Lift The Ban
Asylum seekers are not permitted to work whilst their asylum claim is being considered, a process that can take years. The ban on working reduces morale and resilience amongst our client population, and heightens risks to mental health caused by isolation and mundanity. It affects later effective integration into the workforce and community.
We contest that people seeking asylum, and their adult dependants, should be given the right to work after 6 months of having lodged an asylum claim or further submission, unconstrained by the shortage occupation list.
There is a rational, moral and financial case for the right to work, which Conservative politicians should be inclined to endorse: the Treasury could make £333 million per year savings by giving asylum claimants the right to work after six months.
A Home Office research report from 2020 reveals that the evidence is not there to back up the oft-cited argument that giving asylum claimants the right to work will act as a ‘pull factor’ to encourage more people to take the dangerous journey to the UK. Read our blog about this here.
YouGov polling shows that 81% of the public support giving people seeking asylum the right to work.
Asylum Welcome is a member of the Lift the Ban campaign, which has now been running for four years.
The most recent campaign action is the ‘High Street Challenge,’ encouraging local businesses to become Lift the Ban business allies.