AN INQUIRY into the "appalling and inhumane conditions" faced by refused asylum seekers in Leeds today calls for changes in Government policy – including the right of asylum seekers to work.
Commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the inquiry was chaired by BBC journalist Kate Adie who visited Leeds to investigate conditions faced by refused asylum seekers in the city. Conservative vice- chair Sayeeda Warsi and writer Julian Baggini helped to lead the investigation.
The report is entitled Moving on – from destitution to contribution.
Destitute
Leeds was chosen because of its importance as a regional centre and asylum seeker dispersal city.
Researchers found one in four, including women, had slept rough and a third had been destitute for a year or more. Many were suffering grave social and health problems and some were wrestling with thoughts of suicide.
Asylum seekers refused refuge in this country lose rights to benefits and accommodation if they do not leave voluntarily within 21 days.
The report calls for the victims to be rescued "from the stark reality of being homeless, hungry and hidden."
It says current approaches on refused asylum seekers leave the Government with an "invisible" population of up to half a million destitute people who can neither go home nor contribute to British society."
The report urgently calls for Government to:
l Provide a revocable licence to work, pending asylum decision and up to the point where people refused asylum can realistically return home;
l Provide reasonable assistance such as basic food, shelter and care;
l Establish a body independent of the Home Office to rule on claims;
l Provide better administration, swifter decision-making and guaranteed access to legal support.
Kate Adie said: "The current UK asylum system fails by the standards both of human decency and of those who want to 'get tough' on asylum.
"For the benefit of everyone, there has got to be urgent and pragmatic reform which brings these people in from the shadows so that they can be treated humanely, contribute to the community and remain inside the system. We are proposing practical, workable solutions which will benefit local communities as well as government."
The report was being launched today in the House of Commons and in Leeds.
Home Office Minister Joan Ryan said: "Our asylum system is a fair one. It ensures support is available to someone claiming asylum from the time they arrive in the UK until the outcome of their claim is determined.
Safe
"But it is not right to ask the UK taxpayer to fund – potentially indefinitely – those who choose to remain when it is open to them to return to a safe home country."
In January, 2005, local agencies estimated there were between 2,000 and 3,000 destitute asylum seekers living in Leeds.
The survey was conducted between September and December, 2006.
'Sometimes I feel like I've had enough'
Yadullah Nahwi
CASE STUDY
UNIVERSITY-educated civil servant Yadullah Nahwi ran way from Kurdish Iran, having seen evidence of human rights abuses.
His brother also fled, but was caught and imprisoned in Iran. His family was later told where the body could be collected. Yadullah, pictured, escaped through Turkey to Britain. He made a home in Halifax, where he carries out voluntary work.
He was refused asylum, and now lives a hand-to-mouth existence, moving from place to place. He is denied the right to any income, either earned or through benefits. He cannot be returned to Iran because there is no agreement with the authorities there.
He relies for help on a support centre at a local church.
"Sometimes I feel like I've had enough," he said.
Adam has been living without money, food or accomodation in Leeds for two-and-a-half years.
He fled torture and persecution which he suffered in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
He was denied asylum in Britain, and as a result was evicted and denied benefits. He is not allowed to work.
He still suffers from the effects of torture but cannot get drugs or treatment.
"There are rights for animals in Britain but no rights for human beings," he said.
IN 2002 farmer Omar returned to his home in Burundi in eastern Africa to find his father beaten, the walls spattered with blood, and his wife and two children gone. His village had been attacked. He fled.
He escaped via South Africa and reached Britain where he sought asylum and was dispersed to Wakefield.
He re-married and his wife was expecting a child. He and his wife, a Somalian, were refused asylum. As a result they have no home and are denied the right to work. The family now moves from place to place in Leeds, getting shelter where they can.
The plight of Omar and hundreds of others is placing enormous pressure on churches and other religious centres in Leeds. Denied state help, or even the right to help themselves through work, they rely on charities and faith organisations for their very existence.
