Conservative
Party leader William Hague has accused the Government of incompetence and gross
mismanagement of the asylum system.
He
said, "The chaotic system is ineffective and unfair. The people losing out
most are genuine refugees, who are forced to wait for months or years in a
queue along with thousands of bogus claimants."
Hague
has brought the asylum debate to the forefront of the general election, with
all three main parties highlighting their plans for asylum-seekers and
refugees.
Dr
Vincent Cable, Lib Dem MP for Twickenham, said, "We will review current
immigration policy, including an assessment of skills needs of the country. We
will also end unnecessary restrictions on asylum-seekers undertaking voluntary
work and review restrictions on paid work in their first six months."
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The
Tories would detain asylum-seekers in "secure accommodation" and
create a Removal Agency to speedily eject those refused asylum.
The
Labour Party plans to retain its voucher system for asylum-seekers and
reiterates its target for dealing with three quarters of applications within
two months by 2004.
