Asylum: Coronavirus

(asked on 4th May 2020) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) asylum seekers and (b) refugees with no recourse to public funds have been provided with (i) accommodation and (ii) other support by the Government during the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 11th May 2020

Asylum seekers continue to be provided with accommodation and other support by the Home Office if they would otherwise be destitute. Data on the numbers receiving this assistance is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets#asylum-support

People granted refugee status in the United Kingdom are able to access the mainstream benefits in the same way as a British Citizen. No data is available on the number receiving that assistance.

As a temporary measure in light of Covid-19, any asylum seeker in Home Office accommodation who is granted refugee status is being allowed to remain where they are until the end of June. The arrangement will be reviewed at that point.

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