£16,000 for families of asylum seekers

A report reveals today that families of asylum seekers receive on average £16,000 a year in benefits.

Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes publishes the figures as part of a home affairs select committee study of plans to strip failed asylum seekers of benefits if they refuse to leave the country.

The £16,000 figure takes into account cash benefits and housing given to the average asylum-seeking couple with two children but does not include extra burden on NHS or schools. The total cost of asylum seekers to the taxpayer is estimated at almost £2 billion a year.

The report said legislation, proposed in the Asylum and Immigration Bill, to take children into care would act as an incentive for families to disappear and leave their children in the care of local authorities at public expense.

It takes teachers and NHS nurses five years to achieve £16,000-a-year take home pay.