Services
This section provides a breakdown of relevant services available in assisting asylum seekers and refugees in London.
- Destitution
- Employment
- Education
- Health
- Housing
- Integration
- Capacity Building
- Community Cohesion
- Vulnerable Groups
Destitution
The number of failed asylum seekers who have remained in the UK is unknown, although there have been many estimates. LSE, have estimated that the number is around 500,000, which is the highest estimation that has been made. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the number of failed asylum seekers in London is in the thousands. A large majority of failed asylum seekers find themselves destitute, due to the lack of support. Section 4 support is provided for those whose asylum claim has been rejected, but when the UKBA recognises that there is a genuine and temporary barrier to their return. However, many do not apply for Section 4 support; either because they are not eligible or they have suspicions that it is a way of monitoring and forcing returns.
Following the Section 55 (exclusion from NASS support because of a late asylum claim), around 10,000 asylum seekers a year, or 200 each week, are likely to be made destitute in London.
LDAN (the London Destitution Advice Network) is an informal network of 27 London based non-statutory organisations who work with destitute asylum seekers. LDAN hopes to improve the quality and quantity of destitution advice by sharing information, best practice and building up an effective referral network. They have a project running in London since 2008 (the ASAP Project).
A new project launched recently by LDSG (London Detainee Support Group) is helping to release hundreds of asylum seekers from immigration detention centres and avoid homelessness.
Employment
Asylum seekers are not permitted to work until they have received a positive response to their application and granted refugee status. Refugee Council actively provides assistance and support for refugees needing help looking for employment. Refugee Council are currently working with the Job Centre in supporting refugees into training and work. The London One Stop Advice programme of the Refugee Council gives advice sessions on welfare, training and employment. Its website has an online directory of over 850 service providers in London and in the South East. Refugee Action, the Migrants Resource Centre, the West London Refugee Employment & Training Initiative provide advice on employment and training issues. Refugees into Jobs, based in North West London, provides careers advice and guidance for refugees and asylum seekers living in Brent, Harrow, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Ealing.
Education
The London One Stop Advice programme of the Refugee Council, the Migrants Resource Centre, Education Action and Refugee Action organise advice sessions on education. Praxis is an East-London organisation that gives vocational training and language courses. The Home Learning Project of Refugee Support provides home-based ESOL (English Language Support for International Students) support to ‘hard-to-reach' refugee learners. CARA (the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics) awards grants to refugee academics to support the (re)building of their careers. RAGU (The Refugee Assessment and Guidance Unit), and HERAN (Higher Education for Refugees and Asylum Seekers Network), both part of the London Met University, support refugees with high level education or professional qualifications into employment. Refugees into Teachers (RIT), a Refugee Council Initiative, provides support and advice to refugees who previously worked as, or qualified as teachers, or who would like to train as teachers. The BMA also provides support to refugee doctors in the UK through their Refugee Doctors Initiative and Refugee Doctors Liason Group.
Health
Asylum seekers are able to receive health services provided by the NHS, throughout the UK. However, there are often problems with accessing healthcare, due to barriers such as language, and actual or perceived discrimination. Praxis, the Refugee Council, The Education Action International and also the Hackney Migrant Centre provide health care advice and support for migrants and refugees. The Migrants Resource Centre is carrying out a Health and Inclusion project. The Refugee Support and the Refugee Therapy Centre can help with any problems concerning emotional or psychological health. The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture provides care and rehabilitation to survivors of torture and other forms of organised violence. The Helen Bamber Foundation combines psychological and physical therapies to help address profound injuries resulting from war, torture and rape. Medical Justice is a network of lawyers, doctors and other experts who aim to expose and challenge inadequate healthcare provision to immigration detainees.
Housing
The 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act introduced a dispersal system to reduce the pressure on London and the South East. The Home Office no longer provides housing in London. The London Housing foundation and Shelter, the homeless foundation both provide numerous links to organisations that provide housing or give advice about housing issues, including to refugees. Shelter also provides a free housing advice helpline 0808 800 4444. Refugee Support (the former Refugee Housing Association) provides 192 beds for refugees in eight boroughs of London. They also run a floating support service for refugees in their own homes in three London boroughs, and work in partnership with the Medical Foundation for Victims of Torture to provide help refugees suffering from psychological problems due to their experiences of torture and conflict. The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) implemented a ‘Places of change Programme' for vulnerable people like refugees. Thames Reach is a London-based charity that helps people off the streets, providing help and information for vulnerable and homeless people. They run projects all around London. Refugee Action provides advice on housing.
Integration
Mentoring is one of the most effective ways of helping refugees and asylum seekers to overcome difficulties and barriers to integration, such as limited English language skills, a lack of knowledge of UK systems, and often hostility and discrimination. A mentor can help by sharing their knowledge and experience, and through offering friendship; increasing the confidence of the mentee. There are a number of organisations in London which encourage and provide opportunities for mentoring and befriending. Hillingdon Refugee Support Group provides a Befriending Hillingdon Unaccompanied Minors Project (BHUMP), in partnership with the British Red Cross, London Borough of Hillingdon Asylum Service, Brunel University Skills for Society and the West London YMCA Tumbler Youth Project. The Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust's Traumatic Stress Clinic includes a Refugee Service that initiated the Refugee Befriending Project, which is based at St Pancras Refugee Centre. The project caters for refugees who are primarily clients of the refugee service at the Traumatic Stress Clinic, but may also be clients from Community Mental Health Teams. Time Together was set up by Timebank to provide mentoring services, with the aim of improving integration. Since the project was launched in 2002, over 2,500 refugees have been matched with a volunteer mentor.
Refugee Action and the Refugee Council both have experience in the reception, resettlement, development and integration of asylum seekers and refugees. A service funded by the UKBA and provided by the Refugee Council, called RIES (Refugee Integration and Employment Service) aims to help and support newly-recognised refugees to integrate smoothly and quickly into UK society. Praxis provides a mix of social, cultural and sporting activities and an ‘action learning approach to community' that enables the leaders of refugee and migrant communities to share their experiences, build solutions to their problems together and voice their concerns to policy makers.
The British Red Cross provides an international tracing and message service which works worldwide to restore and maintain contact between families by exchanging messages and searching for missing relatives. REAP (Refugees in Effective and Active Partnership) offers a range of practical advice and support services for refugees and asylum seekers in London and in other areas of unmet need.
Capacity building
The Evelyn Oldfield Unit provides specialist support for refugee and migrant organisations in London to enable them to adequately tackle the needs of the communities they serve. They do this through consultancy, trainings and events, and also by producing their own analysis and research on the state of the sector.
Community cohesion
Vertovec calles the social landscape of London ‘Super-diverse' (2006, RAL) and this presents challenges to policy-makers especially with regard to community organisations, public service delivery and 'community cohesion'. The London Government has an Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society strategy to built Community Cohesion. REAP (Refugees in Effective & Active Partnership) promotes a positive image of refugees and asylum seekers. Employability Forum is an independent organisation that promotes the employment of refugees and the integration of migrant workers in the UK. LORECA (London Refugee Economic Action) also promotes refugee employment, training and enterprise. The Migrants Resource Centre has a programme of inclusion and representation of migrants and refugees in Britain at a policy and strategic level, called ‘The Migrant and Refugee Media and Policy project'. Citizens for Sanctuary Campaign focuses on the ill-treatment and public perceptions of people seeking sanctuary, and contributes towards their integration by involving them in workshops and campaigns, and offering training that involves the encouragement of community organising and cohesion.
Vulnerable Groups
The London Asylum Seekers Consortium (LASC) is a central resource that supports London boroughs in the provision of services to children and young people. Their core focus is unaccompanied children (UASC) The LASC works in cooperation with London boroughs, the UKBA, London Councils, voluntary organisations, and other government bodies. Refugee Youth Project provides support and activities for young refugees and asylum seekers living in the London Borough of Barnet. WAST (Women Asylum Seekers Together) provides a secure space for women asylum seekers and refugees to seek help and advice, and lobbies for greater awareness of asylum issues involving women. The Women's Project at Asylum Aid provides free legal advice and representation. UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group provides legal advice and support for gay and lesbian asylum seekers, and runs monthly drop-in support sessions.
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Last Updated: 04/03/11
