Home Affairs Committee
Summary
1. Oldham Unity has been providing support to destitute asylum seekers and refugees for over ten years.
2. Our experience leads us to believe that their need for support is increasing.
3. We feel that actively denying people food and shelter is a violation of their basic human rights.
4. Each week we see:
- — People who are hungry.
- — People with existing mental health problems that have been exacerbated by destitution.
- — People who are so fearful about what might happen to them, that they actively withdraw from the existing systems of support. This makes it even harder for them to remain in contact with advisers or make an informed choice about returning. It also makes them harder to locate should the Home Office want to contact them.
- — People who have very limited access to legal and other advice, so they find it difficult or even impossible to make appeals or seek advice about returning to their country of origin.
- — People who have skills and talents which would be an asset to this country
5. We would suggest that there are measures that would alleviate a lot of the problems caused by destitution:
- — Give the right to work to asylum seekers, who have been here for more than 6 months whilst their cases are being processed or until such time as they can return home safely. If they are unable to work, offer a support system which at least provides food and shelter.
- — Grant permission to stay in this country to refused asylum seekers still in the UK after several years. Allow them the right to work, to claim benefits and access medical care.
- — Ensure that all asylum seekers are eligible for, and can access secondary health care.
- — Ensure access to legal advice at all stages of the asylum process.
Introduction
6. Oldham Unity is unusual in that it is run by a group of unpaid, local volunteers from all faiths and none. Despite having no premises of our own and being totally dependent on the goodwill and generosity of local people for donations of money and food, we are now in our tenth year of providing support to destitute asylum seekers and refugees.
7. In a just world, we would be reporting that the demand for the services we offer is falling, but the need for support is actually increasing. We are now supporting more than seventy destitute asylum seekers each week (7% women and 93% men). Over a third of these have been destitute for over one year.
8. The majority of people, accessing the support we provide, have had their asylum claim refused. But we also see those who have been dispersed to Oldham, who cannot readily access their Section 95 support. Recently, we have been seeing men and women, who have been granted status, but have been unable to access mainstream benefits. This situation has been the subject of a recent report and a possible solution proposed 1
9. We aim to offer a choice of food to the value of about £7.00. We work in conjunction with British Red Cross, Oldham Baptist Church, other local faith groups and individuals. The Red Cross does the initial registration to ensure that those accessing the project are destitute. For those who have been destitute less than twelve months, they provide £5.00 per person to cover travel costs and also give us a small amount of money to purchase toiletries). We give bus fares and toiletries to those who have been destitute for longer than this. A Muslim group supplies hot meals on a fortnightly basis and another provides halal meat, also fortnightly. We receive Harvest Festival food donations from various churches and schools, as well as regular gifts of food from churches across the Oldham area.
10. The majority of our volunteers have lived and worked in Oldham for many years and include retired teachers, doctors and health workers. Between us, we thought we were aware of the challenges that face anyone who lives in the 42nd most deprived borough in England. However, we have all been surprised by the extent and scale of destitution we see each week.
11. We are aware of the reports on the effect of destitution by Refugee Action in 20062 and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust reports in 2006, 2008 and 200934_5 on destitution amongst failed asylum seekers and would have hoped that by 2013 the situation would have improved. We feel that this is not the case.
12. Although we do not offer legal advice, we provide a safe and confidential space, where destitute asylum seeker and refugees can openly discuss the situations they find themselves in. We signpost to services, where they exist.
13. Oldham Unity is one of several groups in Greater Manchester, who work with the Red Cross to support refugees and asylum seekers. Four of the organisations, St Brides (Old Trafford), Rainbow Haven (Gorton and Salford), BRASS (Bolton) and Oldham Unity provide food support for destitute asylum seekers. We meet quarterly to discuss common issues and to assess the scale of the problems facing destitute asylum seekers across the Greater Manchester area.
14. Although our report is observational, we hear similar stories from these groups and our experiences echo those recorded in research-based reports1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Our Experience at Oldham Unity
15. New users of the project continue to be registered each week. However, about a third of the people attending have been destitute for over twelve months and their number is increasing.
16. When the project first started, simple drinks, biscuits and cake were provided. Gradually, we have had to move to providing more substantial and larger amounts of food and drink, as we have realised that quite a proportion of those coming are hungry. More recently, a Muslim group has been providing hot food. We have noticed that people are coming early to queue for this.
17. We know that some of the people who come to the project are sleeping rough and some use a night shelter run in Manchester during the winter months. Others are sleeping on the floors in friends’ accommodation, often for only a few days, before moving to another friend’s home.
18. Although destitute asylum seekers can access primary care in the Oldham area, the lack of a permanent address can mean that they may be difficult to contact for ongoing care. We have seen evidence that people delay seeking help from secondary care until there has been a significant deterioration in their physical and mental help. This delay can be due to worries about how they will be treated in hospital or fears that they will be asked to pay.
19. Destitution may have seriously detrimental effects on physical and mental well-being.8 Access to appropriate help from secondary care can be difficult to arrange and takes time. This may lead to further deterioration. Again, the lack of a permanent address makes care arrangements difficult.
20. We are aware that a significant number of those attending are seeking legal advice. This is not only difficult to get, but often involves travel, which can be impossible for those who are destitute. Access for advice on returning to their country of origin also involves travel.
21. Lack of access to advice, particularly legal help often exacerbates worries about their future and some people actively withdraw, even from the limited systems of support. People sometimes register with the project, attend for a while and then ‘disappear’.
22. As has been recorded in other surveys, the majority of those attending appear to have been educated, at least to secondary school level and a significant proportion have had higher or university education. They frequently ask where they can volunteer, as they want to share their skills.
23. In our experience over ten years, no-one has told us that they have decided to return to their country of origin purely because they have been made destitute.
24. We are aware that ‘community cohesion’ is central to Oldham’s Community Strategy. The Cantle Report into Community Cohesion in 20019 stated ‘It is easy to focus on systems, processes and institutions and to forget that community cohesion fundamentally depends on people and their values’. Depriving people of food and shelter has, ironically, united people across diverse religious and socio-economic groups, to respond to this need.
Proposals
25. Destitute asylum seekers, by definition fall under the UN international poverty line of $1.25 a day10. We have seen no evidence that destitution is a factor that encourages them to leave this country. We would suggest that after a period of time—say six months—they are given the right to work while their case is being processed or until such time as they can return home safely. If they are unable to work, offer a support system which at least provides food and shelter. Allowing asylum seekers to work could mean that we do not lose out on the positive contribution they could offer. Many of them have skills and talents which would be an asset to this country.
26. Minimise the effects of destitution on the physical and mental health of those who have been here for many years by granting permission to stay. Allow them the right to work, to claim benefits and access medical care.
27. Ensure that all asylum seekers are eligible for, and can access secondary health care. Waiting until a serious illness has deteriorated before seeking secondary care, can have negative effects on the outcome and is more costly for the NHS in the long run5
28. Ensure access to legal advice at all stages of the asylum process. This could give people a realistic assessment of the strength of their claim for asylum and therefore prevent unrealistic appeals and save money overall.
References
1. Gillespie M. (2012)
Trapped. Destitution and asylum in Scotland
Glasgow Caledonian University
2. Dumper H., Hutton C., Lukes S., Malfait R., and Scott-Flynn N. (2006)
The Destitution Trap. Research into Destitution Among Refused Asylum Seekers in the UK.
Refugee Action
3. Destitution and Refused Asylum Seekers: Moving on from destitution to contribution (2007)
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
4. Brown D. (2008)
More Destitution in Leeds: Repeat survey of destitute asylum seekers and refugees approaching local agencies for support
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
5. Lewis H. (2009)
Still Destitute. A Worsening Problem for Refused Asylum Seekers.
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
6. Burnett J. (2009)
The political economy of malnutrition
PAFRAS briefing paper number 10. Leeds
7. Crawley H., Hemmings P. and Price N. (2011)
Coping with Destitution: Survival and livelihood strategies of refused asylum seekers living in the UK
Swansea University
8. Hewett N., Hiley A., and J. Gray J. (2011)
Morbidity trends in the population of a specialised homeless primary care service.
The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2011. 61(584): p. 200-2
9. Cantle T (2001)
Community Cohesion (A Report of the Independent Review Team
Home Office: p18
10. Fact Sheet. Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger (2010)
UN Department of Public Information—DPI/2650 A/Rev.1—September 2010
Oldham Unity Destitution Food Project
March 2013