It is essential that people seeking asylum are able to access good quality legal assistance. Applying for refugee status is very complex and most people arrive in the UK with little or no experience of going through the legal system of their own country, let alone one they are new to and in a language they might not understand.
However, our research shows that changes to the legal aid system have left many people seeking asylum completely unable to access the legal support they need to make their case for protection from violence or persecution. This is denying justice to some of the most vulnerable people in our country.