Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Housing

Asylum seekers forced into homelessness, charity finds

Refugee Actions study finds asylum seekers left in abject poverty by Home Office delays to legitimate support

Asylum seeking families in the UK are falling in poverty and homelessness because the Home Office is wrongly denying assistance, according to a new report.

The research by the Refugee Action charity, based on the detailed analysis of more than 300 cases, shows asylum seekers are not getting the support they are entitled to, or are struggling with long delays to support.

Asylum seekers are waiting an average of almost two months (58 days) for housing and the pittance – £5.28 a day – they are entitled to for living costs, known as Section 95 support.

Many the organisation spoke to have been living on the streets and have struggled to eat a proper meal in several weeks. Some required counselling after contemplating suicide.

The majority of applicants for Section 95 support are initially refused, according to the charity’s research. But 92% of people who then challenge the decision have their support approved, showing an unnecessary period of delay in almost all cases.

The government must take urgent action to prevent some of the most vulnerable slipping through the cracks

“Our research exposes the appalling treatment of families and individuals who have escaped war and persecution abroad, only to be badly let down here in Britain,” said chief executive Stephen Hale.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

“The failure of the Home Office to follow their own policies has frequently left people homeless, an unable to feed themselves and their families.

“The government must take urgent action to prevent some of the most vulnerable people in our society slipping through the cracks of the system.”

Refugee Action wants the government to apply rules regarding support for asylum seekers consistently and transparently. The organisation also called on asylum seekers to be given the right to work, as in the case in most European countries.

Photo: Jazzmany/shutterstock.com

Find your local vendor

Find your Vendor
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

READER-SUPPORTED SINCE 1991

Reader-supported journalism that doesn’t just report problems, it helps solve them.

Recommended for you

View all
Could building new train stations help get Britain back on track?
An aerial shot of Beaulieu Park station
Railways

Could building new train stations help get Britain back on track?

This charity uses McDonald's to fight hidden homelessness
Hidden homelessness

This charity uses McDonald's to fight hidden homelessness

The challenge of counting hidden homelessness in Britain
Hidden homelessness

The challenge of counting hidden homelessness in Britain

Bear Grylls puts focus on hidden homelessness in new short film: 'We can break the stigma'
Bear Grylls reading a Big Issue magazine in a short film about hidden homelessness
Homelessness

Bear Grylls puts focus on hidden homelessness in new short film: 'We can break the stigma'

Reader-supported journalism that doesn’t just report problems, it helps solve them.

Every day, Big Issue digs deeper – speaking up for those society overlooks. Will you help us keep doing this work?