Charities fight to support applicants as system goes into ‘meltdown’
Asylum seekers are left destitute by rule changes
Growing numbers of failed asylum seekers are being left destitute because of rule changes that are causing huge delays to decisions about whether to give them access to housing.
Charities working with asylum seekers say their clients are living in abject poverty because of the delays and the charities themselves are struggling to cope. The problems concern outstanding claims by failed asylum seekers for section four support - which gives them access to financial help and accommodation while their appeals are heard. Without this money, failed asylum seekers must rely on charities or friends and family for support.
The Refugee Council recorded 305 outstanding applications at the end of February in the Birmingham area alone. It said that in 2009 the number of outstanding cases in the same region at the end of each month ranged between 10 and 70.
Birmingham Law Centre said it is housing 100 families where applications for section four support stretched back as far as June last year.
Dave Smith, director of the Boaz Trust, which helps destitute asylum seekers in Greater Manchester, said: ‘The whole system seems to be in meltdown. I think there are so many people who are eligible for fresh claims they can’t cope with the numbers.’
The charities state some of the problems stem from rule changes introduced in October last year. The changes mean that failed asylum seekers with fresh evidence must travel to Liverpool to present it in person and people with new claims must travel to Croydon.
Charities have also reported some applications have simply been cancelled if someone has been waiting a long time. Almamy Taal, advisor and case worker with charity Birmingham Law Centre, said: ‘The Home Office takes the extraordinary view that because these people have been waiting a long time [applications go back to April and May last year] they should no longer be destitute,’ he said.
The Home Office refused to reveal the number of outstanding applications. A spokesperson said: ‘This is because there are a number of reasons that a case may not appear to be being worked on, including awaiting responses from applicants following a request for further information.’ It also denied it had cancelled applications.
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Readers' comments (7)
I.D Ceesay | 12/04/2010 1:54 pm
i have been waitin for an accomodation for some time now i am not being given any support at all from the government. i am now homeless and life is extremely difficult. i thank the birmingham law centre who supported me with thirty pounds the last three weeks. it is also very difficuly to buy travel ticket to and from signing. pls help i am at breaking point. thank you
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john bull | 12/04/2010 9:54 pm
hi ID Ceesay,
you have been waiting for some time for housing.
that is hardly suprising when people can wait up to 20 years on the waiting list poeple who were born in the UK and have a legal right to be here.
If you are a failed asylum seeker, I suggest you go back home, or at least stop trying to jump the Queue.
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jay | 14/04/2010 11:38 am
Well said JohnBull, so many of the people who have been born here and their parents and grandparent and so on and have paid into the systems in this country are at times overlooked in preference to outsiders. It is time for the government (and I don't care which party is in power at the time) look seriously at the fact there are so many people entering the country with no where to live and the waiting lists are growing out of control. We must get serious about looking after our own first. This is not predudice it is common sense.
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Joe Halewood | 15/04/2010 10:49 am
it is a myth that councils have to use social housing properties to accommodate asylum seekers at all. They can if they so choose use private rented sector properties and some councils have done so exclusively. Hence the suggestion that asylum seekers somehow have priority over English or British people is a total fallacy.
Its easy to ignore these facts and simply blame the lack of social housing on 'convenient' asylum seekers or anyone non-British or non-white for that matter - Its also racist whether its borne out of ignorance of these facts or not.
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Kev Dupree | 15/04/2010 1:17 pm
That is a very compassionate post from John bull yet again. Someone who is in a desperate situation being homeless and your response is:
"If you are a failed asylum seeker, I suggest you go back home, or at least stop trying to jump the Queue."
ID Cessay, sorry for the responses you have received so far, I assure you this is not the view of the majority, unfortunately the internet gives everyone a voice, regardless of how ridiculous their views are. You may have already done so but contacting Shelter (the homelessness charity) may be of some help: 0808 800 4444 (freephone)
In my organisation we have roughly 4,000 applicants currently, of which over 95% are White: British. This agrees with Joe's point that in reality asylum seekers make up a small percentage of applicants and are very often used as a "convenient" argument.
I would expect no less from the likes of John Bull who has proven his bigoted views in previous posts, including the idea to "halve the world's population by 2050", just to let you know the motivations of the poster.
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johr | 23/04/2010 3:16 pm
The support provided for the asylum seekers doesn't go away from this country. Accomodation fees go to the company or councils who have contracts with the Home Office, which provides a chain of jobs to Brits. The vouchers support goes to the supermarket in turns provide profits to the business.
How can "john bull" not being able to differentiate the difference between people who fled war torn country and people on a housing waiting list.
john bull please don't take out you anger on those people. They are not your real problems.
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lisa | 27/04/2010 8:21 pm
Hi John BULL and jay,
The clues in the word asylum, meaning secure retreat, shelter, haven. People who are seeking asylum are fleeing their country not out of want but out of fear for their lives, many have been tortured, raped and are lucky to get out alive. UK arms sales have in recent years represented a higher proportion of GDP than any other country in the world, sales to countries engaged in conflict, which generates flows of asylum (hills and stewart 2005). Time to look at the bigger picture maybe?
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