More impoverishment for Asylum Seekers

as debit card change leaves families Without Food or Money

More impoverishment for Asylum Seekers as debit card change leaves families Without Food or Money Donate via CAF, JustGiving or PayPal Giving. or, post a cheque to: Destitution Appeal, Positive Action in Housing, 98 West George St Glasgow G2 1PJ. For other ways to give, visit our donate page Positive Action in Housing is receiving a high volume of reports of impoverishment from asylum seekers in Glasgow, elsewhere across the U.K.  Complaints have flooded in since Monday when the Home Office ended its Aspen Card contract with Sodexo and switched to a new contract with Prepaid Financial Services. (The Aspen Card is a type of debit card given to asylum seekers). 51 families complained they have no money for food because of the switch, with more complaints coming in. This is a vulnerable community already impoverished by asylum rules forbidding them to do paid work or to save money. This state of impoverishment can go on for months or years.  Asylum seekers in accommodation are meant to receive just over £5 a day. Hotel based asylum seekers are meant to get £8 a week. ​  The problems being reported are numerous: "I have an activating issue with the Aspen card" "I haven't got my new aspen card and my old aspen card does not work any more so I do not have money to buy food please help" "I am not receiving my new Aspen card for now and have no money for food" "I have not receive my ASPEN card yet. I have been calling migrant help for past three days they keep asking me to wait" "Please I'm not able to get any money from the new card, it's not even showing account balance and I haven't got any money" To address the crisis, Positive Action in Housing has begun distributing emergency crisis grants, food vouchers, supplies from our Food Cupboard. Our volunteers are also providing additional support. This latest emergency is on top of the existing destitution crisis affecting hotel asylum seekers in Glasgow, and across the U.K.  The Home Office (HO) I has left many hotel-based asylum seekers penniless for months, despite a  High Court ruling in Oct 2020 that the Home Office must give £8 a week plus backdated money. Last month, 75 people in Glasgow hotels reported that they were not receiving the £8 a week hotel subsistence. Our Homelessness Team took up each case with Migrant Help who then were supposed to take it to the Home Office. But many continue to go ignored. In a significant number of cases, the Home Office has not given asylum seekers the backdated subsistence for months, or more than a year.   Our Homelessness Team has contacted MigrantHelp in each individual case, only to be told that the Home Office will "assess eligibility" for backdated payments once people have been moved from hotels to accommodation. The problem is that, because of the pandemic, asylum seekers are not being moved out of hotels. In fact the numbers in hotels have increased to around 12,500. At the start of Lockdown there were around 2,500 people in hotels.Please do write to your MP to highlight concerns about the way human beings are being treated. You can read the full statement about the situation here. To keep in touch with our casework and campaigns please see our website or like us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.   Thank you for your support, Robina Qureshi Director Our mailing address is: Positive Action in Housing 98 W George Street Glasgow, G2 1PJ United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.