HRW’s Report on the Dire Conditions of Children and Families Seeking Asylum in Britain

On 14 September 2023, in a report HRW pointed out the serious impact on the physical and mental health of children and families seeking asylum and their access to education. According to HRW children who seek asylum in Britain with their families are faced with unsuitable living conditions in homes that have been provided for them by the government and this affects their health, wellbeing and education. These dire conditions which often take a year or more, is the result of budget cuts and failure of the government’s policies in facing refugees and ultimately waste of resources.
The 100-page report, “‘I Felt So Stuck’: Inadequate Housing and Social Support for Families Seeking Asylum in the United Kingdom,” found that families seeking asylum face inhumane conditions in temporary housing, including rat infestation and mold. The families experience daily struggles to get food their children will eat, as well as mental and physical health problems and serious disruptions to their children’s education. “Government policy is directly damaging the health and well-being of vulnerable children and their families who have come to the UK seeking safety,” said Jess McQuail, director of Just Fair. “Instead of pitting people seeking asylum against people already living in the UK, the government should use its available resources to ensure that everybody’s rights are met.”
Access to education was also a major issue. The Home Office does not appear to take into account the educational needs of children when it assigns temporary housing. Children in some cases have to wait until the following school year before they can attend classes. The UK government’s general approach to asylum raises serious human rights concerns. In fact studies carried out o asylum-seeking policies in Britain indicate that they have little deterrent effect.
With regards to Unaccompanied children should be placed in housing that offers the care and protection to which they are entitled. In line with a July 2023 High Court decision, they should not be placed in contingency hotel accommodation. Barges, barracks, and similar large-scale institutionalized settings share the serious shortcomings of repurposed hotels and should not be used as asylum housing in the UK, Human Rights Watch and Just Fair said. Instead, people seeking asylum should be supported to find their own housing in communities they choose and should be allowed to work as long as their cases are being considered, the approach used in the UK until 1999.
“Inhumane and inadequate housing for people seeking safety is never acceptable, and certainly not in the world’s sixth-largest economy,” said Yasmine Ahmed, UK director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of recklessly wasting resources on grudging, deficient, and short-sighted responses, the UK government should redirect its funding toward suitable long-term housing and social support.”

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/14/uk-children-and-families-seeking-asylum-face-dire-conditions