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What is the destitution trap?

The government’s policy on refused asylum seekers does not work and is forcing thousands into abject poverty and mental suffering, says Refugee Action's new report on Destitution.

New report on destitution

Refugee Action’s The Destitution Trap, based on research in nine UK cities, reveals the suffering caused by an inhumane and ineffective government policy that cuts off support for refused asylum seekers.

• First in-depth, national survey of destitution among asylum seekers.

• 125 interviews with refused asylum seekers who were deliberately excluded from support, or the means to support themselves, as a matter of government policy.

• Interviews took place in nine UK cities (the regions covered by Refugee Action) with the majority in the Midlands (39%), just under a third (29%) in the North West (Liverpool and Manchester), just under a fifth (23%) in the South West, and the remaining 8% in the South East of England

• 91 (72 per cent) were men and 33 (27 per cent) were women, reflecting the proportions of male and female asylum seekers nationally.

Forced into destitution

• Under the present system, financial support and accommodation for asylum seekers is currently cut off 21 days after a final claim for asylum has been refused. The only statutory support then available - so-called ‘hard case’ support - makes vouchers and hostel accommodation available only to those who satisfy certain criteria - and even when it is forthcoming, support is often months late.
• While shelter and food vouchers are available to those who satisfy criteria for so-called “hard case” support, one of the conditions for this is that refused asylum seekers must enter into agreements to return 'voluntarily', even if their country of origin may not be safe.
• Many were spending very long periods destitute, the average length of time for the people we interviewed was 21 months.
• Despairing and desperate, a large number spoke of having considered taking their own lives.

Inhumane

• Refused asylum seekers in our towns and cities are being reduced to penniless poverty - forced to sleep in parks, public toilets and phone boxes, to go without vital medicines even after suffering torture, and to relying on the charity of friends or drop-in shelters to survive.
• Just under half had been destitute for up to a year. Of the remainder, the majority had been destitute for one to two years. On average those people interviewed had spent 21 months being destitute.
• 83 per cent had experienced serious health problems since their arrival in the UK. More than half had experienced mental health problems. Rough sleeping, fear of harassment, and the inability to find adequate rest and food were the causes behind deteriorating health and a permanent state of depression, distress and anxiety for many.

Ineffective

• The government is deliberately using destitution in an attempt to drive refused asylum seekers out of the country. But our research found that far from encouraging asylum seekers to return to their countries of origin, destitution made return less likely.

Why can't they go home?

• In practice it is extremely difficult to forcibly remove people to countries where there are serious safety concerns, difficulties in obtaining travel documents or where there is no functioning airport.
• Many refused asylum seekers are too afraid to go home voluntarily, not least as they are from countries - such as Iraq or Somalia - torn apart by conflict or where human rights abuses are rife.

Refugee Action believes it is vital that the government maintain contact with refused asylum seekers and that financial support should continue until their cases can be resolved.

Refugee Action and Amnesty International are calling for the government to:

• Ensure that refused asylum seekers remain on the same financial support and accommodation as during the asylum process until their situation is resolved.
• Grant temporary, renewable permission to stay in the country that allows refused asylum seekers, who cannot safely be returned to their countries of origin within six months, to stay in the UK, to work and to access medical care.
• End the long-term limbo of refused asylum seekers still in the UK after several years, by granting them permission to stay in the country, as well as the right to work, to claim benefits and access medical care.
• Ensure that the government’s asylum case-workers build in anti-destitution support measures as part of the so-called 'New Asylum Model' where cases are managed from beginning to end.

Download The Destitution Trap

Full report (1.8 mb)
Briefing (1 mb)
Executive Summary and Recommendations

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