New asylum policies making homeless refugees “targets for the far right”

Labour’s abrupt return to the 28-day move-on period is pushing vulnerable people into rough sleeping and exposing them to fraud and abuse.

“More people at risk of destitution and even sleeping on the streets.” Stock image from: Unsplash

The government’s decision to halve the time limit for newly accepted refugees to leave Home Office accommodation is driving people into homelessness and exploitation, according to migrant rights campaigners and homelessness charities.

It comes as Labour adopts increasingly anti-immigration policies, including doubling the standard time for migrants to achieve settled status, abolishing permanent residency for refugees, and barring migrants from claiming benefits until they secure citizenship.

Asylum seekers are housed in accommodation secured by the Home Office (such as the notorious “asylum hotels”) while their applications are processed. After winning power last year, Labour went on a drive to clear the backlog of asylum applications – but the 28-day “move-on” period for successful applicants to leave their Home Office accommodation and find new housing led to a surge in homelessness among refugees.

At the end of last year, Labour agreed to double the move-on period to 56 days as a six-month pilot, which it then extended until the end of this year. But in August the Government abruptly announced it was going back to the four-week limit as part of its push to shut the asylum hotels – even though an official evaluation of the pilot is not yet complete.

“Evidence from our members who provide housing support to people in the asylum and immigration system suggests the reversal is having a devastating impact,” Bridget Young, director of migrant rights network NACCOM, tells The Lead. “Increasing numbers of people are sleeping rough and some have been targeted by the far right due to being visibly street homeless.

“By rushing through these draconian immigration reforms now – at precisely the same moment the Government proclaims it is investing to end homelessness – we know the very opposite will happen: more people at risk of destitution and even sleeping on the streets,” adds Josephine Whitaker-Yilmaz, head of advocacy at migrants’ rights charity Praxis.

The 28-day move-on period resumed on 1^st September, giving newly accepted refugees four weeks until eviction. New Horizon Youth Centre, a day centre supporting homeless young people in London, saw 56 new people in October looking for support after being evicted from Home Office accommodation – a fifth higher than the previous month.

“A lot of them have been living in hotels with no access to mental health support, no access to English learning classes,” Polly Stephens, head of policy at New Horizon, tells The Lead. “They are not ready in 28 days to find a private rented home, pay a deposit, pay bills, be working – it’s impossible for them. They end up at services like ours [with] no idea what they’re supposed to do next.”

Stephens adds that some of those who have recently come seeking help will be rough sleeping because they can’t be rehoused quickly enough.

“They have the right to the prevention duty for homelessness under the Homelessness Reduction Act, and you’re just pushing the responsibility down to local councils and charities to pick up this group of people, but in the process, traumatising them even more,” she says.

Displacement or homelessness

The head of a Muslim charity in London, who didn’t want to be named, said that not only are newly accepted refugees not able to find housing in 28 days, but once that period has expired, their local authorities in London are offering them housing in cities and even villages in northern England – if they refuse the offer, the council closes its homelessness duty towards them, leaving them to fend for themselves.

“How can I live in a completely white place, and I’m going to be the only foreigner? A hundred percent I’m going to be targeted.”

“They tell them – ‘you have one offer’ – you refuse it, you become homeless.” He tells The Lead that some of those affected had been living in the capital for years while the Home Office decided on their applications. “You have established your life here in London. You have some connections. You have your own community. Most of these people are vulnerable. They need help and support. Once they establish a livelihood in London, [the councils try to] send them outside of London. So they can’t go, and they become homeless, and then it’s trouble.”

The recent rise in far-right and anti-immigration protests has made refugees more reluctant to leave London.

“I know someone who, when there were people from the far right doing demonstrations outside the hotels [near Heathrow], he saw from his own window, outside people were threatening him,” the head of the Muslim charity tells The Lead. “When he was granted leave to remain in this country … they offered him a room in a small village near Liverpool.

“He said, ‘How can I live in a completely white place, and I’m going to be the only foreigner? I am here [in London] targeted. Over there I’m not going to be targeted? A hundred percent I’m going to be targeted.’ And he got so scared.”

Once councils have withdrawn their help, refugees are left to try to rent privately – and become vulnerable to fraud.

“One of my connections went to see a room. They say, ‘you have to pay a deposit’. As soon as he paid the deposit, bye bye. The room is gone. His money is gone. This online agency, and the people he used to speak to, bye bye – they don’t answer their phones, they don’t answer their emails, nothing. This happened twice.”

He knows refugees who are now sleeping rough in airports, on night buses or in hospital waiting rooms, after being forced out of Home Office accommodation. “During the day they come to our community centre because they have nowhere to go,” he adds.

A nationwide crisis

Fears over the rule change extend beyond London.

“In terms of the practical and administrative requirements, 28 days is a really, really short amount of time,” says Amy Merone, advocacy manager at Boaz Trust, a Manchester-based charity supporting people facing homelessness after claiming asylum.

“People need to create an e-visa account, open a bank account, there can be delays accessing Universal Credit. And that’s all compounded by the complexity of the UK housing market, which is in crisis. And people can find that really complex and overwhelming to navigate.”

Amy says the vast majority of people have not been allowed to work while their asylum claims have been processed, so that can make entering the job market once they have refugee status really challenging.

“That means the vast majority of people just don’t have the financial resources, such as deposits or advance first rent payments, needed to access private rented accommodation,” she adds. “All too often, people end up experiencing homelessness, whether that’s street homelessness, whether that’s precarious sofa surfing – those hidden forms of homelessness. And obviously that brings with it the greater risk of exploitation and abuse.”

A government spokesperson said: “This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well underway to move asylum seekers into more suitable accommodation such as military bases, to ease pressure on communities across the country.

“We continue to work with local councils, NGOs and other stakeholders to ensure any necessary assistance is provided for those individuals who are granted refugee status. The 56-day move-on period remains in place for vulnerable individuals and families.”■

About the author: Chaminda Jayanetti is a freelance journalist specialising in social affairs – housing, welfare and public services. He regularly writes for the Observer, Politics Home and Byline Times.

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