FACTS On Destitution

In 2002, Oxfam and the Refugee Council published a joint report. The report showed that 85% of people seeking asylum experienced hunger, 95% could not afford to buy shoes and clothes and 80% suffered bad health. Conditions for people seeking asylum, who are often torture victims and have suffered other traumas, have since deteriorated.

facts on Support

People seeking asylum, who are supported by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) receive only 70% of Income Support. At today's figures, that means that a person supported by NASS has less that £40 per week with which to buy the essentials for day to day living as food, clothes and toiletries and other necessities.

(Government sets the level of Income Support at the minimum amount a person should be able to live on).

facts on The Right to Work

In 2003, the Government withdrew the right for people seeking asylum to apply for permission to work if they had been waiting for a decision from the Home Office for more than six months. This has deprived people of the ability to support themselves making them dependent on support putting them below the poverty line.