The Supreme Court has rejected the UK governments Rwanda plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda aimed to reduce the number of asylum seekers arriving in the UK. The court ruling of it as unlawful is expected to exacerbate the numbers of refugees becoming homeless in upcoming months.
London homeless charity, Emmaus, has highlighted that the time period given to refugees to find accommodation after receiving their status is “close to impossible”. Ross Watkins, the partnership manager at Emmaus said, ”if the Government were to extend the home office accommodation for a longer period, it would have a positive impact on addressing homelessness in London”.
At present he says that about ”a quarter of their referrals are refugees who were made homeless after receiving refugee status and being given too short a time to find alternative accommodation”.
‘‘We are seeing people given seven days to leave their accommodation, the highest I have seen at the moment is fourteen days.’’
‘‘I see a lot more people with immigration issues in the south of London because they are engaged with the home office in Croydon. There are more and more people with immigration issues who are rough sleeping. I believe this will get a lot higher. I think in the next quarter we will see a lot more people with recent refugee status granted or people that have had their asylum claim denied being asked to leave immigration accommodation from the Home Office.’’
Ross Watkins also highlighted that hotel accommodation offers less opportunity for asylum seekers to be ready to establish their own accommodation once receiving status.
“How asylum seekers are accommodated by the Home Office varies. Some are put in hotels but some are put in accommodation within communities. What we are seeing with people placed in the community is that they are far more integrated as many have been accessing English lessons and education schemes.
“They are more job ready and more ready to sort out their own accommodation. For them finding housing is still exceedingly difficult due to the timescales being given but it is made easier because they are aware of the services that are available.
“In London where the majority of asylum seekers are being kept in hotels, they are kept in an artificial existence. To find accommodation within the given time frame is as close to impossible as I can imagine.”
In response to the Supreme Courts ruling against sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, Alison Pickup, Director of Asylum Aid, said:
”The men, women and children who arrive in the UK seeking sanctuary should be treated with dignity and given access to justice through fair procedures without fear of removal to a country they don’t know and where their right to protection is unlikely to be upheld.”
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Standfirst
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HeadlineNumber of refugees to become homeless is expected to rise
Short HeadlineNumber of homeless refugees expected to rise
StandfirstIncreasing the length of time for refugees to find accommodation once receiving status would impact the homelessness crisis in London positively.
The Supreme Court has rejected the UK governments Rwanda plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda aimed to reduce the number of asylum seekers arriving in the UK. The court ruling of it as unlawful is expected to exacerbate the numbers of refugees becoming homeless in upcoming months.
London homeless charity, Emmaus, has highlighted that the time period given to refugees to find accommodation after receiving their status is “close to impossible”. Ross Watkins, the partnership manager at Emmaus said, ”if the Government were to extend the home office accommodation for a longer period, it would have a positive impact on addressing homelessness in London”.
At present he says that about ”a quarter of their referrals are refugees who were made homeless after receiving refugee status and being given too short a time to find alternative accommodation”.
‘‘We are seeing people given seven days to leave their accommodation, the highest I have seen at the moment is fourteen days.’’
‘‘I see a lot more people with immigration issues in the south of London because they are engaged with the home office in Croydon. There are more and more people with immigration issues who are rough sleeping. I believe this will get a lot higher. I think in the next quarter we will see a lot more people with recent refugee status granted or people that have had their asylum claim denied being asked to leave immigration accommodation from the Home Office.’’
Ross Watkins also highlighted that hotel accommodation offers less opportunity for asylum seekers to be ready to establish their own accommodation once receiving status.
“How asylum seekers are accommodated by the Home Office varies. Some are put in hotels but some are put in accommodation within communities. What we are seeing with people placed in the community is that they are far more integrated as many have been accessing English lessons and education schemes.
“They are more job ready and more ready to sort out their own accommodation. For them finding housing is still exceedingly difficult due to the timescales being given but it is made easier because they are aware of the services that are available.
“In London where the majority of asylum seekers are being kept in hotels, they are kept in an artificial existence. To find accommodation within the given time frame is as close to impossible as I can imagine.”
In response to the Supreme Courts ruling against sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, Alison Pickup, Director of Asylum Aid, said:
”The men, women and children who arrive in the UK seeking sanctuary should be treated with dignity and given access to justice through fair procedures without fear of removal to a country they don’t know and where their right to protection is unlikely to be upheld.”
