Staff Reporter
According to the UK Guardian, the ruling is in line with an EU directive that lays down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers across
Damian Green, the immigration minister, intends to restrict access to the labour market for failed asylum seekers. Photograph: Reuters
The Supreme Court rejected the home secretary's argument that this group of asylum seekers should lose this protection because their initial application had been rejected.
The Home Office says that up to 45,000 failed asylum seekers are likely to be affected by the ruling. Many of them are among the 450,000 "legacy cases", some dating back more than 10 years, which the Home Office is working through in a backlog exercise.
Refugee welfare groups have been fighting for more than 10 years to lift the ban on asylum seekers being allowed to work in
Immigration barristers say the ruling will mean that tens of thousands of failed asylum seekers whose fresh applications are grinding their way through the system will be entitled to basic rights, including the right to work. The court said any problem with undeserving cases should be dealt with by resolving them promptly rather than by denying those involved their fundamental rights.
However, Home Office ministers are trying to thwart the impact of a Supreme Court ruling lifting a work ban on 45,000 asylum seekers by severely restricting the jobs they can apply for.
Jonathan Ellis, director of policy and development at the Refugee Council, said the Home Office's response to the ruling was "disappointing".
"The supreme court ruled that this group of asylum seekers has the right to work under EU law – the government should not then limit this right down to a small number of asylum seekers who meet the requirements for national shortage occupations.
"The shortage occupation list is not designed for asylum seekers but rather economic migrants needing sponsorship to come to the
The immigration minister, Damian Green, wants to bar the asylum seekers from more than 28.5m jobs and restrict them to industries in which there are official staff shortages.
Home Office officials are now investigating the possibility of telling asylum seekers they can apply only for vacancies among 400,000 skilled jobs in shortage occupations – a tiny fraction of the jobs in the
Green confirmed his intention to severely restrict the jobs open to asylum seekers who have waited more than a year for a decision.
He said: "I believe it is important to maintain a distinction between economic migration and asylum – giving failed asylum seekers access to the labour market undermines this principle."
He claimed the ruling would have only a short-term effect as "the long delays in the asylum system will be resolved by the summer of next year when all the older asylum cases are concluded".
Additional reporting by the UK Guardian.
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