Description
In this seminar, Senior Research Fellow Kate Smith will be in conversation with Mary Brandon, Campaign Manager for Asylum Matters in Yorkshire & the Humber to talk about the importance of research in campaigns for dignity not destitution during the asylum process. They will share research carried out alongside people seeking asylum to expose the realities of their lives and show how the findings were used as a tool to raise awareness and secure change.Current policy means that people who seek asylum in the UK are effectively banned from working while they wait for their application to be considered, leaving them with no choice but to live on just £5.66 per day in Government support, often for many years. This period of enforced poverty and inactivity has profound implications for mental and physical health and well-being. It prevents people who seek asylum from participating in society fully and makes it harder to rebuild their lives after fleeing war and persecution. Alongside 260 other charities, think tanks, businesses, faith groups and more, Asylum Matters are campaigning to change this through their coalition campaign to #LiftTheBan on working for people seeking asylum, whilst also campaigning to increase support rates so that no person seeking asylum is forced to live below the poverty line. A campaigner recently described the work to #LiftTheBan as “making the invisible, visible”. We hope to explore in this seminar why the exposure of injustice is so badly needed if we are to achieve dignity and safety for people seeking asylum in the UK.
| Period | 26 Jun 2022 |
|---|---|
| Held at | Just Futures Centre |
| Degree of Recognition | International |