Council of Europe anti-racism body calls on UK to extend 28-day ‘move-on’ period for refugees as a priority

ECRI REPORT
ON THE UNITED KINGDOM
(sixth monitoring cycle)

Adopted on 3 July 2024
Published on 25 October 2024

European Commission
against Racism and Intolerance

COUNCIL OF EUROPE

@ Council of Europe, october 2024 Photo: Shutterstock

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I. EFFECTIVE EQUALITY AND ACCESS TO RIGHTS

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C. Irregularly present migrants

32. There are no reliable statistics on migrants who are irregularly present in the UK. However, one may note that, according to the UK authorities, there were 14 570 returned migrants in 2022, 10 113 in 2021 and 8 392 in 2020. [40]

33. A set of policy measures were introduced in 2012 and designed to prevent migrants irregularly present in the UK from accessing essential basic services and oblige service providers to check the immigration status of immigrants and to pass on such information to the immigration authorities. The 2023 Illegal Migration Act, [41] which bars persons having arrived irregularly in the country from having their international protection claims processed in the UK, in combination with inadequate operational capacity to remove large numbers of irregularly arrived migrants or asylum-seekers whose application for international protection was not considered, can be expected to result in thousands of people remaining indefinitely in the UK, in precarious legal situations. In the view of ECRI, the legalisation of automated removals could not only be in contradiction with Council of Europe standards, but it also risks having a negative impact on social cohesion, contributing to the polarisation of society through the “normalisation” of hostility against newcomers and to an increase in ultra-nationalist and xenophobic public discourse instrumentalising asylum issues for political gains. As a consequence, ECRI strongly invites the UK authorities to review their legislation in the light of Council of Europe and other international standards.

34. In England, all children of compulsory school age (5-16), irrespective of immigration status, are obliged to attend, and are entitled to, full-time education. ECRI notes that the national authorities have provided guidance to this effect to the local authorities responsible for schools. [42]

35. As regards access to health services, according to the UK authorities, primary health care in the form of general practitioners’ appointments and emergency health care is free for all persons in vulnerable situations, irrespective of their migration status. While not a formal requirement to provide any documents to register with a GP, in practice, most GPs demand various documentation, which irregularly present migrants are not able to provide, thereby resulting in de facto denial of access to healthcare for them. [43]

36. In January 2018, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Home Office, NHS Digital (National Health Service digital services in England) and the Department of Health and Social Care in England, which formalised long-standing information-sharing arrangements that enabled the Home Office to access demographic patient data for immigration enforcement purposes. ECRI was informed by the UK authorities that this MoU was later withdrawn, in January 2019. Nonetheless, according to civil society interlocutors met during the ECRI visit to the UK, data on migrants irregularly present in the UK is sent by the NHS to the immigration authorities if health care bills have not been paid by such migrants after two months. [44] The fear of expulsion that may result from this practice would discourage irregularly present migrants from seeking healthcare even when in serious need of it.

37. ECRI welcomes the Safe Surgeries Toolkit, [45] prepared by Doctors of the World, which addresses migrants in vulnerable situations, including irregularly present ones, access authorities. It considers the advice contained in the Safe Surgeries Toolkit as good practice.

38. In the area of housing, ECRI is concerned to note that the immigration legislation makes it a legal requirement in England for landlords to check the immigration status of prospective tenants [46] and makes it an outright criminal offence to knowingly rent accommodation to irregularly present migrants. [47]

39. In the area of employment, the 2016 Act also made it a criminal offence to work illegally, [48] which allows immigration enforcement officials to seize earnings. [49]

40. ECRI recommends that the authorities work towards i) repealing legislation making it a criminal offence to rent accommodation to, or to employ, migrants who are irregularly present in the country, and ii) setting up “firewalls” formally prohibiting housing and healthcare providers from sharing data on the legal status of migrants with the immigration authorities, in the light of its General Policy Recommendation No. 16 on safeguarding irregularly present migrants from discrimination.

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III. INTEGRATION AND INCLUSION

A. Migrants

74. The UK collects detailed data on ethnicity. A wide range of such statistics can be found on the Government’s website with “Ethnicity facts and figures”, launched in October 2017. [108] In the view of ECRI, the collection and online publication of such data can be considered as good practice.

75. In 2016, the UK Government launched the Race Disparity Audit, the findings of which were made public. In 2020, the UK Government established the Independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, which in particular focused on education, health, employment and criminal justice. It published a report on 31 March 2021. [109] In response, on 17 March 2022, the UK Government published its “Inclusive Britain” action plan, [110] aimed at promoting a more inclusive society. [111] In the opinion of ECRI, the use of the terms “disparity” or “race and ethnic disparities” in policy documents raises questions. It appears from the discussions the ECRI delegation held with UK public officials that the use of these terms stemmed from the premise that disparities were mainly the result of poverty disproportionally affecting Black people and some Asian communities. Such an approach may unintentionally hamper the examination of racism and racial discrimination of a structural or institutional nature, possibly intersecting with social origin. [112] ECRI invites the UK authorities to commission further research on racism and racial discrimination, with a particular focus on phenomena of a structural/institutional character, including at regional and local levels.

76. ECRI notes with interest that the UK Government provides funding to local authorities to support resettlement and integration costs for those who arrive through the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy. In the first year, this includes £850 per adult to cover additional English language education. Refugees resettled under the UK Resettlement Scheme are given three days of cultural orientation training before they arrive in the UK, as well as a booklet with useful information about life in the UK. For Afghan arrivals who were placed in bridging hotels, the UK Government developed a cultural orientation package for UK local authorities to share.

77. As of 30 October 2023, 191 500 Ukrainians had arrived in the UK since the start of the war of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine in February 2022. Ukrainians having fled the hostilities have three possible ways to get visas granting them three years’ leave to remain, with access to mainstream benefits and services. [113]

78. A particular group of immigrants in the UK are people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up British National Overseas (BN(O)) status at the point of Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997. Since January 2021, BN(O) status holders from Hong Kong and their eligible dependants have the opportunity to come to the UK to live, study and work, on a pathway to citizenship. [114]

79. Apart from the above schemes, the declared overall policy objective of the UK Government is to deliver a “controlled immigration system” that supports the needs of the economy. However, the UK Government immigration policy has been widely perceived by independent monitors as aiming to create an environment that generally deters immigrants from entering or staying in the country. During the ECRI visit to the UK, various civil society representatives pointed out that previous policies of the kind led to unacceptable situations, such as the so-called Windrush scandal that came to light in 2018. This concerned Caribbean immigrants who had arrived in the UK on their parents’ passport between 1948 and 1970 and who were never formally registered in the UK, as a result of which some of them were suddenly deprived of health care and pension rights, while 83 of them were deported. [115] A recent study found that the current anti-immigration policy has caused severe mental health problems for Black Caribbeans. [116]

80. The July 2023 Illegal Migration Act prevents any person of any age, including victims of trafficking, who arrive in the country by any route not considered legal, from having their international protection claim considered whilst they are in the UK. [117] With the adoption of this Act, the presence of such persons has been criminalised and they may be detained pending an intended rapid deportation to their country of origin or to third countries considered by the authorities to be safe, such as Rwanda, where their international protection claim would be processed. The UK Government further announced a new migration plan on 14 April 2022, which envisages that asylum seekers who come to the UK without a visa or other permission to enter the country be sent to Rwanda to have their asylum claim processed and decided there. If asylum is granted, they would be given permission to settle in Rwanda, not in the UK. In this connection, ECRI refers to the criticism made by relevant Council of Europe and international bodies [118] as well as, more generally, to its 2023 statement on the consequences of the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in which it underlined that all people fleeing war and other emergencies, irrespective of their national or ethnic origin, citizenship, skin colour, religion, language, sexual orientation or gender identity, should be promptly offered adequate protection.

81. In 2018, the UK Government published an integrated communities strategy green paper [119] and in February 2019 it issued an integrated communities action plan. [120] Furthermore, the UK Government has published a Welcome Guide for non-resettled refugees to provide information to support their cultural orientation and integration. [121]

82. In 2019, the Welsh Government adopted the Nation of Sanctuary – Refugee and Asylum Seeker Plan, [122] which helps to co-ordinate the efforts of all organisations involved in supporting refugees and people seeking asylum to help them realise their full potential. Another commendable measure by the Welsh Government is the introduction of free public transport for asylum seekers and refugees. [123]

83. One major obstacle to smooth integration of recognised refugees at UK level is that newly recognised refugees only get 28 days to administratively transit from asylum support to mainstream benefits. [124] Despite helpful changes introduced by the UK Home Office and the Department for Work and Pensions [125], the short timescale of this move-on period, coupled with insufficient support for refugees to navigate the social security system and private housing market, and delays experienced in receiving documents needed to register for social security support, continues to leave many newly recognised refugees homeless and destitute.

84. A 2022 study conducted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the British Red Cross further found that such a short move-on period leaves people at risk of exploitation and more likely to take up unsafe offers of employment or housing. [126] In December 2023, in reply to parliamentary questions, the UK Government underlined that individuals remain on asylum support and in asylum accommodation for 28 days from the point of the Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) being issued, [127] which suggests that individuals may have longer than 28 days to move on in practice. However, it also indicated that it had no plans to extend the move-on period to 56 days. [128]

85. On a more positive note, the Wales Refugee Council has a Move on Service, [129] which tries to help newly recognised refugees to quickly find new accommodation and employment, which can be considered as good practice.

86. ECRI recommends, as a matter of priority, that the UK authorities prolong the move-on period between the asylum support and the general social support systems well beyond 28 days to ensure that there is no gap in support, notably as regards housing and payments ensuring subsistence.

Education

87. In England, the UK Government funds English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) through the Adult Education Budget (AEB). Adult immigrants in non-devolved areas of England are eligible for fully funded ESOL provision through the AEB if they are unemployed, looking for work and in receipt of certain benefits, or if they are employed and in receipt of a low wage. ESOL in the community is publicly funded in Scotland and it is delivered in, for example, schools and colleges.

88. In 2021/2022, there were 18 356 children from migrant families enrolled in schools in Northern Ireland, [130] an increase from 17 694 in 2020/2021 and equal to 5% of all school enrolments. [131] The Northern Ireland Intercultural Education Service helps schools to meet the additional educational needs of asylum-seeker, refugee and Roma pupils. [132] Such support offered includes laptops and WIFI connections, extra English lessons, assistance with school registration, free school meals, a uniform grant and transport applications.

Employment

89. The share of civil servants with a registered ethnic minority background [133] in the UK public administration is at a record high of 15.4 % (2023), which is slightly lower than the average on the labour market. However, representation is lower at the more senior grades. For Scotland, the latest estimates (2022) show that 6.2% of all 16+ employees in the public administration, education and health sector belong to a minority ethnic group, compared to 2.9% in 2009.

90. The employment rates among Black, Asian and other ethnic minority workers have increased significantly also outside the public sector, but nonetheless these groups still face discrimination in the labour market. [134] Around 1 in 10 adults from a Black, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or mixed background are reportedly unemployed compared with 1 in 25 for White British people. [135] The Trade Union General Congress (TUC) reports from 2019 and 2023 contain similar findings, including that Black and other ethnic minority groups are twice as likely to be in precarious employment, including on zero hour contracts, than White British people. [136] According to a 2022 TUC report, Black workers are more likely to have low scores on performance appraisals, suffer from harassment and violence at work and are less likely to get promotions. [137] ECRI encourages the relevant authorities to take further action to promote more diversity and counter racial discrimination and harassment at work, in the light of its General Policy Recommendation No. 14 on racism and racial discrimination in employment.

91. As regards access of refugees to the labour market, ECRI considers the ongoing two-year Refugee Employability Programme in England as good practice. [138]

Housing

92. ECRI notes that, following its 2023 visit, the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent found that about half of Black families lived in social housing and that 21% of all Black households live in homes that do not meet the UK’s Decent Homes Standard. It also pointed out that feeling unsafe from fire, rental arrears, fuel poverty and lower energy efficiency, and dissatisfaction were particularly prevalent in Black households. It also appeared from the findings of the Working Group of Experts that the victims of the Grenfell Tower Fire in June 2017 experienced multiple and intersecting discrimination, denial, and disregard before, during, and since the fire. ECRI refers to the relevant recommendation made by the Working Group of Experts in its report as regards the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. [139] More generally, ECRI encourages the authorities to take all the necessary measures to ensure access to safe and appropriate housing for people with a minority or migration background.

Healthcare

93. ECRI welcomes the publication by the British Medical Association of guidance on access to healthcare for overseas visitors and it commends the publication by the BMA of a toolkit on health needs of patients who are refugees or asylum seekers. [140]

94. As regards the actual delivery of health services, it emerged during the ECRI visit to the UK that Black women and women of African descent, in large numbers, have faced discrimination in treatment and care, in particular as concerns pre-natal and post-natal services and through the delivery process. Black women are about three times more likely to die in childbirth than White women. [141] Black health care professionals have cited pervasive racism and discrimination across maternal and infant healthcare. [142]

95. ECRI recommends that the relevant authorities in the United Kingdom carry out an in-depth review of initial and in-service training of healthcare professionals as well as standard operating procedures and codes of conduct applicable to them with a view to preventing effectively any racial prejudice in attitudes and behaviours of healthcare staff and any form of racial discrimination in the provision of health care in hospitals and other public health institutions, with a particular emphasis being placed on the situation of Black female patients, and ii) ensure that any healthcare staff found to have displayed racist attitudes and behaviours or to have committed or condoned discriminatory action in the provision of healthcare are held accountable.

Family reunification

96. The UK Government’s refugee family reunion policy allows the partner and children of those granted protection status in the UK to join them, if they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country. The definition of family is narrow and essentially means pre-flight spouses or children under the age of 18. [143]

97. In reality, refugee families are often reconstructed out of the remnants of various households, who depend on each other for mutual support and survival. [144] These families may not fit neatly into the concept of a nuclear family within the UK context. As a result, 72 % of relevant interviewees in a study by the Refugee Council were not eligible for family reunification under existing UK rules. [145] There is nonetheless a discretion to grant visas outside the Immigration Rules which caters for extended family members where there are compelling compassionate factors or relevant factors under Article 8 of European Convention on Human Rights. However, case workers reportedly use this discretion very sparsely. [146] ECRI invites the relevant authorities to ensure that the legal framework on family reunification is applied consistently and fully in line with Council of Europe and other international standards.

Participation in political life

98. Different voting rights apply in the different constituent nations of the UK. In England and Northern Ireland, Irish citizens, qualifying Commonwealth and EU citizens who have been continuously resident since before 31 December 2020 or who are citizens of a Commonwealth or EU member state with which the UK has signed a bilateral reciprocal voting rights treaty can vote in and stand for local elections. In Scotland and Wales, all foreign nationals who are legally resident in the UK, including refugees, can vote in local elections and most legally residing people over 16 years of age can vote in Scottish parliamentary elections. ECRI encourages the relevant authorities in England and Northern Ireland to take steps to ensure that all foreign nationals legally residing in England and Northern Ireland are granted voting and eligibility rights in local elections in the light of the principles laid down in the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at Local Level [147] and that they are informed about these rights.

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[147] The Council of Europe’s Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at Local Level (ETS No. 144) was signed, but not yet ratified, by the United Kingdom.