‘It’s about dignity’: Birmingham asylum seekers join skills display outside Parliament in call to end work ban

As new asylum laws make their way through Parliament, a West Midlands campaign group added its voice to calls for the new rules to return the right to work to people seeking asylum.

With the Government currently working on its new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, refugees and people seeking asylum met at Parliament Square, London, on Wednesday, among them members of West Midlands Lift The Ban, a campaign group based in Birmingham.

Dressed in work uniforms, from scrubs to suits, campaigners created a colourful visual display of the myriad skills the work ban prevents so many from using. They called the new legislation a ‘missed opportunity’ to restore the right to work, criticising the continued focus on border policies at the expense of measures to improve the system within the UK, and calling for the laws to be amended to allow anyone who has waited six months for an asylum decision to look for a job.

Currently, most people seeking asylum in the UK are barred from working, forced to live on government support of as little as £8.86 a week, often for years while they wait for a decision. Members of the Lift The Ban coalition, coordinated by asylum rights charities Asylum Matters and Refugee Action, say latest immigration figures, published Thursday, show ending this ban would give a £280million boost to the economy; improve the mental health of those waiting for an asylum decision and allow them to share their many skills with their new communities.

Attending the event were skilled people from a host of professions who spoke of the devastating impact of being forbidden from using the skills that would allow them to thrive, among them Dani Gr, of Birmingham, who has experience as a gardener and farmer, originally from Colombia.

He said: “This is about human dignity. It’s about the human right to be independent, to be able to provide for oneself. We have lots to give, we are human beings able to learn and contribute. I myself have experience in farming, gardening and construction, I’m a capable man and I shouldn’t have to wait years to be able to support myself.”

Campaigners said lifting the ban was "common sense", arguing that continuing to impose it acted as a "punishment" for people using their human right to seek asylum.

Cathy Lebadou, from RAS Voice, a lived experience campaign group, said: “It’s common sense to lift the ban. It benefits the UK's economy by allowing people seeking asylum to contribute, as well as reducing the costs associated with asylum support.

“It's a shame how our worth and contribution goes to waste due to the punishment and hostility imposed through the inhumane policies. We must lift the ban – if not for our dignity, then to save the taxpayers’ sweat.”

Louise Calvey, Executive Director at Asylum Matters, added: “With new asylum legislation making its way through Parliament, the Government could take this opportunity to end an illogical ban that leaves skilled people sitting on the bench, forbidden from sharing their talents with their new communities. Sadly, all we’ve seen from the new bill so far is a fixation on the same sorts of failed border security policies that cost lives and caused chaos under the last Government. Lifting the ban would be one way to try something new: asylum policy that works for the entire country, promoting growth, community cohesion, and allowing people to thrive.”

The risk of exploitation among those forbidden from working was also highlighted.

Carenza Arnold, Campaigns Lead at Women for Refugee Women, said: “The ban on work for people seeking asylum in the UK is harmful, illogical, and dangerous. The ban puts people seeking asylum at further risk of harm, abuse, or exploitation. Women we have supported have been trapped in abusive relationships, forced into prostitution or sex work, and trapped in exploitative conditions, including modern slavery and domestic violence. The Government’s welcome commitment to prioritise tackling violence against women and girls must include refugee and asylum-seeking survivors. Otherwise, a two-tier approach will develop, with women seeking asylum – who are predominantly from racialised groups – treated as less deserving and left behind.

"As new legislation makes it way through Parliament, we urge the Government to lift the ban.”