaction by successive governments and create a new structure that is both firm and fair.

Ms Patel will unveil a wide- ranging action plan after a year in which over 5,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in dinghies to enter Britain illegally.

In a keynote speech, she will say: “A fair asylum system should provide safe haven to those fleeing persecution, oppression or tyranny. But ours doesn’t. Because our asylum system is fundamentally broken. And we have a responsibility to act.”

With more than 40,000 people stuck in the system, genuine vulnerable asylum-seekers are forced to wait over a year to have their claims processed — and the cost to taxpayers is at a 20-year high.

Ms Patel vows to get a grip by taking action to speed up removal of illegal migrants and asylum cheats. In her sights are activist lawyers who play the human rights card to mount endless legal challenges — often at taxpayers’ expense.

The Home Secretary, whose parents arrived in Britain from Uganda in the 1960s, will tell the Tories’ virtual conference: “I will introduce a new system that’s firm and fair. Fair and compassionate to those who need our help. Fair by welcoming people through safe and legal routes.

‘FAIR AND COMPASSIONATE’

“But firm because we will stop the abuse of the broken system.

“Firm, because we will stop those who come here illegally making endless legal claims to remain.

“And firm, because we will expedite removal of those who have no claim for protection.”

Ms Patel will list three examples which she says prove the system is broken.

They include a young person who came here legally to claim asylum as it was unsafe to go home but languished in the system.

Another case involves a dangerous foreign offender who committed an appalling crime but used bogus asylum claims to stay in Britain.

And a third case involves a migrant who arrived illegally on a small boat having passed through several safe counties to “shop around” for where to claim asylum.

Ms Patel will say: “Under Conservative leadership, the UK has and always will provide sanctuary when the lights are being switched off on people’s liberties.”

She will promise to take “every necessary step” to fix the system and step up her operational response to illegal migration.

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