The destitution trap

In 2006, a research team interviewed 125 asylum seekers in different parts of the UK. This research was the first in-depth survey of destitution to be carried out on a national scale. It focused on end-of-process asylum seekers who are deliberately excluded from support, or the means to support themselves, as a matter of government policy.

The report found that present government policy in relation to end of process asylum seekers is demonstrably failing to achieve its aims. Significantly destitution did not appear to have encouraged those interviewed to return to their countries. If anything, by excluding people from the asylum system and severing contact between refused asylum seekers and the state, it made return less likely.

This report was produced in collaboration with Amnesty International and is available on the Amnesty website

Published in November 2006