Home Office urged to reverse ‘unjustified’ decision to restart refugee evictions

The Home Office has been urged to reverse its decision to restart asylum evictions during the pandemic, with charities warning that the move “cannot be justified” because it will leave refugees with the anxiety of not knowing whether they will have somewhere to live.

The department announced at the end of March that refugees and asylum seekers would not be asked to leave their accommodation for the next three months once their claim or appeal had been decided, in order to ensure people did not leave their homes unnecessarily to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

This was introduced in parallel with a government announcement to pause evictions for private and social tenants for three months. Both policies were to be reviewed in June.

At the start of June, housing secretary Robert Jenrick announced a two month extension to the eviction ban for private and social tenants. Charities supporting refugees expected a parallel announcement to protect the health and safety of refugees in asylum accommodation, but this never came.

Instead, an email to local council bosses last week confirmed the government would resume its “move-on process” imminently for individuals living in asylum seeker accommodation in England.

The Refugee Council has now called on the home secretary to reverse the decision to begin evicting refugees from asylum accommodation while the ban on evicting private and social tenants remains in place, saying this was “unacceptable” even in normal times.

In a strongly worded article on Tuesday, chief executive for the charity Maurice Wren said: “The prolonged silence on an issue of such importance to the lives of refugees cannot be justified. Many refugees will be living with the anxiety of not knowing whether they will have somewhere to live in July. In normal times, this would be unacceptable.

“During a global pandemic, where Bame individuals are at particularly high risk of dying from the virus, it carries imminent and extremely adverse consequences for the safety of refugees. It will also hamper progress made on reducing the rate of virus transmission in our communities.”

He said the charity had spent the past month asking the Home Office for clarity on when they intended to start evicting refugees, and what exact process they plan to follow, but that this had been met with a “wall of silence” – and that although it had now said it would restart evictions, the plans were “astonishingly vague”.

Refugees are given 28 days’ notice before they need to leave their asylum accommodation, and usually have no savings or alternative income at that point, because people seeking asylum are banned from working and universal credit takes five weeks to be paid.

Mr Wren said this would leave many with an “extremely challenging task” of finding alternative accommodation, which he said would be “even more difficult” to achieve in the current environment where many support services are operating at reduced capacity due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We cannot say that we live in a fair society unless all vulnerable people are given the support they need in times of crisis. The government accepts that it is not safe to evict private and social tenants during this fragile recovery phase, so there is no justification for evicting refugees,” he added.

“We call on the home secretary to reverse the decision to begin evicting refugees from asylum accommodation while the ban on evicting private and social tenants remains in place. However, if she insists on pressing ahead with this policy, she must clarify exactly what measures she will put in place to mitigate the risk of refugees becoming homeless and contracting the virus. This must happen without delay. Whatever the ministers say, their actions suggest that some lives still don’t matter.”

Alex Fraser, director of Refugee Support and Restoring Family Links at British Red Cross, echoed his concerns, saying the "uncertainty" around the government's next steps on emergency accommodation support for refugees and people seeking asylum was "worrying" for those affected and made it hard for organisations supporting refugees to offer advice and practical assistance.

“While the Home Office has said it intends to resume evictions from asylum accommodation for newly-recognised refugees, we don't currently know when that is going to happen. People should only be asked to leave their accommodation when there are clear support pathways in place, to guarantee secure accommodation, financial support and access to essential services," he added.

Hazel Williams, national director at NACCOM - a charity which works to prevent homelessness amongst refugees and asylum seekers - told The Independent the organisation was “extremely concerned” that over the next month thousands of people seeking safety in the UK could become street homeless with less than four weeks’ notice.

“Put simply, this is inhumane and risks lives especially whist we are still in the midst of a global health pandemic which has been evidenced to put communities of colour more at risk,” she added.

“For individuals in this situation it is extremely worrying not knowing when you will be evicted and what will happen to you, we are asking the Home Office to suspend evictions and communicate clearly their plans.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: "There has been no Home Office instruction to ask asylum seekers to leave their properties, and during the pandemic we have been providing accommodation and essential living costs to those who would otherwise have been destitute.

“Accommodation and support is paid for by the taxpayer so there is no cost to the individual. Those who have had their claim for asylum accepted are being supported as they move into the mainstream social housing system.”