The 28-day move-on period in the UK is leaving refugees on the brink of extreme poverty. Evidence from people who use Red Cross services shows that newly recognised refugees who receive leave-to-remain are struggling. Many can’t move on from asylum support to mainstream benefits and employment within the 28-day period given to them by the Home Office.
This report, written by Pauline Carnet, Catherine Blanchard and Fabio Apollonio, uses qualitative and quantitative data to understand why many new refugees are at particular risk of destitution in this 28-day time frame.
Key findings
- Moving to mainstream benefits usually takes much longer than 28 days. One person in our study had to wait almost three months to receive such support.
- This delay is usually because of red tape and inefficiency from government staff. In total, we identified 23 factors that can affect the process.
- For some people, between five and ten different issues were causing a hold-up. As a result, all the new refugees in our study were living in extreme poverty.