Destitution

Thousands of people who are refused asylum seekers are living in destitution in the UK. This includes children with the Children’s Society reporting an increase in the number of children accessing their services.¹

In 2010, it was estimated that around 70% of destitute refused asylum seekers in the UK came from just eight countries, all of which were either in conflict or had serious and widespread human rights violations. These countries were Zimbabwe, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Eritrea.²

A report by Oxfam found that destitute asylum seekers have no choice than to work illegally and do so for between £1 and £3 an hour. Oxfam concluded that the fact that people would rather live in poverty and in constant fear of deportation – reliant on friends, transactional relationships, commercial sex work or low-paid illegal work – rather than return to their country of origin, signals the failure of government policy.³

Refugee Council research has also found that people who have fled dangerous countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Zimbabwe are being forced into destitution. People from those countries made up 20% of those accessing the charity's destitution services in 2011-12. Many were women, for whom destitution can have a particularly serious impact including being forced into violent or exploitative situations in order to get a bed for the night. The charity argued that people who have fled such countries but whose asylum claims have been turned down should be offered interim protection measures in the UK until it is safe for them to return.⁴