UK Asylum Reform: Assault on the Fundamental Right to Asylum 

In our clinics, we see the people affected by the asylum system every day.  They are mothers, fathers, children; people who have survived war, torture, and unimaginable poverty. Against all odds, they have made it to the UK, only to be met by a broken asylum system and successive governments encroaching on their fundamental right to asylum and health. 

We have seen this before, in countries like Greece and Australia. Harsh asylum rules do not stop people fleeing danger. They force people into prison-like camps in remote places, overcrowded detention centres, and onto even more dangerous journeys to find safety.  

The Government’s most recent proposed changes will push an already failing system to new extremes of harm. Stripping housing and support from families who are fighting to survive will push people onto the streets and at risk of abusers and traffickers who exploit their lack of resources and safeguards. 

Giving refugees a temporary status of just 30 months gives politicians the power to decide where people can live and when they have to leave. It could mean children who have grown up in the UK could be pulled out of school and sent to places they barely know. In some cases, to countries still shattered by conflict, where healthcare and basic services barely function. All this uncertainty fear, and instability only adds to the trauma they are carrying. 

Instead of spending millions of our country’s national budget to move people into camps, that money could be used to ease pressure on the many struggling in the UK.  

These policies do not make the UK safer or fairer for anyone. What we need is a competent and efficient refugee protection system that prioritises the health and wellbeing of people seeking safety and suitable housing for all who need it. 

This is what humanity looks like. This is what truly matters.