Financial support for single asylum seekers to be reduced
The UK Border Agency has proposed to reduce the level of support provided to single asylum seekers aged 25 and over from £42.16 to £35.13 a week from October, leaving asylum seekers with only £5 per day to live on.
This is despite the consumer price index, which measures inflation, standing at 5.2%, which means that overall destitute single asylum seekers aged 25 or over will be more than £9 per week worse off.
Donna Covey, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council said:
“These changes mean asylum seekers will receive a little over half of what the government says is the minimum people need to live on. Surely a more practical solution would be to allow those that can to work, and contribute to the growth of our economy, rather than penalising the poorest and most vulnerable?”
Read the full Refugee Council news story: Government slashes support to asylum seekers awaiting a decision
The Independent: Budget squeeze hits the weakest
The Independent: Leading article:A depressingly predictable attack on asylum-seekers
Daily Telegraph: Asylum seekers to get less cash
Access to healthcare extended to certain groups of refused asylum seekers
The Department of Health and the Home Office unveiled plans to allow free access to NHS care for refused asylum seekers who are unable to return home and are being supported by the government, and unaccompanied children.
Dr Vivienne Nathanson of the British Medical Association welcomed the proposals: “There are many people who have had an asylum claim refused, cannot return home and need urgent treatment. This announcement, while positive, applies to only one group in this situation, and does not go far enough.”
Read the full Refugee Council news story: Government publishes findings on its review of access to healthcare for foreign nationals
Daily Telegraph: Free care for failed asylum seekers
Nursing Times: NHS to provide treatment for failed asylum seekers
Report shows damage of detention on vulnerable
A report by the charity Bail for Immigation Detainees (BID) uses personal testimonies to reveal the depth of emotional and physical damage caused by immigration detention.
Download the BID report
Morning Star: Detentions damaging the most vulnerable
US rules to grant asylum to women who suffer domestic abuse
The US department of homeland security has told an immigration court that it regards a Mexican woman as having potential grounds to claim asylum as she fears she will be killed by her husband if she returns to her home country.
In the past, the US has refused to grant asylum to women in similar situations, arguing they did not face persecution on specific grounds such as race or political opinion.
The Guardian: Obama moves to grant political asylum to women who suffer domestic abuse
Voluntary return grants to migrants in Calais
The British and French governments are planning to make payments of £1,700 to people in Calais to encourage those hoping to claim asylum in the UK to fly to their home country. The money is funded through the International Organisation for Migration.
The Guardian ran a feature article on Eritreans currently living in Calais and hoping to enter the UK.
Daily Mail: Britain paying illegal migrants in Calais £1,700 to return home
The Guardian: The house of despair
The Guardian: Gallery: Inside an Eritrean refugee squat in Calais
The Guardian: Video: Life is a wave: Naga’s story
Challenges faced by local authorities when helping young asylum seekers
The Local Government Chronicle looked in depth at how two local councils deal with unaccompanied asylum seeking children.
Local Government Chronicle: On the home front
Emma Thompson’s adopted refugee son graduates
Tindyebwa Agaba, a young refugee from Rwanda who was adopted by actress Emma Thompson, had his graduation covered by many newspapers.
Tindyebwa met Emma Thompson at a Refugee Council party when he was 16.
Daily Mail: Proud Emma Thompson poses with adopted refugee son at graduation six years later
