Issues arising after a grant of settlement

The grant of leave to stay in the UK, whether it is refugee status, humanitarian protection, or discretionary leave or other kind of leave, may be greeted with joy. It is a successful outcome of what has often been a long and trying ordeal. Unfortunately, the period following such 'success' can remain very difficult, particularly if the person in question has been supported by UKBA until then. Such people are required to leave their accommodation, and either section 95 or section 4 support is stopped 28 days after notification of the asylum decision.

The period after support has ceased involves a bewildering number of changes to a refugee's situation. Within this time people granted leave have to find new accommodation and furniture, acquire National Insurance numbers, claim benefits, attempt to find employment, register with a new GP if they have moved to a new area, understand the mechanics of council tax and utility bills, and support themselves and their dependants. Without assistance, people who had adjusted to section 4 or section 95 regimes may find themselves newly destitute.

The government has a policy for refugee integration which applies only to individuals or their dependants granted refugee status or humanitarian protection under the New Asylum Model (NAM), but not to people with discretionary leave. Those who are eligible can receive a refugee integration loan of between £100 and £1000 to help with expenses such as deposits for housing, education or training costs, or work equipment.¹

A government programme, the Refugee Integration and Employment Service (RIES), provides advice and support in accessing housing, benefits, education and employment, as well as providing a mentoring service.² Since April 2010, however, RIES services are only available to refugees who have been in the UK for less than 12 months when they get their asylum decision.

RIES operates from twelve regional centres, of which nine are in England and one each in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The service is contracted out to voluntary agencies. People should be referred to a personal case manager within a few days of being granted refugee status or humanitarian protection. The case manager's role is to develop an individual integration plan and help the person to meet urgent needs.

An evaluation of the Sunrise pilot refugee integration programme on which RIES is based noted that because of the speeding up of the asylum process, refugees who have come through the New Asylum Model may have different needs from previous groups of people granted leave to remain and may require greater support. They are less likely to speak English, to be familiar with British welfare institutions, to be ready to take on employment, or to already be getting specialist medical treatment that they need. Single people have particular difficulty in being designated as 'priority need' in relation to housing.

Such people may find it harder to obtain assistance for homelessness as their inexperience will make it more difficult for them to present as 'vulnerable' even if their actual vulnerability is potentially greater.³ Given the limited contractual obligation of the agencies that provide RIES, problems still remain for those receiving the service. For instance it can take up to two months for housing benefits to be processed, and most hostels will not accept people until they get benefits, so they may be left homeless during this period.

Furthermore, people with refugee status may still be refused services to which they have full entitlement: there have been several cases of local authorities refusing homelessness services to anyone who does not have indefinite leave to remain. Such refusals should be challenged immediately and referred to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission for action on unlawful indirect race discrimination. 

Whatever the limitations of the services to people with refugee status, the situation is even more difficult for former asylum seekers granted leave through the 'legacy' process. They are normally granted indefinite leave to remain, but they are not included in the government’s refugee-integration programme. However, those who have been supported by UKBA also face the same abrupt loss of support. Others who have been dependent on support from family, friends and charitable donations may be pressured to start supporting themselves, without knowledge of the system.

Whatever the nature of their leave, people frequently have difficulties in obtaining benefits while waiting for National Insurance numbers, and may be inappropriately denied benefits by agencies requesting unnecessary documentation. Advocacy from specialist migrant agencies, local law centres or other voluntary agencies is therefore often essential to assist migrants with newly acquired rights to employment, housing and benefits to access their entitlements.

Surveys of people living with HIV and providers have raised a number of issues that affect asylum seekers and other migrants. However, it is difficult to identify the specific needs of migrants recently granted leave as such studies tend not to distinguish between different categories of migrants. Generalist reports about recent migrants tend to focus on factors which facilitate or act as barriers to 'integration' especially in access to housing, employment, education and health.⁴ Social networks, both within migrants’ own national and linguistic communities, as well as those between migrants and the wider community, such as social contacts in neighbourhoods, school and childcare activities, attending ESOL courses and places of worship, and engaging in voluntary work, have been highlighted as helping people to move on successfully.

There are, however, many other factors which serve as obstacles to accessing and maintaining social networks for new migrants. These include: poverty; restricted options in housing, employment and education (particularly English-language classes); and the fear and experience of racism and racial harassment.

A study of stigma and discrimination facing Africans with HIV showed that racism combined with HIV stigma served to increase their exclusion. Africans interviewed described being stigmatised by some healthcare workers. Moreover, Department of Health restrictions on treating overseas visitors inevitably also impact on others who are perfectly entitled to care under the regulations, but who may be perceived by staff as indistinguishable from those 'not entitled'. Similarly, some people fear that if they disclose their HIV status to a prospective employer, they will either not get the job or be discriminated against once employed. The effect of this was that either individuals did not apply for jobs, or they took menial or casual jobs below their qualifications in order to avoid disclosure.⁵

The same study also showed how HIV stigma limits the support African migrants with HIV can get from networks in their own communities:

"Because of the hostile racist and xenophobic environment prevalent in the UK today, they must rely on their expatriate and diasporic communities for emotional and practical support. Without such support, many Black African people in the UK today would find daily life unbearable and impracticable. Black African people with HIV have great disincentives to be open about HIV in society at large, but even more so among their own African networks because such a disclosure will result in almost certain rejection from what is sometimes a sole source of support. Therefore, many feel that they must keep their HIV status a secret. The problem is that this causes severe personal stress and often means that they cannot access social (and sometimes clinical) services."⁵