Asylum seekers mental health being destroyed by Labour policies

A new report has issued a damning assessment of the effect the UK Labour Party government’s hostile environment policies is having on refugees and asylum seekers’ mental health.

In its latest edition, the Mental Health Foundation has spelled out in no uncertain terms how the UK’s gruelling system is destroying the mental health of people.

Crucially, off the back of the new report, the non-profit is calling for the government to end its senseless rule denying asylum seekers the right to work. This is because the nonsense policy is a central factor driving their deteriorating wellbeing.

Report reveals dire mental health for asylum seekers in the UK

The Mental Health Foundation supports asylum seekers and refugees with their mental health through various programmes across the UK.

In February 2024, the non-profit previously issued a scathing report. This was on the state of asylum seekers’ and refugees mental health in the UK. Notably, it underscored how:

The social and economic conditions in which they live post-migration can have an equally powerful influence on their mental health. Experiences of poverty, financial insecurity, unemployment, lack of adequate housing, social isolation, loneliness, prejudice, stigma, and discrimination all carry a higher risk of poor mental health [10], and asylum seekers and refugees are at higher risk of experiencing all these inequalities. Asylum seekers will also often be dealing with stress about the status of their claim and challenges in accessing healthcare.

Moreover, it called for:

a trauma-informed and person-centred approach to asylum claim processes, housing, education, health and care provision experienced by asylum seekers and refugees.

Now, the foundation has followed this up – and found the situation for refugees and asylum seekers is no less dire. Crucially, its latest report now covers the new UK Labour government’s actions since the 2024 General Election.

Give asylum seekers the right to work

In particular, the report paints a damning picture of the detrimental impacts on asylum seekers of not allowing them to work. This includes a loss of self-esteem, loneliness, and an increased risk of depression. This results in a greater likelihood of people having to use already oversubscribed NHS mental health services in the future.

So, the foundation is urging the Labour Party government to redress this. Specifically, it is demanding the right to work for asylum seekers waiting longer than six months for the government to process their claim.

Currently, the government only grants asylum seekers the right to work after 12 months in specific circumstances. And, even then, it limits this to jobs on the Immigration Salary List. In reality, this rarely gives them the ability to work.

Given the appalling state of people’s mental health, the foundation highlights this as an unconscionable situation to maintain. Moreover, it put the context of this in terms the fiscally conservative Labour government would understand. Notably, it laid out how this would be a no-brainer for the chancellor’s budget savings agenda.

Changing these rules to allow working after six months, with no restriction on the type of jobs, would bring £4.4bn in government savings. It would generate this by reducing the number of asylum seekers who rely on the state. In addition, this would deliver an estimated £1bn in growth to GDP, and raise £880m in new tax revenue.

Destroying physical and mental health

Ishmail Yambasu is a refugee who was a social worker in Sierra Leone before he had to flee the country. He told the Mental Health Foundation about his experiences of the UK’s system. In particular, the UK Home Office denied him permission to work while he was an asylum seeker. Ishmail said:

I came here with over 10 years’ experience as a social worker. When I arrived, I wanted to work and to contribute, I wanted to help and give back. But instead, I was forced to rely on just £49.18 a week. My hands were tied because I wasn’t allowed to work.

I struggled for food when I wasn’t working, I had to rely on charities and food banks. I wasn’t able to eat healthily – the doctors told me I wasn’t eating well enough, and my anxiety was getting worse.

The right to work is not just the right to work. It’s the right to freedom for asylum seekers. It builds community – a social network – and allows asylum seekers to give back to society, so we can contribute to taxes and give back to the country. Everyone in my community wants to contribute.

While I was an asylum seeker, my dream was to give back to the community as a social worker. Now I’ve been given refugee status, I’m doing my masters in Social Work and Welfare at Strathclyde University, and hope to get involved in the UK social work system in the future.

A no-brainer to remove the ‘harmful and expensive’ restriction

Alongside the right to work, the charity is also calling for asylum seekers who are not in work to be given free access to bus travel.

This is essential to allow them to build and maintain better connections with their communities. On top of this, it will increase the chance they will be able to find employment. Asylum seekers and refugees also must be supported with improved English language lessons. Doing so will facilitate them to better integrate into society, achieve work, and help them support their wellbeing.

Chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation Mark Rowland said:

There is a clear-cut moral, economic, and public health case for giving asylum seekers the right to work after six months on the waiting list. As our latest report into the mental health of asylum seekers and refugees lays out, such a move would bring billions of pounds of economic benefits to the UK, reduce the strain on asylum seekers’ mental health, and build connections between asylum seekers and their new communities. Many of the arguments given in opposition to this change are based on myths and misunderstandings, most notably a non-existent ‘pull-factor’, while the benefits seem to be under appreciated.

Giving asylum seekers the right to work is a no-brainer. Everyone – from asylum seekers, to businesses, to the government, to the NHS, to our communities – benefits when asylum seekers are given the ability to support themselves. The current system, which is both harmful and expensive, cannot continue as it is.

Give asylum seekers ‘roots’ in their communities and they will flourish

Refugees & Asylum Seeker Programme development officer at the Mental Health Foundation Mahdi Saki experienced the system himself after fleeing Iran. He said:

As someone who waited four years for my asylum claim to be processed without permission to work, I now work alongside incredible asylum seekers and refugees who volunteer their time and effort in civic forums to make Scotland a better place.

Every day I see the value asylum seekers want to add to our country, and the benefits that their work brings us all. It gives asylum seekers roots in the community and positively impacts their mental health. I’m also keenly aware of how damaging it can be for asylum seekers’ mental health when they’re denied the opportunity to contribute, and how their difficult financial situations can impact them. Giving asylum seekers the right to work after six months would be revolutionary.

The latest edition of The mental health of asylum seekers and refugees in the UK also contains further recommendations. It set out a roadmap of reforms to the system for the betterment of everyone, including changes to avoid re-traumatisation of people, improving accommodation arrangements, and creating a more inclusive environment.

Featured image via the Canary