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Scotched Earth policy: An insight into the effects of denying subsistence support to failed asylum seekers and other immigrants
Accredited Community Research Course 2012-2013

Alex Farai Dhlakama

Scotched Earth Policy: An insight Into the effects of denying subsistence support to failed asylum seekers and other immigrants

Alex Farai Dhlakama 2012-2013

Alex Farai Dhlakama

Acknowledgements
I owe much to colleagues and friends who made it possible to produce this report. Many thanks to Alex Sutton for giving me permission to do my research at Praxis Community Projects, Mahamad Ismail for his contribution in as far as Somali community is concerned, Dalia Schudeski for giving the perspective of foreign offenders in her Majestys Prisons, Kat Miao for the view from the Chinese community, Sean MacNeil, Zeena Nahi, Rana Al Saadi for their invaluable contributions as generic advisors working with general refused asylum seekers and immigrants with no recourse to public funds.

Scotched Earth Policy: An insight Into the effects of denying subsistence support to failed asylum seekers and other immigrants

Contents Page

Contents Page .................................................................................................................................................2 Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................3 Chapter 1.............................................................................................................................................................5 (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) Central aim and research plan .......................................................................................5 The purpose of the research............................................................................................6 Literature ...............................................................................................................................6 Methodology ..........................................................................................................................7 Ethical considerations .......................................................................................................8

Chapter 2: Research findings ...................................................................................................................8 Chapter 3: Discussion ................................................................................................................................15 Chapter 4..........................................................................................................................................................17 (i) (ii) (iii) Conclusions........................................................................................................................17 Recommendations..........................................................................................................17 The strengths and limitations of the research...................................................18

Bibliography...................................................................................................................................................20

Alex Farai Dhlakama

Executive Summary
The purpose of the report is to identify the hardships caused on refused asylum seekers and other immigrants because of the governments determination to refuse or withdraw subsistence support from them as a means to force them to leave the country. The report investigates whether the policy is the right way to reduce net migration in the first place and whether any suffering involved is necessary and how it can be avoided or reduced. A combination of a questionnaire and focus groups were used to gather the data needed. Recruitment of participants depended on their having firsthand experience of either being a refused asylum seeker or an immigrant with no recourse to public funds, that is, overstayers and trafficked immigrants. Participants were recruited from two centres which support immigrants in London. The research found out that affected immigrants are experiencing much suffering which includes failure to feed their families. Many have been reduced to beggars surviving on charity. It has also found out that the number of children in need has also grown, as a result of the policy not to provide basic support to refused asylum seekers. The report concludes that the policy to deny support to refused asylum seekers and other immigrants with no recourse to public funding is wrong and inhumane. The immigrants are unlikely to leave the country but if they must, there is need to find ways to support them until the point of departure. Denying them support can also be a catalyst for bigger social problems, which not in the interest of any one. Homelessness and its associated problems will rise as will public health issues and so on, just to name a few. The current suffering can be reduced or in some cases avoided altogether. There is absolutely no need for a developed country to reduce immigrants to homeless beggars through public policy. It is recommended that the Government makes support available to refused asylum seekers and their families until the time they can be removed from the country. Alternatively, it may be necessary to fund the Third Sector and other charitable organisations, so that they may support destitute immigrants. If neither of these solutions are appropriate, then the government could allow immigrants to work for a limited period as they prepare to leave the country.

Scotched Earth Policy: An insight Into the effects of denying subsistence support to failed asylum seekers and other immigrants

Chapter 1:
(i) Central aim and research plan
The topic for this research is: Scotched Earth policy: An insight into the effects of denying subsistence support to failed asylum seekers and other immigrants. The central aim of the research is to identify the hardships caused by the withdrawal and/or denial of support to refused asylum seekers and to identify how local service provision may be altered to cater for the affected people. The objectives of the research were as follows: To obtain first hand information from affected people in order to draw accurate conclusions To compare the outcomes with results from published research and identify any similarities or differences in the finding To be able to obtain information that can be used to influence decision making bodies at local level Research Plan: The research was aimed exclusively at refused asylum seekers, immigrants with no recourse to public funding and professionals working with these groups. The information was collected by means of questionnaires and a focus group. The two methods were necessary in order to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The time frame was four months but the research would be done on a part-time basis which significantly reduced the actual research time. Participants were drawn from service users at two East London organisations who support refugees and general migrants.

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(ii) The purpose of the research

The research sought to identify the difficulties if any, experienced by refused asylum seekers and other undocumented migrants, usually officially classified as No recourse To Public Funds or NRPF people. This follows the removal of all forms of support to NRPF migrants as a way to encourage them to take up offers of voluntary return to their countries of origin. Given the numbers of undocumented migrants using day centres and other emergency services, it is necessary to understand the scale of this problem and if need be campaign for support to be given to them either as a statutory duty or as a humanitarian gesture by those in authority. The research is also aimed at informing service providers at a local level that, although there was need to keep within the austerity targets of the government, there is also a need to support destitute people who need such support, regardless of their immigration status.

(iii) Literature review

A lot has been written and discussed about the plight of failed asylum seekers and other immigrants who are destitute and have no recourse to public funds. People included in this group are failed asylum seekers who have reached the end of the line with their asylum cases, children leaving care whose Discretionary Leave would have expired, those who overstayed their visas and those who may have entered irregularly as stowaways or through trafficking. The official status for these groups of people is No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) - and they are not allowed to work. In the case of children leaving care there is confusion as to who supports them on turning 18 years of age. These are popularly known as AREs [Appeals Rights Exhausted] young people. The government on one hand thinks they ought to leave the country, while some local authorities are hoping to hand them over to the government, so that it continues to support them until a decision is made on their fate. For instance Paul Carter, a Conservative Councillor from Stroud District, quoted on BBC Kent website lamented that, [t]hat is not fair, the Home Office should be picking up those bills." In addition to Pauls stance, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Rochester and Strood, Mark Reckless, a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said he was "astonished" that the council was supporting failed asylum seekers aged over 18. As far as he is concerned, there is nothing for them here, they ought to either fend for themselves or go home.

Scotched Earth Policy: An insight Into the effects of denying subsistence support to failed asylum seekers and other immigrants

Amnesty International in a report entitled Down And Out In London: The road to destitution for rejected Asylum Seekers published in 2006, state that refused asylum seekers are ... condemned to live in abject poverty, stripped of their dignity and relying on others to subsist. Sometimes they go hungry and sleep in the streets. All avenues to a normal life are blocked. Community Care, an organisation which is a social Enterprise supporting Children and Adults in need, stated on their website (Accessed 31/01/2013) that among the difficulties immigrant women face when in this situation is to be trapped in violent relationships or .... escape and risk destitution. Amnesty International says those who do escape, suffer destitution which wouldnt have been the case had there been support available to them in the first place. The Economic Times reports in an article published in April 2012 that many illegal immigrants from India and elsewhere live in slum-like conditions at high rents. This according to the Economic Times is common in Londons Southall area. It was also the case in the Chinese community. A notable example being the conditions the Chinese cocklers who drowned in 2006, used to live in. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4871760.stm). Illegal Chinese migrants according to the same article also end up in exploitative employment, selling pirate DVDs for very little in return. Amnesty international reports that these immigrants live ...on the margins of society and are susceptible to exploitation of many kinds, i.e. sexual, labour etc. This is particularly common in big cities of which London is a prime example. In addition to low wages, other risks include avoiding the police, defending oneself from muggers, and being drunkenly abused. Withdrawing support adversely affects the mental wellbeing of immigrants. Most would have suffered trauma prior to arriving in the UK and when they are in the UK, find themselves without support, unable to speak the language, which in turn can impact on their mental health A BBC report published in August 2003 available at (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3185643.stm) found out that immigrants often suffer social problems, pre-flight and also post-flight. As a result the levels of mental health issues are higher than in settled communities. This is normally roundly diagnosed as Schizophrenia quite often wrongly as ... schizophrenia diagnosis is more a kind of catch-all phrase for when professionals are not quite sure" according to Melba Wilson of The Centre for Mental Health Services Development (CMHSD) at King's College, in the same BBC article. An Amnesty international report cites depression and severe mental illness as common in NRPF people. They also report attempted suicide in the same report, highlighting the seriousness of the difficulties faced. The Homeless Link through their online publication Handbooks, state that asylum seekers ejected from National Asylum Support Services (NASS) accommodation often find themselves sleeping rough on the streets. They also state that one of the things the street outreach service does, is to refer the rough sleepers to services such as day

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centres, where they can get food or services that provide support for Post-Traumatic Stress. Others are referred to legal services and so on.

(iv) Methodology
Questionnaire The questionnaire was the main tool used. Questionnaires by definition are sets of printed or written questions which usually have a choice of answers and are devised for the purposes of a survey or statistical study. There are two ways of using them. They may be used as part of a structured interview where the interviewer reads them to the respondents and he/she ticks off the selected answers. Alternatively, the questionnaire may be given to the respondent to complete on their own. They may also be posted to respondents. This tool was extensively used chiefly because the information needed was straightforward and not of controversial nature. The information required from respondents was uniform, hence the use of questionnaires. It was possible to design a questionnaire that asked from respondents, the same information, in the same format and wording. It was important to do this so that responses could be standardized, limiting the possibility of data being affected by interpersonal factors as in face to face interviews (Denscombe, 2003). This also allowed the researcher to limit the discussion only to the essential data required for the research. There was also the fact that questionnaires generally allow the respondent to answer freely and honestly without the pressure of the presence of an interviewer. Data required was mostly fact other than opinions. As it did not require a lot of judgment or personal attitudes from the respondents, in that case, a questionnaire was most appropriate. Only a minority of the questions required respondents to give an opinion. Focus Group A focus group was used in order to gather some qualitative data. A focus group is a form of group interview which capitalizes on communication between research participants in order to generate data. The data gathered this way is qualitative and quite reliable. Focus groups are particularly useful for exploring people's knowledge and experiences and can be used to examine not only what people think but how they think and why they think that way. It was necessary for this study because it does not discriminate people on the basis of literacy and other factors of that nature.

Scotched Earth Policy: An insight Into the effects of denying subsistence support to failed asylum seekers and other immigrants

It was composed of asylum seekers and undocumented migrants mainly from Africa and Latin America. Eight people in total took part. The focus group was necessary to gather information from a homogenous group who discussed the issues as peers. The homogeneity was determined by the purpose of study and was the basis for recruitment of participants. All participants were known to the researcher and this was necessary because ... focus groups should produce data of interest to the researcher (Krueger, 1984 p19), and not merely to reach consensus. Due to the small scale nature of the research, only these two methods were used.

(v) Ethical considerations

Maintaining anonymity was essential particularly with the questionnaires. It was also important to ensure that any participation was voluntary and any contribution made could be withdrawn at any stage without giving explanation. An ethical consent form was used and all participants signed it after it was read to them by the researcher.

Chapter 2: Research findings

Twenty people responded to the questionnaire. Of these people, twelve were overstayers and five were refused asylum seekers. Three were other immigrants, including one who entered the country as a stowaway and never got to regularise his status. Females accounted for 60% of the sample, while males made up the other 40%. The majority were aged 26 to 35. Fifteen respondents were single without child, while three were single with child. The remaining two were a widow and one who is part of a couple without a child but expecting one. Participants showed they are surving through different means. Some said they are involved in cash-in-hand work (20%). The vast majority (65%) depend on friends for survival. Only 10% depend on organisations for their survival. Among the other means of survival mentioned was having to be supported by a partner. Immigrants have been affected by the policy of denying them support in various ways. Some 30% of people stated that they are now unable to provide for their families as a result of discontinuation of support. The majority of respondents (55%) said they no longer manage anymore. Only 5% reported no change in their lives due to the failure by authorities to provide them with subsistence support. Again relatives were mentioned as main source of help as summarised in fig 1.

Alex Farai Dhlakama

Figure 1: Life changes due to having support withdrawn or made inaccessible

The most common impact mentioned by 50% of the respondents is that they have had to rethink their accommodation arrangements, having to change their accommodation in order to cope with the withdrawal of support. A significant number (25%) said their relationships with their families have been strained as a result of the authorities failure to assist them with support Fig. 2 summarises the impact.

Scotched Earth Policy: An insight Into the effects of denying subsistence support to failed asylum seekers and other immigrants

Fig 2: Impact of changes in support arrangements on immigrants lives

Mental health issues, particularly stress, was mentioned as resulting from the lack of support. One mentioned that they live in fear of deportation which only adds to the stress. Poverty and destitution were mentioned also and this could also add to deterioration of mental health. Trust for the authorities has plummeted as a result of their failure to support immigrants as stated by 40% of the respondents. A further 40% mentioned that they have now returned to life in hiding. About a third of respondents said they have actually stopped using vital services such as the GPs as a result. They feel such services may expose them to immigration officials. Affected immigrants now resort to seeking the help of relatives. A majority 70% are doing this, followed by 35% who are depending on the charitable services of their church. 10% work illegally and eat in Day Centres respectively. A minority 5% have resorted to begging in public places and another 5% have moved in with partner in order to have a roof over their heads

The focus group results showed a similar pattern with the participants agreeing that it was necessary for them to change their living arrangements due to the difficulties they

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face. It was also strongly felt that the role of relatives and friends in sustaining people affected by this policy has increased dramatically of late. Other main points raised were: A greater role by churches in providing emergency food and winter shelter services Increased use of day centres mainly for meals and showers Increased mistrust of public services for fear of being handed over to immigration officials. The general theme was that of increased hardship and a sense of helplessness when it comes to finding solutions.

Figure 3 : How immigrants are managing without support

Asked whether they would consider an offer of help to return to countries of origin, the immigrants almost unanimously rejected the idea. 95% said they would not consider returning back home. Various reasons were cited for this. Some in the focus group stated that they considered their lives to still be in danger if they returned home, so

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Scotched Earth Policy: An insight Into the effects of denying subsistence support to failed asylum seekers and other immigrants

would rather stay in the UK. Others pointed out that they had lost all contact with their home country so they would rather continue staying in the UK, even though the conditions are prohibitive. Some have been in the United Kingdom for a long time and see no point in giving up their fight to be allowed to remain in the country at this stage. Economic hardship in countries of origin was cited thereby confirming that they are in fact Economic Migrants. One confirmed this by saying she is staying on in the UK in order to be able to support a grandson. Fear of stigmatisation due health condition in home country was also mentioned as reason for reluctance to return. Allowing immigrants to work was mentioned as a solution. An amnesty for overstayers and other immigrants without the right paperwork to remain in the UK was also a popular suggestion. On being asked what their sources of income were, given that statutory support was either withdrawn from them or was never offered in the first place, the respondents gave varying answers which ranged from, working illegally to depending on the good-will of friends and well wishers as summarised in table 1 below:

Source Of Income Cash-in-hand work Donations from friends Donations from organisations. Moved in with partner No specific Source of income

% of sample 20% 60% 10% 5% 10%

Table 1: Sources of income for NRPF people with no permission to work

Professionals who responded to the questionnaire mainly work with refused asylum seekers and overstayers. All professionals who responded said women dominate these two groups. The women are mainly of working age between the ages of 31-40 years as said by 100% of the professional respondents. This is followed by women who are 2130. The majority of professionals suggested that the people who come to them mainly depend on help from charitable organisations and donations from friends (80% in

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either case). It was found out that immigrants are simply no longer able to sustain their families in the opinion of 80% the professionals. The hardship experienced has led to families and individuals to struggle with accommodation. 60% said their clients are either taking sub-standard accommodation or have become street homeless. A professional working with Chinese immigrants pointed out that her clients have fallen victim to rogue landlords who have extorted money from them or put them in dangerously overcrowded and unfit housing. 40% said some families have had to split up because they could not afford to stay together. All professionals who responded stated that they have had to support their clients secure food donations. 80% have supported their clients by helping them secure temporary accommodation in hostels (80%) and winter night shelters (60%). Others referred clients to day centres and soup kitchens (80%). A further 40% supported their clients securing accommodation and support through Social Services Teams. The emerging pattern judging by the views of professionals, is that organisations and sympathetic individuals are now replacing the statutory sector as main means of support for affected migrants , see fig 4 below:

Fig. 4: New sources of income and support for NRPF migrants

To reduce the suffering, 80% felt that it is necessary for the Government to channel more funding to organisations which support immigrants. It was also strongly felt (60%) that if immigrants are not going to be supported financially then it is necessary to allow them to work. Same number of professionals also felt it was a good idea to grant immigrants who have been in the country for a long time, some sort of amnesty to allow them to stay legally. The least supported idea was that of decriminalising squatting so that homeless immigrants may take shelter in disused and derelict buildings around the

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city. This was supported by only 20%. The suggestion that immigrants due to be deported, get non-cash support up until the point they are removed from the country was unpopular (40%). The general community according to professionals has also suffered. 80% of the respondents believe there is a surge in the numbers of street homeless people. Begging in public places has also been pointed out as being on the increase by 60% of professional respondents. There was no overwhelming evidence of impact on the family unit. Only 20% mentioned an increase in family breakdown rates.

Fig 5: The effects on the general Society

A worker working with Somali and Congolese communities noted that one of the major impacts within the Somali community has been a deterioration of affected immigrants mental health. Very low esteem was also cited. The responses therefore show sustained suffering by affected immigrants.

Chapter 3: Discussion
The research has found out that immigrants experience increased suffering as a result of withdrawal of support. This means that the UKBAs stated proposal of simplifying the policy to not make support available goes against the spirit of human rights. The policy

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is a wilful move by policy makers to inflict suffering on human beings. For instance, one is given Section 95 or Section 4 support on the basis that denying them support would be a breach of their Convention rights, within the meaning of the Human Rights Act 1998. When their asylum case is refused, it is only their case that is no longer active but their need for accommodation and support surely remains. Therefore it would make no sense to withdraw subsistence support from them. It is also shown that there is no clear policy on duty of care between the Government on one side and the local authorities on the other. It appears as in the case of Glasgow City Council that they are willing to assist destitute immigrants. However, they have not been granted enough funds to do so. The reluctance to help by government shows that the policy is more for political reasons than it is economic. The research has shown that the general level of hardship on affected immigrants has surged as evidenced by the 70% who now depend on the charity of friends. This is seconded by 80% of professionals who said their clients now depend on donations from either their friends or charitable organisations. As more and more asylum seekers get refused, the problems keep growing so a rethink of policy may be needed to address this. Also confirmed is the fact that there is a growing number of street homeless people. Homelessness itself has a number of its own side effects such as public health issues, exploitation of vulnerable homes people etc, but the research was not focused on these concerns. Forcing people to into homelessness by refusing to give them basic support is a sure way to increase the already big problems associated with homelessness. The problems being created are leading people to break the Law. For example 10% of non professional respondents said they were working illegally and in so doing they broke the law (Sections 15 to 25 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006). That law also allows for heavy fines of 10 000 per illegal employee, making it not worthwhile for employers to risk employing anyone without a work permit. Those who squat in disused buildings find themselves in breach of Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (s144 LASPO 2012). Innocent destitute people are therefore being turned into criminals. Anyone convicted of these offences will have difficulty succeeding with a long residence application, later on as this will impact negatively on their Good character part of their later applications as they will have now have a criminal history. The research has also shown that the number of children in need increases as a result of denying refused asylum seekers support. All of a sudden people are not able to provide the basics for their families, i.e. food, shelter etc. Society has tried to rescue the situation through day centres and other charitable organisations. However, the need is great and not getting smaller, as more and more asylum cases are refused. There is need for policy change to allow for support. 80% of professional participants in the research said they now refer their clients to soup kitchens and day centres. It is

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definitely humiliating and degrading to depend on soup kitchen for survival and any policy that forces people, no matter their immigration status, into that situation ought to be wrong. All 100% of professional respondents have either given out food parcels or referred their clients to the food banks dotted around London. Table 2 summarises how professionals are attempting to redress the situation.

Type of Support Placed clients in hostels Placed clients in winter shelters Gave clients food parcels/or referred to services that give food handouts Referred to day centres and soup kitchens Referred clients to social services

% who helped 80% 60% 100% 80% 40%

Table 2: How professionals have assisted destitute Refused Asylum seekers and other immigrants

The future looks bleak for refused asylum seekers. Besides being reduced to beggars as shown above, some of the solutions are very have a short term. In the case of the clients referred into winter shelters, as soon as winter is over, these places close down and all the people sheltering there return to the streets. The government through the relevant departments needs to address this problem immediately.

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Chapter 4
(i) Conclusions
The research has shown that the policy of making support unavailable to refused asylum seekers and other immigrants as a means to encourage voluntary return to countries of origin has not really worked. Instead people have stayed and have for various reasons are not considering returning under any circumstances. This has given rise to much hardship for people involved and is creating potential greater social problems which will be difficult to address in the future. Immigrants are experiencing a great deal of suffering and the humiliation of having to depend on charity. Earlier research into the difficulties face by immigrants such as those by the BBC and Amnesty International have been proved right by this study, which has found out that the issues cited in the BBC and Amnesty International research still exist, if not worse now. Street homelessness and child poverty are among the issues getting worse. Immigrants are not going anywhere soon and so are the problems cited. The policy to refuse or withdraw support from asylum seekers and other NRPF migrants is inhuman and degrading to them.

(ii) Recommendations
The policy on supporting immigrants needs to change urgently. Any policy that places the lives of children at risk is clearly not worth having. Children and families should not be plunged into destitution and poverty as a result of public policy. Therefore the policy to refuse support to failed asylum seekers and other immigrants needs to be changed. While it is accepted that there is a need to control immigration, there is no justification for treating the immigrants who are already in the country in an inhuman and degrading way. Ways ought to be found to be able to support people up to the point they are removed from the country. As suggested by professionals who participated in the research, if the government is not going to support immigrants directly, then there is a need to make funding available to Third Sector organisations, in order for them to support destitute refused asylum seekers and other NRPF migrants. To ease pressure on public funds, failed asylum seekers should be allowed to work until their departure dates. Those that have established some sort of connection with the UK should be granted an amnesty to remain in the country, so they can make a meaningful contribution to the economy, instead of being turned into law breakers.

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Scotched Earth Policy: An insight Into the effects of denying subsistence support to failed asylum seekers and other immigrants

Given an opportunity to do this study again, I would seek the views of interested parties who have extreme views of the issue, but not the affected immigrants themselves. I would particularly contact campaign groups and the relevant government departments. This would help me have a better understanding of what the partisan points of view are. This would then help me be able to find the middle ground and help reach a more balanced conclusion.

(iii) The strengths and limitations of the research

The strengths of this research are that the participants are people who are involved in destitution and were giving firsthand accounts of their lives. For this reason the information can be relied upon as being true and accurate. Also the professionals who participated were not relying on what they read but on their day to day work with refused asylum seekers and immigrants. Their contribution too is reliable. A further strength of my research was the easy access I had to respondents. I was able to find suitable participants through my work where there is a relatively large body of eligible immigrants. Also I had express permission from the directors of the organisation who felt that the research was useful to my work. Working with respondents who are familiar to me was very good because there was no issues around trust as this had already been built over time. The responses were therefore reliable and a true reflection of what the immigrants are going through. On the other hand the research was very limited in the sense that the sample used in the study is hardly big enough to give an accurate picture of all the NRPF immigrants in London, let alone the country. Also the research was too localised, such that there is no flavour of what is happening in other cities of the rural parts of the country where undoubtedly there are many immigrants. More time would have been helpful as it would have allowed for greater depth in the issues to be investigated. Lastly as the literature review suggests, there has already been some deeper research done in the field - so not much new information was found as a result of this study, it mostly confirms the results of earlier research. Reflecting on my original plans, and weighing that against the results, I have to say that it worked out as expected. I was able to get the number of responses I had hoped for. Also the questionnaire and focus group both worked well. The responses and attendance was good. In the case of the questionnaire however, a few of the people who responded did not understand all of the questions and ended up asking others if I wasnt around. The focus group was the strongest in terms of providing qualitative answers. The group was highly motivated and individual contributions made, were very good.

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If I were to repeat this research, I would probably use the same research plan. However to improve the quality of the results, I could reach out to more people from different geographical settings, (both urban and beyond). I would also translate the questionnaires into different languages, so as to reach the maximum possible respondents. I would make more use of focus groups again, perhaps doing them in two or three different locations, in order to access new people - those I have not met in the past.

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Bibliography
1. Denscombe M (2003), The Good Research Guide: For Small Scale Social Research Projects, Open University Press, Maidenhead 2. Krueger R.A (1994) Focus Groups : A practical Guide for Applied Research, SAGE, Califonia
3. Melanie Gower (2013) www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN01909.pdf [online] accessed 29/02/2013

4.Legislation.Gov.UK (2012) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/10/section/144/enacted [online] accessed 20/02/2013 5. Mark Gould (2006) http://www.communitycare.co.uk/articles: No recourse to public funds: the plight of refugees fleeing domestic violence. [online] Accessed 31/01/2013 6. Shan Shan Mo (2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4871760.stm [online] accessed on 16/03/2013 7. Homeless Link (2008) http://handbooks.homeless.org.uk/streetoutreach/deliveringquality/engagement/nor ecourse [online] Accessed on 16/03/2013 8. UKBA http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/asylumpro cessguidance/asylumsupport/guidance/statuscessationguidance.pdf [online] accessed 23/03/13. 9. Malgorzata Strona (2010) http://www.nrpfnetwork.org.uk/policy/Documents/nrpf_reforming_asylum.pdf accessed on [online] 23/03/13 10. Amnesty International (2006) http://www.amnesty.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_17382.pdf [online] accessed on 23/03/2013

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11. The Economic Times (30 April 2012) http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-04-30/news/31508277_1_illegalimmigrants-uk-border-agency-indian-high-commission (Online) Accessed 23/03/13 12. Scottish Refugee Council(2012) http://www.scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk/news_and_events/latest_news/1751_glasgo w_city_council_stands_up_for_destitute_asylum_seekers[online] accessed on 23/03/2013 13. UKBA (2010) http://www.westminster.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/118141/business_careers _UKBorderAgencyimmigrationguide.pdf (Online) accessed on 18/03/13 14. BBC (2013) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-21832202 (Online) accessed on 18/03/2013

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Evelyn Oldfield Unit, 2013