legal and social conditions for asylum seekers and refugees in ...

SOCIAL CONDITIONS FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS
Introduction/legal basis
– The Immigration and Asylum Act 1996;
– Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. Some measures came into effect on 6
December 1999, others took effect on 1 April 2000;
– Order by Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions DETR SI 1999 No. 3126.
Accommodation
There is no compulsory accommodation on arrival, although asylum seekers can be detained at the
request of an immigration officer. Such detention measures may increase during the year 2000.
The government has started introducing a new scheme for housing asylum seekers, which is
being implemented gradually according to the regions and the different groups. On 3 April 2000,
all new applicants in Scotland and Northern Ireland entered the new scheme, as well as port
applicants in England. On 17 April, all new in-country applicants in Kent were entered into the
scheme. It is expected that new in-country applicants in London will enter in September, and new
in-country applicants everywhere else probably in October. Those applicants who have not yet
entered the new scheme stay under previous arrangements. Due to the complexity of the current
situation, this section describes both the previous system and the new scheme. Information as to
which regions and/or which groups have entered the new scheme may be requested from the
British Refugee Council.
Previous system
Asylum seekers who have not (yet) entered the new scheme are covered by different support
arrangements, depending on how they have applied for asylum.
Single adults or couples who applied for asylum at port of entry have to rely on the private
market, hostels or “bed and breakfast” accommodation. They can claim housing benefit from the
local authority to cover the cost of this. Port applicants with children, or who are considered to be
vulnerable on the grounds of age or health may claim emergency accommodation from the local
authority under homelessness legislation.
In-country applicants are housed by local authority social services departments under the “interim
arrangements” of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. Neither group can join the waiting list for
permanent local authority housing, and under the Homelessness (asylum seekers)(Interim
period)(England) Order 1999 (SI 1999 No. 3126), they can be moved to any part of England or
Wales.
New System
The new scheme for housing asylum seekers involves dispersing applicants away from London
and the Southeast to other regions of the UK. The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) is a
new department in the Home Office which take responsibility for supporting asylum seekers and
allocating accommodation. Asylum seekers are no longer able to claim housing benefit or local
authority housing.
The NASS scheme is not compulsory: in fact, not all asylum seekers who apply for NASS
housing will receive it. Asylum seekers have to show that they are destitute and have no other
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United Kingdom