At NACCOM, our vision is for a fair, just and humane asylum and immigration system that eliminates destitution and allows people to live with dignity and agency. Not only is this the right thing to do, it is also eminently achievable. However, the swathe of reforms announced by the government over the past week push this simple aim even further out of reach.
The individual measures by themselves would be bad enough, but taken together they create a system that is combative, punitive, costly and inhumane, and fundamentally for us at NACCOM, is likely to push more people into homelessness and destitution.
Limiting leave to remain for refugees to 30 months will inevitably impact their ability to integrate, and find work and secure housing. An extension to the qualifying period for settlement to 20 years instead of 5 will see people essentially excluded from mainstream society, forced to live on the margins, unable to properly rebuild their lives and plan for the future. New restrictions on asylum support risks leaving both individuals and families with children homeless and destitute. Stretched local authorities, charities already at capacity, communities and individuals will be forced to pick up the pieces yet again. Communities will be fragmented, homelessness and destitution will rise, and those who wish for even more extreme measures to be taken will not be appeased.
It is clear different parts of government are not talking to each other. In December, the government published its National Plan to End Homelessness. The intent is laudable, to end homelessness and rough sleeping, currently at record highs, for good. Yet these measures fly in the face of that ambition.
As the strategy notes, people leaving the asylum system represent the second largest group sleeping rough after exiting a public institution. At NACCOM, we have been campaigning since at least 2018 for improvements to the move on period, the time when a person’s asylum support ends and they have to transition out of asylum accommodation. As part of this, we have been calling for an extension of the time given to refugees to leave their asylum accommodation and find suitable housing once granted status. Until recently, this was only 28 days – half the length of time stipulated in the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 for others at risk of homelessness. The government trialled an increase to 56 days, and commissioned an external evaluation.
Yesterday, without publishing the evaluation, and with little warning or explanation to our sector that has given vast amounts of time to support government decision-making on this issue, they declared the move on period to be 42 days. Taken at face value, this looks positive – a recognition that 28 days was not enough. But scratch the surface and you realise this is not even an improvement on what has gone before. Prior to the pilot, refugees were given 28 days to leave their accommodation from the date they were informed their asylum support would end. This new time of 42 days starts from the date a refugee receives their decision letter – normally around two weeks before they are informed their support will be discontinued. So we are back to where we started, but with the knowledge that the government will ignore evidence, obfuscate and move the goalposts to avoid doing what’s needed to meaningfully end refugee homelessness.
No government policy should result in homelessness for anyone, regardless of who they are. An asylum and immigration system that is fair to all can be designed without forcing people into destitution. As our network of over 140 grass roots and community organisations across the UK shows, we are a country of welcome and belief in humanity. It’s time our policy makers and politicians spoke for us.
