Asylum Support

the website of

Nik Nicol, barrister

A refugee is a person who "owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it" - UN Convention on the Status of Refugees.

My website previously contained a summary of the law on asylum support. At the time I provided it, it was not available anywhere else. However, I would now recommend using:-

LASA's rightsnet web-site

Migration and Social Security Handbook (4th edition) - published by CPAG

Support for Asylum-seekers (2nd edition) by Sue Willman, Stephen Knafler and Stephen Pierce - published by Legal Action Group.

Here you will still find links to relevant law and other resources on asylum support.

Asylum Aid
asylumlaw.org (international site)
asylumrights.net
asylumsupport.info
Asylum Support Tribunal and its decisions
AVID (Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees)
Bail for Immigration Detainees
Campaign Against Racism & Fascism
Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers
European Council on Refugees and Exiles
ICAR - Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees in the UK
Immigration Advisory Service
ILPA (Immigration Law Practitioners' Association)
Independent Asylum Commission
JCWI (Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants)
LGA Asylum page
Moving Here - the migration experience in the UK
MultiKulti - free advice in many languages
National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns
The Refugee Council
Refugee Thesaurus
rightsnet
SS St Louis, a story from the 1930s

You may have heard of Migration Watch. There is no link to it here because it is a pseudo-scientific front providing a thin veneer for people with a racist and anti-immigration agenda.

The relevant Acts of Parliament, regulations and rules for asylum support can be found at OPSI (the Office of Public Sector Information):-

Homelessness (Asylum-Seekers) (Interim Period) (England) Order 1999 (SI 1999/3126)
Asylum Support (Interim Provisions) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/3056), as amended by the Asylum Support (Interim Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/471), 2004 (SI 2004/566) and 2005 (SI 2005/595)
Asylum Support Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/704), as amended by the Asylum Support (Amendment) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/472), No.3 2002 (SI 2002/3110), 2003 (SI 2003/241) , No.2 2004 (SI 2004/1313), 2005 (SI 2005/11) and 2008 (SI 2008/760)
Asylum Support Appeals (Procedure) Rules 2000 (SI 2000/541) as amended by the Asylum Support Appeals (Procedure) (Amendment) Rules 2003 (SI 2003/1735)
Withholding and Withdrawal of Support (Travel Assistance and Temporary Accommodation) Regulations 2002
Asylum Seekers (Reception Conditions) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/7), brought in under the EU Directive 2003/9/EC laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers
Immigration & Asylum (Provision of Accommodation to Failed Asylum-Seekers) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/930)
Immigration and Asylum (Provision of Services or Facilities Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/3627)

An asylum seeker is a person who seeks refugee status. Until a few years ago, there had been a large increase in the number of asylum seekers coming to countries in the European Union, including the UK. Before 1993, if an asylum seeker needed help with accommodation or other needs, they would have been treated in the same way as any other person with such needs, i.e. by local authority housing and social services departments and the social security system. Since 1993, successive governments have sought to limit the assistance asylum seekers can receive. In 1999, an entirely separate system of support was brought in for asylum seekers under Part VI of the Immigration & Asylum Act 1999, as amended by the Nationality, Immigration & Asylum Act 2002, Asylum & Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004 and the Immigration, Asylum & Nationality Act 2006.

Asylum claims and claims for asylum support are now dealt with by the UK Border Agency, part of the Home Office. Claims for asylum support used to be dealt with by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS). Their policy bulletins to their staff on how to carry out their duties to asylum seekers are still available.