text_body: --- DIVISION TITLE ---
  
  UK Borders Bill - Give asylum seekers permission to work - rejected
  
  --- MOTION EFFECT ---
  
  
  The majority Not-Contents rejected an amendment[1] to the [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/pabills/200607/uk_borders.htm UK Borders Bill]. The amendment would have allowed the government to introduce [http://www.parliament.uk/business/bills_and_legislation/secondary_legislation.cfm secondary legislation] to let asylum seekers work. This would only apply to asylum seekers who were unable to return to their home country and whose application was outstanding for over 12 months. However, the amendment was defeated.
  
  In moving the amendment Lord Avebury explained that:
  
  :'we have always said that refusing long-term failed asylum seekers the right to work is economically illiterate and gratuitously damaging in human terms. It deprives society of the contribution that they can make with their skills and abilities and it is absolutely demoralising for the individuals concerned, whose only alternatives are to live on the charity of friends or relatives or to work illegally.'[2]
  
  However, Lord Bassam of Brighton argued that:
  
  :'Entering the country for economic reasons is not the same as seeking asylum. We do not allow asylum seekers to work as that could encourage asylum applications from those with no fear of persecution and slow down the processing of applications from genuine refugees.'[3]
  
  The UK Borders Bill became law in 2007. Its main aims are to:[4]
  
  * Impose biometric identity documents on non-EU immigrants
  * Automatically deport foreign nationals if they are imprisoned for more than one year or commit specific offences
  * Give immigration officers powers to detain, search and seize assets of suspected illegal immigrants
  
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  * [1] [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?gid=2007-10-11b.405.4 Lord Avebury], House of Lords, 11 October 2007
  * [2] [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?gid=2007-10-11b.405.5 Lord Avebury], House of Lords, 11 October 2007
  * [3] [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?gid=2007-10-11b.408.0 Lord Bassam of Brighton], House of Lords, 11 October 2007
  * [4] Based on The Guardian's [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2008/dec/16/uk-borders-act A-Z of legislation]
  
  --- COMMENTS AND NOTES ---
  
  (put thoughts and notes for other researchers here)
  