Submission to the Home Office on the 2018 Review of Asylum Support Rates
This submission is provided for the Home Office’s upcoming review of the level of weekly cash allowances provided to asylum seekers, refused asylum seekers and their dependents, as provided under Section 95 and Section 4 respectively. It provides information on the most pressing issues that have been identified by the Helen Bamber Foundation in relation to our clients who are recipients of asylum support.
Many of our clients receive asylum support, including under Section 95 (accommodation and subsistence-only), Section 98 and Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. The low asylum support rates affect these clients in myriad ways, permeating much of their life in the UK and acting to the detriment of their emotional, material and physical wellbeing.
In our collective clinical experience at the Helen Bamber Foundation, the low rates of financial support provided to our clients can cause them considerable distress and add to their sense of rejection and low self-esteem. This can significantly impede their engagement with and progress in therapy. We recommend that asylum support rates should be raised to more realistically reflect the needs of asylum seekers and at a minimum set rates at 70% of income support rates. Furthermore, the August 2015 support rate changes should be reversed so that the specific needs of children and families can be better met.
Our submission focuses on the aspects of basic needs provided for by asylum support payments, and is in reference to the report issued by the Home Office in January 2018 regarding asylum support rates.
Click the download link below to read the full report.