On Monday 8th June, the Home Office announced a shameful increase of just £1.85 a week to the financial support people seeking asylum in the UK rely on. That’s a meagre 26p a day; and leaves people still forced to live off little more than £5 a day.
We know that’s impossible in normal circumstances, never mind during a global pandemic.
That’s why we’ve joined over 250 other organisations, faith groups and community leaders in writing to the Home Secretary to call on her to urgently reconsider her decision, and ensure that people seeking safety in the UK are able to meet their essential needs and stay safe, during the pandemic and beyond.
The full text of the letter is below, alongside the complete list of signatories. Whilst the letter has now been sent to the Home Secretary, we are keeping the version on our website open for new signatories.
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Dear Secretary of State
Covid-19 pandemic: asylum support rates
As over 200 organisations working with and alongside people seeking asylum in the UK, we believe your decision announced to parliament yesterday to grant an increase of just £1.85 in the weekly rate of asylum support is wholly unacceptable.
It would not allow people to meet their essential living needs in normal times; and it completely fails to take account of the additional needs and severe pressures placed on individuals and families during a public health emergency. We urge you to immediately reconsider this decision.
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected us all, but it is not affecting us all equally. The challenges for those left to live on little more than £5 a day have been further exacerbated in the current crisis.
We know that people seeking asylum have serious problems being able to afford enough food to feed their families, and are making impossible choices between food, cleaning materials, nappies and over the counter medication. We know families are struggling with the realities of home-schooling without internet access or sufficient educational resources to support their children’s development. We know people worry about their ability to self-isolate as they cannot afford to stock up on provisions. Following Public Health England’s recent analysis, we know that people from BAME backgrounds, which includes the vast majority of people seeking asylum in the UK, are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Following government guidance to ‘stay alert’ or ‘stay at home’ is profoundly more difficult when you are living in poverty.
Welcome measures taken by the UK Government to “strengthen the safety net” for those in receipt of mainstream benefits during the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in increases to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by approximately £20 per week. The speed with which these decisions were taken is in marked contrast to the length of time taken to reach a decision on asylum support rates. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, asylum support rates were already significantly less than mainstream benefits; following the uplift, it is now barely 40% of the allowance people over 25 receive on Universal Credit.
People seeking asylum are effectively banned from working, leaving them entirely reliant upon asylum support to avoid destitution. It is imperative that the safety net for people in the asylum system is equally and immediately strengthened, enabling people to keep themselves and their families safe.
We are united in calling on the UK Government to reconsider its decision; and increase the rate of asylum support to allow people seeking asylum to meet their essential living needs during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.
Due to the urgency of the current situation, we are calling on the Home Office to immediately ensure that asylum support rates receive the same £20 Covid-related uplift as Universal Credit.
In addition, we call for the link with mainstream benefits to be reinstated by setting asylum support at 70% of Universal Credit to ensure people seeking asylum are able to meet their needs both during, and outside of, a public health pandemic.
Every week, organisations have provided the Home Office with evidence on how people seeking asylum are struggling to meet their essential living needs in these emergency circumstances. We believe it is both a moral and a public health imperative that asylum support rates are increased immediately.
In recent months the Prime Minister has confirmed to parliament on two separate occasions that the Government will address the wellbeing of people seeking asylum during the Covid-19 pandemic. On 25 March he told MPs that vulnerable groups including asylum seekers “will certainly receive the Home Office funding that they need and deserve” during the pandemic. On 13 May he stated: “We will make sure that nobody in this country, let alone asylum seekers, is ill-treated”. It is clear that this decision does not meet those commitments. We urge you to reconsider your decision as a matter of urgency.
We look forward to hearing from you soon and to working with your ministers and officials to address these matters in the very near future.
Yours sincerely
Abigail Housing – Amanda Church-Mcfarlane, Destitution Project Coordinator
Action for Children – Carol Iddon, Deputy Chief Executive
Action Foundation – Julian Prior, Chief Executive
African Rainbow Family – Aderonke Apata, Founder
After Exploitation – Maya Esslemont, Director
All Saints Church (Liverpool) – Rev Mike Coates
Amnesty International – Steve Valdez-Symonds, Programme Director, Refugee and Migrant Rights
Amnesty Kirklees – Matthew Ambler, Group Secretary
ARC Project Blackburn – Saida Soge, Manager
Asylum Support Appeals Project – Alice Webb, Director
ASIRT – Dave Conroy, Director
ASSIST Sheffield – Richard Chessum and Jerry Seymour, Joint Chairs
Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees – Ali McGinley, Director
Asylum Education & Legal Fund – Amanda Sebestyen, Co-ordinator
Asylum Justice – Emmy Chater
Asylum Link Merseyside – Ewan Roberts, Manager
Asylum Matters – Paul Hook, Project Director
Asylum Seekers and Refugees Group – Peter Gowland, Acting Chairperson
Asylum Welcome – Almas Farzi, Front Line Services Manager
Baobab Women’s Project – Sarah Taal, Director
Baptist Union of Great Britain – Revd David Mayne, Moderator of Council
Barnsley Borough City of Sanctuary – Frank Parnham, Chair
Barnsley Stand up to Racism – Fran Postlethwaite, Secretary
Barnsley Trades Union Council – George Arthur, Secretary
BEACON (Bradford Ecumenical Asylum Concern) – Katy Armistead, Team Leader
Bearwood Action for Refugees- Josh Evans, Vice Chair
Ben & Jerrys Europe – Anuradha Chugh, Managing Director
Bevan Healthcare CIC – Dr Andrew Lephard, Clinical lead for refugee healthcare, Bevan House
BIASAN – Sue Balcomb, Campaigns Coordinator
Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid – Shazna Islam, Operations Manager
Birmingham City of Sanctuary – Dr David Brown, Chairman
Birmingham Community Hosting Network – Andrew Jolly, Trustee
Blackburn Amnesty International Group – Irene Ryan, Chairperson
Boaz Trust – Ros Holland, Chief Executive
Bradford Friendship Choir – Fran Wyburn, Musical Director
Bradford Homeless & New Arrivals Health Team, Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust – Nikki Harvey, Mental Health Practitioner
Bradford Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Survivors Service – Jane Gregory, Manager – Finance, Fundraising & Service Development
Bristol Refugee Rights – Beth Wilson, Director
British Red Cross – Mike Adamson, Chief Executive
Burslem Jubilee Project – Sheila Podmore, Project Leader and Trustee
Calderdale Valley of Sanctuary – Laurence Larroche, Committee Member
Care4Calais – Clare Moseley, Founder
CARIS Haringey – Gloria Saffrey, Director
Central Asylum Yorkshire – Lucy Lucy, Chair
Central England Law Centre – Sue Bent, Chief Executive
Citizens of the World Choir – Becky Dell, Musical Director
City of Sanctuary – Sian Summers-Rees, Chief Executive
Church of Scotland – The Very Rev Dr Susan Brown, Convener of Faith Impact Forum
Cohesion Sheffield – Panni Loh, Cohesion Sheffield Co-ordinator
Community Infosource – Abigail Chidavayenzi, Chair
Connected Voice – Lisa Goodwin, Chief Executive
Coventry Justice and Peace Group – Paschal Somers, Chair
Coventry Refugee & Migrant Centre – Toni Soni, Centre Director
Coventry Asylum and Refugee Action Group (CARAG) – Loraine Masiya Mponela, Chairperson
Creative Minds Community Organisation – Ramatoulie Saidykhan, Chair and Founder
Croydon Refugee Day Centre – Peter D Hall, Co-ordinator
Curious Monkey – Amy Golding, Artistic Director
Derby Refugee Advice Centre – Janet Fuller, Project Manager
Derbyshire LGBT+ – Ian Robson, Chief Executive
Destination Barnsley – Alan Curtis, Secretary
Destitute Asylum Seekers Huddersfield – Maeve Larkin, Manager
Destitution Project Bolton – Shaheda Mangerah, Asylum Seekers and Refugees Caseworker
Detention Action – Bella Sankey, Director
Displaced People in Action (DPIA) – Faruk Ogut, Chief Coordinator
Doncaster Conversation Club – Nic Burne and Jan Foster, Trustee
Doncaster Minster – Fr Daniel Parkinson, Assistant Curate
Durham City of Sanctuary – Susan F Frenk, Co-Chair
Eagles Wing Bury – Sue Arnall, Honorary Treasurer
Enable 2 – Liz Weatherill, Managing Director
End Destitution NI – Sipho Sibanda, End Destitution Coordinator
Entraide (Mutual Aid) – Felix Kupay, Chairperson
Europe Roma UK – Ladislav Balaz, Chair
Family Refugee Support Project – Jason Ward, Director / Senior Therapist
Fatima House – Mauricio Silva, Co-ordinator
4Wings Northwest CIC – Ciiku Sondergaard, Director, Projects Coordinator
Freed Voices
Freedom From Torture – Sonya Sceats, Chief Executive
Friends of the Drop in for Asylum Seekers and Refugees – Sandra Watt, Manager
The Gap Wales – Mark Seymour, Refugee Project Manager
Gatwick Detainee Welfare Group – Anna Pincus, Director
Govan Community Project – Traci Kirkland, Head of Charity
Grassington and District Peace Group – Richard Hargreaves, Newsletter Editor and
Information Coordinator
Guiding Group, Stockton – Jessica Wratten, Development Consultant
Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit – Denise McDowell, Chief Executive
Growing Together Levenshulme – Jaqui Cotton, Project Co-ordinator
HAAS – Steve Hibbs, Secretary
Hackney Migrant Centre – Daf Viney, Director of Services
Halton & St Helens VCA – Sally Yeoman, Chief Executive
Haringey Migrant Support Centre – Karolina Maroszek, Centre Manager
Hart Gables – Sarah Lewis, CEO
Hastings and District Trades Union Council – Ian Stewart, International Officer
Hastings Community of Sanctuary – Polly Gifford/ Jane Grimshaw, Co-Chairs
Hastings Immigration Campaign Team – Dr Felicity Laurence, Director
Hastings Lift the Ban Campaign South – Jay Kramer, Director
Hastings Voluntary Action – The Links Project – Marc Turczanski, Project Coordinator
Helen Bamber Foundation – Kerry Smith, Chief Executive
Help Refugees / Choose Love – Josie Naughton, Chief Executive
Herefordshire City of Sanctuary – Jonathan Hopkinson, Secretary
Honeycomb Group – Diane Thompson, Chief Executive
Hope Projects – Phil Davis, Co-ordinator
Host Nottingham – Jane Henson, Chair
House Of Rainbow CIC – Jide Macaulay, Founder & CEO
Housing 4 All – Aylisha Hogan, Organiser
Humans of Wolverhampton – Mary Solomon, Founder and Coordinator
Iberian and Latin American Association – Dr Patricia Rodríguez-Martínez-Jones, Chairperson
Ice and Fire – Sebastian Aguirre, Director – Actors for Human Rights
International Community Organisation of Sunderland (ICOS) – Michal Chantkowski,
Development and Services Manager
Islington Law Centre – Roopa Tanna, Solicitor
Jewish Council for Racial Equality – Dr Edie Friedman, Executive Director
Jesuit Refugee Service – Sarah Teather, Director
Jill Franklin Trust – Norman Franklin, Trustee
Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants – Satbir Singh, Chief Executive
Just Fair – Jess McQuail, Director
Justice First – Barbara Hungin, Chair of Trustees
Kazzum Arts – Alex Evans, Director
Kings Heath Action for Refugees – Rosie Gunn, Chair and Founder
Kirklees Multi-Agency Group – Bill Dennis, Chair
Learn for Life Enterprise – Hayley Nelson, Director
Leeds Asylum Seekers Support Network – Jon Beech, Director
Leeds Refugee Forum – Ali Mahgoub, Director
Leeds Unity Centre – Natasha Jarratt, Director
Leicester City of Sanctuary – Pete Hobson, Chair of Trustees
Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network – Rosario Guimba-Stewart, Chief Executive
LGBT Health and Wellbeing – Maruska Greenwood, Chief Executive
Lifeline Options – David Forbes, Manager
Mafwa Theatre – Keziah Berelson, Co-Artistic Director
Manchester City of Sanctuary – Liz Hibberd, Strategic and Partnership Lead
MAP Middlesbrough – Ailsa Adamson, Project Manager
Mary Thompson Fund – Pete Widlinski, Chair
Maternity Action – Ros Bragg, Director
Meeting Point Armley – Emma Crossley, Project Manager
Mencap Liverpool & Sefton – Sarah Jones, Chief Executive
Merseyside Law Centre – Siobhan Taylor-Ward, Solicitor and Our Liverpool Coordinator
Merseyside Refugee Support Network – Seána Roberts, Manager
Methodist Church in Britain – Revd Dr Barbara Glasson, President of the Methodist Conference
Micro Rainbow – Sebastian Rocca, Founder and CEO
Migrant and Refugee Children’s Legal Unit (MiCLU) – Lisa Payne, Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer
Migrant Voice – Nazek Ramadan, Director
Migrants at Work – Ake Achi, Founder and Director
Migrants’ Law Project – Sonal Ghelani
Milk Cafe – Gabrielle Cluness
MindOut – Helen Jones, Chief Executive
Minsteracres Retreat Centre – Liz Holmes, Outreach Coordinator
MotherShip – Leonie Hart, Chair
NACCOM – Hazel Williams, Director
National Justice and Peace Network – Anne Peacey, Chair
New to the UK Drop-in, North Shields – Pat Bond, Steering Group Member
North East Law Centre – Clare Hurst, Senior Solicitor
North of England Refugee Service – Dr Mohamed Nasreldin, Director
Northumberland County of Sanctuary – Ben Hopkinson, Secretary and Trustee.
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum – Matt Atkins, Director
Nottingham Arimathea Trust – Caron Boulghassoul, Chief Executive
Oasis Cardiff – Reynette Roberts MBE, Director
Oasis Church, Birmingham – Rob & Margaret Hooper, Church Pastors
One September Ltd, Liverpool – Aleasha Chaunte, Co-Director
Open Door (North East) – Louisa Henderson, Destitution Services Manager
PAFRAS – Karen Pearse, Director
Passionists (St Joseph’s Province) – Fr John Kearns CP
Penistone Asylum Seekers and Refugee Support Group – Gina Hawkins, Chair
Praxis – Sally Daghlian OBE, Chief Executive
Pride in Plymouth – Mark Ayres, Co-Director
Project 17 – Abi Brunswick, Director
Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network (QARN) – Catherine Henderson, Steering Group Lead
Rainbow Haven – Kate Percival, Manager
Rainbow Junktion Community Cafe – Emily Carrigan, Manager
RASA (Rape & Sexual Abuse) Merseyside – Sarah Wood, Wirral Centre Manager
Reach Project Huddersfield – Rev. Ernie Whalley, Chair of Management Committee
Reading Refugee Support Group – Nick Harborne, Chief Executive
Refugee Action – Stephen Hale, Chief Executive
Refugee Action Colchester -Kate Khan, Co-Director
Refugee Action York – John Williamson, Volunteer Co-ordinator
Refugee Council – Maurice Wren, Chief Executive
Refugee Education Training Advice Service Leeds – Fidelis Chebe, Operations and Development Manager
Refugee Support Devon – Nelida Montes de Oca, Casework Co-ordinator
Refugee Women Connect – Alison Moore, Chief Executive
Regional Refugee Forum – Suraiya Riyaz, Secretary
REPOD Resettlement Programme for Overseas Doctors – Dr Margaret Hinman, Volunteer
Restore – a project of Birmingham Churches Together – Jeremy Thompson, Manager
Right to Remain – Lisa Matthews, Co-ordinator
Room to Heal – Elli Free, Director
Saabat Gallery – Azad Mohammed, Director
Safe Passage International – Beth Gardiner-Smith, Chief Executive
Saheliya – Shruti Jain, Chair
Salaam Community Centre – Zeba Alam, Manager
Saltburn and East Cleveland Befrienders – Alan Hiscox, Treasurer
Samphire Ex-Detainee Project – Tanya Long, Director
Sanctuary Hosting – Sarah Wahby, Service Manager
Sanctuary Kirklees – Jane Wood, Trustee
Sanctuary on Sea – Richard Williams, Chair
Sanctus – Revd Sally Smith
Sante Refugee Mental Health Access Project – Edward Milner, Chair
Scottish Asylum Seekers’ Residents Association (SASRA)
Scottish Episcopal Church – Most Reverend Mark Strange, Primus and Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness
Scottish Refugee Council – Sabir Zazai, Chief Executive
Shap Ltd – Janine Iyanda, Operations Manager
SHARE – Debra Webb, Chairperson
SHARe Knowsley – Margaret Roche, Manager
Sheffield City of Sanctuary – Thomas Martin, Director
Shpresa Programme – Luljeta Nuzi, Chief Executive
Shropshire Supports Refugees – Amanda Jones, Director
Sikhs in Scotland – Charandeep Singh, Executive Director
Sisters United – Veecca Smith Uka, Chair
Skipton Refugee Support Group – Judy Rogers, Vice Chair
SOGICA Project – Dr Carmelo Danisi, Dr Moira Dustin, Professor Nuno Ferreira, Dr Nina Held
Solace – Kathryn Ashworth, Chief Executive
South East Integration Network (Scotland) – Ruth Cape, Development Worker
South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group – Stuart Crosthwaite, Secretary
South Yorkshire Refugee Law and Justice – Hilary Smith, Co-ordinator
Southwark Borough of Sanctuary – Chara de Lacey
St Bede with St Clement Church – Elaine Jones, Vicar
St Mary’s Cathedral Justice and Peace Group – Teresa Lyth, Chair
St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees – Revd Bill Braviner
St Wilfrid’s Faith and Justice Group – Ged Cunningham
St Augustine’s Centre – Becky Hellewell, Senior Caseworker
Stafford Welcomes Refugees – Netta Cartwright, Founder and Educational co-ordinator
Staffordshire North and Stoke-on-Trent CAB – Jude Hawes, Specialist Services and Equalities Team Manager
Stand and Be Counted (SBC) Theatre – John Tomlinson, Theatre Producer
STARCH (South Tyneside Asylum Seekers and Refugees Church Help) – Margaret Gregg, Secretary
Steve Biko Housing Association Ltd – Tracey Gore, Director
Stockton Baptist Church – Peter John Chapman, Coordinator for RAS Development
Stonewall – Leanne M MacMillan, Director
Stories and Supper – Helen Taylor, Director
Stories of Hope and Home – Steph Neville, Project Manager and Founder
Student Action for Refugees – Emily Crowley, Chief Executive
Suffolk Refugee Support – Martin Simmonds, Fundraising & Communications Officer
Sunderland Black and Minority Ethnic Network Limited – Michal Chantkowski, Board Secretary
Sustain the Alliance for Better Food and Farming – Kath Dalmeny, Chief Executive
Swansea Asylum Seekers Support – Professor Tom Cheesman, Chair of Trustees
TCC (Trefnu Cymunedol Cymru/Together Creating Communities) – Kay Polley & Sam Rex-Edwards, Lead organisers
Tees Valley of Sanctuary – Satti Collins, Chair
TGP Cymru – Mike Clark, Director of Family Services
The Anchor Project – Indi Elcock, Project Co-ordinator
The Birth Partner Project – Jacky Knowles, Project Co-ordinator
The Brunswick Centre – John McKernaghan, Chief Officer
The Church at Carrs Lane – Rev Dr Neil Johnson and Rev Cristina Cipriani
The Comfrey Project – Eleni Venaki, Director
The Greenhouse Project – Debbie Wright, Chief Executive
The Liberal Jewish Synagogue – Alexandra Wright, Senior Rabbi
The Hummingbird Refugee Project – Elaine Ortiz, Founder/Director
The Refugee and Migrant Centre Ltd – Arten Llazari, Chief Executive
Tiber Community Building – John Ramsden, Chair
Together with Migrant Children – Nick Watts, Director
Trinity Centre – Heather Cox, Treasurer
Tyne and Wear Anti Fascist Association – Mick Bowman, Chair
UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group – Leila Zadeh, Chief Executive
United Reformed Church – Revd Nigel Uden, Moderator of General Assembly
Unity in Diversity – David Borwell, Secretary and Co-ordinator
Unity in Poverty Action (UPA) – Mary Halsey, Development Worker
University of Liverpool Law Clinic – Judith Carter, Lecturer and in-house Solicitor
Unseen – Kate Garbers, Director
Upbeat Communities – Andrew Jackson, Chief Executive
Upper Wharfedale Refugee Support Group – Stella Perrott, Coordinator
Voices in Exile – Mel Steel, Director
Volunteers Together Project – Marie Allainguillaume, Project Coordinator
W-ASH Project – Sheila Arthur, Director
Waging Peace – Maddy Crowther, Co-Executive Director
Wakefield Baptist Church – Flora Davies, Farsi Worker
Wakefield City of Sanctuary – Geoff Fielding, Trustee
Walking With in North Tyneside – David McKenzie, Chair of Trustees
Waltham Forest Migrant Action – Douglas Saltmarshe, Chair
Wandsworth Welcomes Refugees – Ellie Cusack, Chair
Welcome Group Halesowen – Andrew Harwood, Project Manager and Chair
Welsh Centre for International Affairs – Susie Ventris-Field, Chief Executive
Welsh Refugee Council – Andrea Cleaver, Chief Executive
West London Welcome Centre for Refugees and Migrants – Joanne MacInnes, Director
Wolverhampton City of Sanctuary – Alan Marriott, Chair
Women for Refugee Women – Natasha Walter, Director
Worthing for Refugees – Gay Jacklin, Church and Community worker
Women Centre Kirklees – Sobiya Din, Senior Mental Health Facilitator and Volunteer Coordinator
Yarls Wood Befrienders – Nicky Woods, Chief Executive
Youth Community Support Agency – Fariha Thomas, Manager
