UK Government Asylum Seeker Policies
Government support for Asylum Seekers
Whilst the UK Government supports asylum seekers and refugees, many still turn to third party organisations (TPOs), suggesting the Government needs to do more. As a 2019 report by Kone, Ruiz and Vargas-Silvia noted: ‘more research is needed to identify if there is an important link between health, economic activity and the resultant reliance on non-governmental agencies’. This led me to look more deeply at governmental support and why asylum seekers and refugees turn to charities.
Thousands of people apply for asylum globally, driven by conflict and hardship. As Figure 2 shows, the UK number fluctuates year on year but there was a steady upward trend, especially between 2011 and 2015, likely a result of the civil unrest across North Africa and the Middle East following the Arab Spring. Figure 3 shows that the UK has accepted 39% of applications from 2007 up to 2018.
Source: User-Guide-Policy-Changes
However, the Government is constantly changing its Asylum policies, often making the process harder or more awkward, and thus undermining support. (see Figure 1 above). Sam Parker suggests the system is, “….designed to deter asylum seekers from entering the UK and to encourage failed asylum seekers to leave.” When a change happens, campaigns (often run by charities) challenge the policy, such as the ‘Fairness for Fares’ against the 2015 policy change, that stated all Asylum submissions had to be made in Liverpool. Asylum refugees rely on TPOs, such as charities, to support them and their voice.
Sources for Fig 2-3: Home Office Immigration Statistics.
Sources for Fig 2-3: Home Office Immigration Statistics.
Government support
The UK receives hundreds of thousands of asylum applications annually. Between 2015 and 2019 it received 197,780 asylum applications. The process of applying and appealing asylum is lengthy. A policy change in 2010 allowed asylum seekers who had been waiting for an application decision for longer than a year to apply for the right to work in the country, helping them to support themselves, reducing their reliance on the Government.
Source: The Asylum Support Regulations, 2000-2020 & U.K Inflation Rates 1960-2020
Figure 4, however, shows a narrative where the government financial support for asylum seekers has decreased since 2010, despite the rise in applications and worsening asylum crisis worldwide; 4.2 million asylum seekers are currently displaced. In comparison to the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) data about the amount an average UK citizen spends weekly on ‘essentials’, an asylum seeker receives very little to live off. However, this data does have limitations; I took the average from the categories I personally deemed ‘essential’. This makes the data slightly subjective, but I was cautious with my decisions. The graph in Figure 5 compares the amount spent in an average week per person (in 2019 - excluding high income households), in comparison with the amount an asylum seeker is given per week to spend.
Source: see Figure.3 and ONS – ONS Household Expenditure
An asylum seeker receives on average 45% less than the average UK person.
Asylum refugees can apply for support from the government. However, statistics suggest that getting a housing grant is dependent on where they are resettled. Figure 6 suggests that where housing is more expensive, in the South East, asylum seekers are provided with subsistence-only support. Indeed Figure 7 below indicates an overall government policy trend to revert to providing more support, without housing attached to it showing a decline in support.
Source: Fig. 6 -7: UK Home Office - Immigration Statistics
Labour Market
Once granted asylum status, refugees struggle with the labour market. Christian Dustmann and Francesca Fabbr’s 2003 report explains that ‘Language capital is an important component of host country human capital.’ The capability of employee’s literacy and language rate is essential to their economic success. In 2018, 10% of the foreign-born reported experiencing problems as a result of their limited English skills. It should be noted, however, that this statistic – drawn from a survey from the Migrant Observatory – does not provide a breakdown of the myriad forms of migration, including those seeking asylum.
The Government does provide English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), but recently there have been huge spending cuts in Adult education. The Adult Education Budget has seen a 58% drop as shown in Figure 8, underscoring the decline in Governmental support.
Source: House of Commons Library
People have had less ESOL teaching as well as less access to centres still running ESOL.
Charity Support
When Governments make cuts, charities step in. A 2019 survey shows that 14% of respondents were getting ESOL because of charitable donation or fundraising. Figure 9 below shows a trend in new charities in the UK with a specific focus on displaced migrants, along with an increase in the total numbers of charities assisting migrants. The blue line represents new charities formed to help migrants. There were notable rises in 2003, 2007 and 2016, possibly reflecting conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.
Figure 10 indicates an explosion since 2002. My analysis in Figure 11 reflects increased displaced migration, graphing the percentage of new charities set-up, as a proportion of all charities in the same period; this peaked in the mid-1990s, and in 2003, but has since fallen since to only 7%. This slowing of new organisations indicates that established charities, such as the British Red Cross, have matured and expanded themselves to absorb the increased migrant burden. Figures 11 and 12 also show how the charities spending on the asylum and migrant crisis has increased from 9% in 2016 to 12% in 2019.
Source: Fig. 9-11 https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search
Sources: Fig. 12-13: British Red Cross Annual Reports (2016 & 2018)
There is geographical variation in charitable support needed. Analysing the data for cities supporting asylum seekers, shown in Figure 14, whilst the large cities and boroughs of London make up the majority of Charities (RTSO) numerically, when the population density is overlaid (as shown by Applicants per 1,000 city inhabitants) several northern cities have a higher density of refugees needing help. Two areas near Newcastle have a very high density of asylum seekers being housed there. Interestingly, the majority voted in 2016 to ‘Leave’ the EU as shown in Figure 15.
Source: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6602-2091
Source: (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36616028)
Health
Asylum refugees who come to the UK are normally fleeing hardship, persecution and come from less well-developed healthcare systems. Once in the UK, they tend to gain employment in manual jobs. The 2019 report by Kone, Ruiz and Vargas-Silva found that ‘…..asylum migrants are more likely to report that health conditions affect the number of hours that they can work by 9 percentage points.’ Looking at the Labour Force Survey health data, Figure 16 and 17 shows this contrast in physical long term conditions. As it is survey data of respondents, this has limitations in its significance but shows a trend nonetheless. Figure 17 indicates that asylum migrants report almost double the rate of limb ailments than others. In fact Figure 18 shows the contrast of these ailments among other types of migrant and those born in the UK. Such ailments further increase their reliance on charitable assistance.
Source: ONS: Labour Force Survey
Summary
Economic, health and regional factors for asylum refugees/seekers places challenges on the UK Government. Their response has been to cut rather than increase funding. Factors such as health seem to play a significant part in asylum seekers’ ability to integrate and become economically self-sufficient, creating more demands on charities. The Government needs to continue to prioritize support to people fleeing conflict and persecution and not assume that the charitable sector will always grow to fill the gaps. Housing, educational support and health seem to be areas in particular need of more attention.
Sources:
Raw Data:
· Charity Register, (Charity Commission for England and Wales) Available: <https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search>
· Gov.uk, n.d. ‘User-Guide-Policy-changes.’ Available: <https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283991/u ser-guide-policy-changes.xls >(accessed 13 December).
· Macrotrends.net. ’U.K. Inflation Rate 1960-2020’, Available: https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/GBR/united-kingdom/inflation-rate-cpi#:~:text=U.K.%20inflation%20rate%20for%202019,a%200.64%25%20increase%20from%202015.
· Newell, Bex, Immigration Statistics, Asylum and Resettlement, ‘Applications, Initial decisions, and Resettlement: Asy_D01-Asylum applications raised’ (Home Office, 2020) Available: <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2020/list-of-tables#asylum-and-resettlement >
· Newell, Bex, Immigration Statistics, Asylum and Resettlement, ‘Applications, Initial decisions, and Resettlement: Asy_D04- Outcome and Analysis of Applications’ (Home Office, 2020) Available: <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2020/list-of-tables#asylum-and-resettlement >
· Newell, Bex, Immigration Statistics, Asylum and Resettlement, ‘Asylum Support: Asy_D09-Asylum Seekers in Receipt of Support’, Available: <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2020/list-of-tables#asylum-and-resettlement >
· Newell, Bex, Immigration Statistics, Asylum and Resettlement, ‘Asylum Support: Asy_D10- Applications for Section 95 Support’, Available: <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2020/list-of-tables#asylum-and-resettlement >
· UK Government, Asylum Support Regulations, Home office, (2000-2020), Available: <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/704/contents/made>
Other Sources:
· British Red Cross, ‘Annual Review’, (2016 and 2019), Available: < https://www.redcross.org.uk/about-us/how-we-are-run/our-finances/annual-reports-and-accounts>
· CFE Research, Choudhoury, Arifa, Higton, John, Patel, Rupal, Richards, Sally, Sandhu, Jatinder and Stutz, Alex, ‘English for speakers of other languages: Access and progression Research report’, (Department of Education, 2019) Available: < https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/811750/English_for_speakers_of_other_languages.pdf> [accessed 20 December 2020]
· Dustmann, Christian and Fabbr, Francesca, ‘Language Proficency and Labour Market Performance of Immigrants in the UK’, (Blackwell Publishing, 2003), Available: < https://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctpb21/Cpapers/languageproficiency.pdf>
· Fernández-Reino, Mariña, ‘Breifing: English language use and proficiency of migrants in the UK’, (The migration observatory, 2019), Available: < https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/english-language-use-and-proficiency-of-migrants-in-the-uk/> [accessed 3 January 2021].
· Foster, David, ‘Adult further education funding in England since 2010’, (House of commons Library, 2019), Available: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7708/
· James, Poppy and Mayblin Lucy, ‘Asylum and Refugee Support in the Uk: civil society filling the gaps? (Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2019), Available: <DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2018.1466695>
· Kone, Zovanga, Ruiz, Isabel, and Vargas-Silva, Carlos, ‘Refugees and the UK Labour Market’, ECONREF 04, (Compas, 25 April 2019), p, Available: < https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/ECONREF-Refugees-and-the-UK-Labour-Market-report.pdf >
· Parker, Sam, ‘Falling Behind: The Decline of the Rights of Asylum Seekers in the UK and Its Impact on Their Day-to-day Lives’, (eSharpt 2017), Available: < https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_529634_smxx.pdf>
· UK Government, ‘Asylum and human rights policy instruction: Further submissions’, Version. 9, (Home Office Feb 2016), Available: < https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/502334/Further_Submissions_API_v9_0_EXT.pdf>
· UK Government, ‘Asylum Support’ (Gov.UK), Available: <https://www.gov.uk/asylum-support/what-youll-get>
· United Refugees, ‘Figures at a glance’, (UNHCR, 2020) Available: <https://www.unhcr.org/uk/figures-at-a-glance.html>
· Yurday, Erin, ‘Average Household Budget 2020’, (Nimble Fins, 2020). < https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/average-uk-household-budget>