Overwhelmed by accumulating asylum requests and migrants arriving every day via the Channel, the asylum system in the Kingdom is suffering from multiple failures, several associations warn.
5 mins
THE United Kingdom faced with a situation emergency “. According to the “No Accommodation” network, the number of homeless refugees in the country has exploded to reach “ highest figure ever recorded “. The collective, which brings together more than a hundred organizations, had to help 1,941 refugees between April 2023 and March 2024, compared to 977 a year earlier, it indicates in its annual report published Thursday, November 14.
Thus, the proportion of refugees among the people supported by the network increased from 26% to 47% in one year. According to the associations, this increase is the consequence of “ hostile policies of [précédent] government on asylum and immigration ” Who “ leave thousands of refugees and migrants without a safe and stable place to live “.
“ It is urgent to change the system”
They denounce in particular a reform taken during the summer of 2023 which leaves only 28 days for people who have obtained refugee status to leave the accommodation made available to them, or even only seven in certain cases, compared to 56 previously. A reform which aims to make room in State reception structures, criticizes the collective which criticizes “ the desire of the previous conservative government to eliminate the backlog » of asylum requests in an already overwhelmed system. “ Thousands of people are pushed unnecessarily into poverty and homelessness each year as they navigate the asylum and immigration systemregrets Bridget Young, director of No Accommodation. There is an urgent need to change the system to ensure the number of homeless people does not continue to rise “, she argues.
With the explosion of Channel crossings, the management of pending asylum applications constitutes one of the greatest challenges of the new Labor government, which came to power last July. In June 2024, according to the Home Office [l’équivalent du ministère de l’Intérieur]85,839 new asylum applications were still being examined. A figure certainly down sharply compared to last year, but to which must be added the thousands of exiles who have arrived since.
Also readUnited Kingdom: Labor government presents plan to combat illegal immigration
Asylum seekers abandoned to their fate »
Asylum seekers can also feel the consequences of this overload as soon as they arrive in accommodation centers. And according to a report published last week by the charities RapeCrisis England and Wales (RCEW) and Imkaan, the burden falls heaviest on women. Organizations report that women victims of sexual violence in their country or during their migratory journey find themselves sharing mixed accommodation, including rooms, with men they do not know. And all this in poor living conditions and without any support. They are ” abandoned to their fate », criticize the associations.
A painful observation supported by multiple testimonies. Makena*, a survivor of sexual violence and exploitation from Sierra Leone, says she had “ afraid of people with whom » she lived. “ I was so afraid of being raped, I was afraid of being forced to take drugs, I was afraid they would open my door at night “, she confides. Another says she lives in unsanitary housing where rats and cockroaches abound. “ It is an environment that does not protect them and does not support them. And, in fact, it puts them in even more danger because they are completely helpless, especially after living in that housing for months or years », explains Tia, a support specialist for women asylum seekers.
Still according to the report, some asylum seekers have been victims of intimidation, harassment, racism or even violence and abuse from staff, other residents or even outsiders who are already targeting this population. vulnerable. “ The fact that anyone is sexually assaulted, intimidated or exploited is a tragedy and the fact that these experiences are repeated and worsened in a system that is responsible for their protection is an outrage. », Reacted Ciara Bergman, the general director of RCEW.
Also readImmigration to the United Kingdom: the use of artificial intelligence to sort candidates worries NGOs
“Huge pressures in the asylum system »
Another consequence of difficult living conditions: the number of deaths, particularly suicides, of asylum seekers supported by the State has increased. According to figures revealed by The Guardianbetween January and June, 28 migrants died in accommodation for asylum seekers, compared to 13 in the first six months of last year. Of the 217 deaths recorded since 2016, 189 – or 87% – took place between January 2020 and June 2024. An increase which worries associations.
Questioned about these multiple failures, the government declared that it had “ inherited enormous pressures in the asylum system “. “ We work to ensure that individuals have the support they need after an asylum decision and to help local authorities better plan their assistance to homeless people », Added a government spokesperson. And on the issue of women, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry said the government was committed “to to establish an asylum process that takes into account the gender dimension, [s’appuyant] on the wider government strategy to tackle violence against women and girls “.
Also readMigrations: on the banks of the Channel, with candidates for the crossing to England