'This is not human': UK asylum system pushing refugees into 'homelessness and danger', report finds

The Home Office “manufactures destitution” among people who are wrongly refused asylum, a charity has warned, pushing them into homelessness.

If an asylum claim is refused by both the Home Office and a court and declared ‘appeal rights exhausted’, the claimant loses the right to any government support. Yet many of these people are ultimately recognised as refugees. In 2023, 2,294 people were granted to leave to remain in the UK after submitting fresh asylum claims.

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In a report published Tuesday (3 September), the Jesuit Refugee Service UK (JRS UK) found that “rough sleeping is common among people refused asylum”.

“Further, there is widespread vulnerability to street homelessness and fear of it even among those who have not experienced it,” the report continues.

Respondents had “very little control over their daily lives and had to accept a roof over their head on whatever terms available”. More than 20% of respondents did not feel physically safe around people they lived with or around.

It is even worse for women, said Joyce, a destitute asylum seeker. “Some men take advantage of them because they are vulnerable,” she said. “They sometimes end up forcing themselves into relationships they don’t want to be in so they have a roof over their heads.”

Destitution can have pernicious health consequences. “There was a time I think I have an infection… I’ve got one kidney,” another woman told JRS. “I have to be very careful.”  

One man told JRS UK he was concerned about keeping his health conditions under control. “I’m sleeping rough in parks, buses, trains. I find it difficult because of my medical issues as I’m on a lot of medication. What about if I lose my medication? I think it may cause some complications because some of the medication [is] not supposed to be missed.”

In 2023, the Home Office made 74,000 initial decisions on asylum applications. A third were refused at the initial decision stage.

The proportion of asylum appeals allowed in the year to March 2024 was 48%.

While asylum seekers await a decision, they must survive on minimal financial support of £49.18 per week.  If it is refused, they lose all recourse to these funds. They are also not allowed to work.

Director of JRS UK Sarah Teather called for this rule to be scrapped, citing the “crushing impact” of the hostile environment policy.  

“People who sought safety here are plunged into homelessness and danger, left vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and life-threatening illness. This is not new,” she said.

“Some people we work with have lived like this for decades, as an intentional consequence of successive governments’ policies. This must, finally stop.”

Allowing asylum seekers to work would benefit the economy. According to refugee action research, lifting the ban would increase tax revenue by £1.3bn, reduce government spending by £6.7bn, and increase GDP by £1.6bn.

More importantly, it could help shattered people to rebuild their lives.

“The enforced destitution of people refused asylum is shameful,” said Dr Sophie Cartwright, who authored the JRS report.

“People who just wanted to be safe are pushed, by government policy, to the very edges of society. They have no safe way to meet their basic needs and no home. They regularly have nowhere they can rest, or go just to feel secure. This is not human.”

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