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Leeds sees 180 per cent rise in destitute aslylum seekers
THE Government has been urged to take action after a report found the number of destitute asylum seekers and refugees had increased by 180 per cent in just 18 months in Leeds.
The survey by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust revealed there were 331 destitute asylum seekers on the streets of the city - an increase from 118 in 2006.
A trust spokesman said this was just a sample of the tens of thousands of asylum seekers, refused asylum seekers and refugees now living destitute in the UK.
The More Destitution in Leeds report, which follows a survey carried out in the same city 18 months ago, found that asylum seekers were forced into poverty without access to health care and education or permission to work.
The number of children recorded as destitute in Leeds has increased almost fourfold from 13 to 51, the trust said.
There was also a steep rise in the number of destitute Zimbabweans from four in 2006 to 56 this year. Zimbabweans are now the single biggest national group of destitute asylum seekers in Leeds, forming 21 per cent of the total, while Iranians are the second biggest with 16 per cent.
Bill Kilgallon, a commissioner in the original JRCT inquiry, said the Government's asylum policy was having a "devastating impact" on people in "desperate need of help".
He said: "This survey clearly shows that the asylum crisis highlighted 18 months ago is actually getting worse despite - and, in some cases, because of - the introduction of the Government's New Asylum Model."
A Home Office spokesman said: "There is no need for asylum seekers to be destitute. We provide measures that ensure that individuals are not destitute and work to ensure that all are treated with respect and humanity.
"We expect those with no right to remain in the United Kingdom to return home voluntarily. If they choose not to, we will enforce their removal."
Caroline Slocock, chief executive of the Refugee Legal Centre, said the Government must allow Zimbabweans to stay in Britain and help them retain and develop skills.
"Zimbabweans are trapped here in fear of Robert Mugabe's regime and it's inhumane to force them into destitution on the grounds that they have the option of going home safely," she said.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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