Asylum Welcome’s Director, Mark Goldring, explains how two refugees ended up camping outside West Berkshire Council offices after having been granted permission to stay in the UK.
You can watch the interview with Mark on ITV Meridian here.
You can also read more about the situation in Berkshire from our colleague Nick Harbourne, CEO of Refugee Support Group here.
Shockingly, this scenario is not uncommon. Punishing rules require newly recognised refugees to move on from asylum accommodation to mainstream employment or benefits and find somewhere to live within a few weeks of successfully claiming asylum. This leaves vulnerable people facing homelessness and destitution at the very moment when they should finally be able to feel safe.
“What should be a positive move in people’s lives is more like a threat of homelessness.”
Mark Goldring
To make matters even worse, the government has now reduced the eviction notice period from 28 days to just seven days. This means that once asylum seekers are granted refugee status, they have one week to organise everything and secure housing, which is practically impossible. As we head into the colder months, this feels particularly cruel.
Asylum Welcome, along with 140 other organisations, has signed a letter to the Home and Housing Secretaries urging them to abandon this inhumane policy. Refugees should be granted the same rights as others under the Homelessness Reduction Act. You can read the letter here.
