Home Affairs Committee
Background
‘West Yorkshire Destitution Asylum Network’ is a newly established diverse network of community, voluntary and advocacy organisations across West Yorkshire. Our growing network aims is to raise awareness of the plight of destitution among Refugees and Asylum seekers in West Yorkshire as well increasing the resources available to destitute asylum seekers and refugees, by increasing charity donations or working with different organisations.
WYDAN welcomes the Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into the asylum system. We believe much of the asylum system fails to provide the degree of justice and fairness that asylum seekers deserve. We are particularly concerned with different support mechanism and policies in the current asylum process.
While we welcome Home Affairs Select Committee’s broad terms of reference and many of our member organisations would be delighted to see a positive change in all aspects, in this submission however we chose to focus on our experience of forced homelessness and poverty of asylum seekers and refugees in West Yorkshire and to conclude with number of recommendations.
Executive Summary:
(a) This submission provides Home Affairs Select Committee with statistic regarding high number of destitution in Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield.
(b) This submission outlines WYDANS’s opposition to current support regime based on the evidence gathered.
(c) This submission calls on the government to change the support system to one that by providing cash based support for all asylum seekers and giving them the right to work avoids forcing those seeking sanctuary in UK into poverty and homelessness.
Whether the system of support to asylum applicants (including section 4 support) is sufficient and effective and possible improvements.
1. WYDAN believes section 4 support system is redundant and serves no purpose other than imposing hardship on asylum seekers, our opposition to section 4 support is because:
(a) The delay in giving people the support they are entitled to means, many experience extreme poverty and destitution before section 4 support is given to them. Leeds based charity Leeds Asylum Seekers Support Network notes: 21% of 163 asylum seekers they accommodated in year ending to March 2012 were those awaiting for their section 4 support to be fully given to them. Also Abigail Housing, another charity based in West Yorkshire since the beginning of 2013 has provided charity accommodation to 3 asylum seekers who have been granted section 4 but were kept waiting for accommodation, who otherwise would have experienced homelessness.
(b) We believe that no cash support is an inhumane model of support asylum seekers which not only victimizes them but in effect limits their ability to use that money on some of what they see as essential such as transport to UKBA offices and their legal representative or GPs. We believe such limitation of section 4 support in effect limits the same asylum seekers chance of remaining fully engaged with their asylum process and receiving all the medical attention they need.
(c) We believe that amount which is given to our service users on section 4 is far from sufficient to cover their basic day to day needs, in particular it has negative effects on the health of those who are victims of torture and or with disabilities.
The prevalence of destitution amongst asylum applicants and refused asylum seekers.
2. WYDAN has no hesitation to say the forced poverty and homelessness experienced by asylum seekers without the doubt is the most unpleasant feature of the asylum system in UK.
From our members experience the number of destitute asylum seekers is significant in West Yorkshire:
(a) In the year to March 2012 Leeds Asylum Seekers Support Network provided short-term accommodation though their volunteer base to 163 destitute Asylum Seekers.
(b) In the year 2012 Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers another Leeds based charity, recorded visits to their offices from 167 new destitute service users.
(c) In Bradford as the result of a research commissioned by Destitution Concern Bradford, Dr. John Lever in a period of 5 weeks identified 66 destitute asylum seekers. Worryingly the report also has discovered 10 children who have experienced destitution in Bradford.625
(d) In Year 2012 Abigail Housing, a member of WYDAN and charity housing provider in West Yorkshire, provided long-term accommodation to 36 Individuals (13 women and 23 men) whom would have otherwise been left homeless.
(e) In the year to November 2012, ‘Destitute Asylum Seekers Huddersfield’ hosted 35 destitute asylum seekers in temporary housing, a total of 735 nights.
3. We believe this practice of forced homelessness of asylum seekers has the following negative effects:
(a) Health: from our experience mental and physical health of asylum seekers who have experienced homelessness has seriously deteriorated. We believe homelessness has serious, damaging and lasting effects on mental health of many our clients.
(b) Access to Justice: Once they have access to accommodation, many of our clients have the opportunity to pursue their asylum cases, in many cases leading to the overturn of previous negative decisions. We believe the current policy of enforced destitution obstructs access to a just and fair asylum process for many asylum seekers.’
Recommendations
4. WYDAN believes a fair and just asylum support system is a key to an asylum model which works in protecting those entitled to refugee status, our current experience is that a high number of asylum seekers in West Yorkshire have been forced into poverty and homelessness and subsequently had limited access to a fair asylum process, therefore we recommend the following:
(a) Abolishing section 4: we believe all asylum seekers should be put on one asylum support model, this would guarantee no one is left homeless or in poverty during the transition periods to the new support section.
(b) Abolishing Azure cards: we believe all asylum seekers must receive cash based support. This would allow them to spend the money to respond to their specific needs, such as transport to get specialist medical attention on regular basis.
(c) Increase the support given to asylum seekers to at least 70% of main stream benefits. The current level of support has forced many families and individuals into poverty, and in our experience has had serious effects on their mental and physical health.
(d) We believe asylum seekers should be granted the right to work, this would be the solution to many of the day to day problems of asylum seekers.
(e) Eradicating homelessness from the asylum model. The Home Office must make the commitment to eradicating homelessness from asylum model and take every step to stop the current destitution policy.
(f) Right to work: ‘We believe that many of the health and other impacts of poverty in the asylum system would be overcome if asylum seekers were granted the right to work. We also believe that communities across West Yorkshire would benefit from the vast reserves of talent and experience which asylum seekers bring with them.
West Yorkshire Destitution Asylum Network
April 2013
625 this report can be accessed on http://www.destitutionconcernbradford.org/