Asylum seekers are poor. They live on 70% of income support and are dispersed into ‘no choice’ accommodation. They are not permitted to work. So far so bad. At two points in the labyrinthine asylum process, though, even this meagre support can be taken away.

Once a single person’s claim has been adjudged to have failed, all support is ended. Even if the person cannot return to their country of origin due to (for instance) the lack of a safe route. These people are described as ‘hard cases’ and may (or may not) be able to get ‘hard case support’. Those who do not get hard case support are left with no means of support.

Since 8 January 2003 Section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 has meant that asylum seekers who do not apply for asylum at their port of entry have to prove that they have applied ‘as soon as is reasonably practicable’. Those who fail to do so (and in some cases applying within 2 days has been too late) do not qualify for support. It is worth making clear that section 55 applies to people whose asylum claim has not yet been heard – they may well have strong cases for asylum, facing a real risk of persecution in their countries of origin. In such cases people may find themselves starved into forced return and loss of life or liberty.

In both of these cases ‘no support’ means absolutely no support. No money, no house, no permission to work. It means no housing benefit so people cannot be housed in homelessness provision such as direct access hostels or those run by the Salvation Army. In the 21st century in the fourth richest country on earth people are being reduced to absolute destitution not by accident or personal tragedy but by deliberate act of policy.

The results of this policy can be devastating and the attempts to alleviate it seem anachronistic. In Manchester over 70 people are supported each week by a food parcel provided by Mustard Tree (a Christian homelessness project) and the Red Cross. The majority of destitute asylum seekers, though, are supported by their own communities. The poorest people in Britain being supported out of the ‘surplus’ of the second poorest people in Britain. Others have not been able to access even this. A group of asylum seekers were forced to sleep rough on the streets of London outside the Refugee Council Offices earlier in the year. Courts have heard the experiences of people sleeping in phone boxes and bus stations. Other people have been put up by total strangers at potential risk to both parties.

It seems particularly poignant over the Christmas season, hearing a story of homeless strangers and refugees fleeing persecution into unknown foreign lands, that this is the welcome provided here. Destitution, even for just a few days, is a demoralising experience. Over a lengthy period it can be devastating. Earlier this year an Iranian man – a ‘hard case’ – who had been supported by bits and pieces from a variety of friends and strangers for over 6 months came into the offices of a refugee charity in Manchester, doused himself in petrol and set himself alight. He died of his injuries later in the week. No-one knows why he did this, but clearly his experience of destitution and his fear of return to Iran were significant factors.

If you wish to register your opposition to the destitution of asylum seekers please write to your MP and to:

Rt Hon David Blunkett MP The Home Secretary Home Office 50 Queen Anne’s Gate London SW1H 9AT