The shock decision to make every walk-in asylum seeker entering the UK come to Croydon has been met with fury by politicians throughout the borough over the past week.

Lunar House became the UK Border Agency’s only asylum screening unit in the country following the snap closure of the Liverpool office on October 14.

The move means each of the 30,000 asylum seekers who fail to apply when they initially enter the country will have to come to Croydon to do so.

Council taxpayers already spend millions of pounds each year to cover the cost of asylum seekers in the borough, and will bear the brunt of any extra applicants according to Croydon Council leader Mike Fisher.

Gavin Barwell, the council’s lead member for safety and cohesion, said it was “unreasonable" for the Government to expect Croydon to deal with every in-country application.

He said: “All of us would celebrate the fact that Croydon is a diverse place, but there’s an issue of scale of change with this process and council taxpayers have to bear it to a degree.

“Naturally when people have to come here to make in-country claims a number tend to remain in Croydon.”

Croydon Central MP Andrew Pelling said he believed the decision had been poorly handled and risked boosting the BNP’s prospects in next year’s local council elections, while Croydon North MP Malcolm Wicks said his part of the borough had already taken more than its fair share of asylum seekers.

He said: “There’s a danger of us being a victim of our tolerance.”

In addition to official asylum seekers heading to the borough, thousands of immigrants are choosing to dodge the system over fears they will be sent home - instead settling illegally in areas which already host their countrymen.

Akram Khan from the British Afghan Association said up to 9,000 Afghani asylum seekers had already decided to live in and around Croydon, with many hoping to hide for the six years necessary to make a citizenship application possible.

He said: “The Government brought in a fast track system last year, which means asylum seeker applications can be dealt with in 10 days, and 99 per cent are then sent home to torture and persecution.

“My friend who lived with me was killed within two days of returning by opposition forces.

“It’s obvious to me people are choosing to live in the area - I believe people choose Croydon.”

Housing

Extra asylum seekers will have to be put up in bed and breakfast or hostels for six weeks following their applications - which will have to be funded by Croydon council tax payers if the Government fails to hand out extra cash.

Dudley Mead, Croydon Council’s lead member for housing, said: “In cash flow terms we’re not out of pocket (for housing) at the moment, but there’s no way Croydon Council tax payers are going to be left out of pocket.

“We’re hard-up enough as it is.

“I will have no difficulty in pushing this very hard with the Home Office.”

Coun Mead said fewer than 100 asylum seekers a year currently attempt to get on the waiting list for council houses, and reassured people already on the lists there would be no “positive discrimination”.

He said: “My primary concern is to the straightforward, ordinary people who are on housing waiting lists, not to people who happen to have turned up in Croydon.”

Education

Unaccompanied asylum seeking children(UASCs) already account for almost two-thirds of young people under the care of Croydon Council, while several schools are feeling the pressure of immigration.

About 10,000 UASCs were living in the UK in 2007 according to an independent audit, with more than two-thirds making their asylum applications in Croydon.

Gavin Barwell, the council’s lead member for safety and cohesion, said north Croydon tended to bear the brunt of UASCs as it contained much of the council’s housing stock.

He said: "We have to fund foster care, council care homes and school places.

“The upshot tends to be pressure on the schools, and children often come in at year 10 or 11 who don’t speak great English.

"For example, the Oasis Academy Shirley Park has a significant number of UASCs, and that places particular pressure on the school."

He added: “No one is saying we don’t want this in Croydon at all, but we shouldn’t have to shoulder the whole burden.”

Crime

Weapon seizures from asylum seekers, failed applicants committing benefit fraud and illegal immigrants working within the borough are all challenges that Croydon police have faced in the past 12 months.

Failed asylum seeker Adesuwa Ojo-Osague was jailed for eight months in July for using a false identity to claim £114,000 in benefits, and illegal immigrants from India were arrested in December after more than 30 officers stormed a cash and carry.

Government figures also showed a weapon was being seized every day by security staff at Lunar House, with most offenders unaware carrying the items was even an offence in the UK.

A Croydon police spokeswoman said: "Police do not speculate on what might or might not happen as a result of Government policy."

Health

The impact of large numbers of asylum seekers on health services has already been felt in Derby and Birmingham, after whole GP surgeries were turned over to asylum applicants.

Local doctors in the areas complained they were spending too much time dealing with applicants who had special medical needs, but who had no written records and spoke no English.

Failed asylum seekers can still receive free hospital treatment if they have lived in the UK for at least a year, and individual hospitals can decide to treat anyone else if they have no money.

Mayday Hospital's maternity unit already runs a specialist team for asylum seekers.

MP Malcolm Wicks

Croydon North MP Malcolm Wicks said he was “outraged” at the decision to make Croydon the sole centre for asylum screening applications without consulting the council or MPs.

He said: “If we are not careful this plays into the hands of extremists and racists.

“We have significant numbers of asylum seekers already, and that does place a burden on the local authority.

“We can’t hide the fact that there are pressures here.”

Mr Wicks said he planned to lobby immigration ministers to “freeze” the closure of the Liverpool office until the Home Office held a proper consultation.

He said: ”I know Croydon Council have long argued that we are not getting enough money to deal with the extra pressures, and I think that’s probably right.”

MP Andrew Pelling

Croydon Central MP Andrew Pelling said his constituents were already suffering from poorer roads, a lack of council housing and worse service from the police because of an increased immigrant population in the town.

Mr Pelling said work done measuring the borough’s population had shown it to have up to 30,000 more people than official Government statistics showed, while the population in the UK could be up to 20 per cent higher.

He said: “I do feel that immigration numbers are very high in central Croydon and this leads to a real dynamic change in the population of the town.

“That in itself is a great challenge in terms of public service provision.

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