Refused Asylum Seekers as the Hyper-Exploited

Abstract

This chapter delves into the worlds of refused asylum seekers — worlds too often characterised by conditions of destitution. This destitution does not simply ‘occur’; rather it is produced and enforced through immigration policies and the structural erosion of welfare support. Successive UK governments have systematically tiered entitlement for migrant groups and undermined the basic rights of asylum seekers who from 1999 onwards have had diminishing financial support and accommodation. In 2002, permission to work for asylum seekers who had not received an initial decision on their claim within six months was removed as employment was considered a ‘pull factor’ encouraging unfounded asylum claims (Bloch and Schuster, 2002). In 2003, a cashless voucher system (known as Section 4 support) was introduced for refused asylum seekers temporarily unable to leave the UK. Both were deliberately punitive to deter continuing residence in the UK. While there is a lack of evidence substantiating any effect of assumed ‘pull factors’ for seeking asylum in the UK, the government insists that denying work rights is central to deterrence of people claiming asylum. It is now widely recognised that refused asylum seekers routinely experience enforced destitution due to the intentional restriction of their rights (Crawley et al., 2011; Bloch, 2013, see also Vickers in this volume).