APPG on Migration and APPG on Poverty publish results of inquiry into effects of immigration policy on poverty
A new report published yesterday by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Poverty and the APPG on Migration examines how immigration and asylum policies are contributing to poverty in the UK.
The 42-page report can be downloaded here.
It follows an inquiry launched by the APPGs last September into the effects of the immigration system on poverty. Contributions to the inquiry were invited from experts and those with lived experience about how different immigration policies currently contribute to poverty. Around 200 submissions were received.
In their new report, the APPGs said: "We have listened to leading experts on poverty and migration policy as well as hearing from those with lived experience of our immigration system. We have been moved by the volume and quality of evidence presented. We are saddened to see that people born outside of the UK are significantly overrepresented in the numbers of people facing poverty and destitution. … It is hard to avoid the conclusion that policy is sometimes designed to push people into poverty in the hope that it will deter others from moving to the UK, even though there is little evidence that this would indeed be a deterrent."
The report notes that most migrants in the UK are not living in poverty, but immigration policy in the UK can increase some people's risk of poverty in a number of ways which can create deep poverty and even destitution among the most vulnerable groups.
Immigration policies highlighted by the APPGs that directly increase migrants' risk of poverty include:
- Restricting their right to work, limiting their ability to secure their employment rights, or increasing their risk of discrimination;
- Limiting their access to the safety net of social security and to public services which drives some into unsafe and exploitative work;
- Imposing high direct costs on families and individuals to remain in the UK legally throughout the course of their journey to settlement, including immigration and nationality fees;
- Pushing them into insecure housing, or increasing the risk of homelessness;
- Failing to provide the support that would enable them to integrate effectively into communities.
Restrictions on the right to work was identified by the inquiry as a key driver of poverty. As the APPGs note in their report, most asylum seekers and migrants with irregular immigration status have no right to work.
Migrants who are able to work face a range of barriers in the UK labour market that can increase their risk of poverty due to unemployment or low pay, including visa restrictions limiting the ability of some migrants to easily change their employer.
Many migrants lack access to social security and welfare support. The report explains: "Millions of people (an estimated 2.6m at the end of 2022) resident in the UK with temporary leave to remain (including those who have come to work, study, or join family) are subject to 'No Recourse to Public Funds' (NRPF) conditions which prevent them from accessing most social security benefits and welfare support (as well as social housing). … Many of those subject to NRPF restrictions will be in a financially secure situation, but for a significant number of households this lack of access to social security and welfare support can push them below the poverty line."
The report also highlights how the immigration system itself imposes substantial direct costs on migrant households.
"For example, an application for indefinite leave to remain in the UK now costs nearly £2,900 and naturalisation (British citizenship) £1,500. For those on low, or even middle incomes, immigration and nationality fees may be enough to push them below the poverty line. In addition to immigration and nationality fees, many migrants to the UK must also pay an annual health surcharge. As of February 2024, this charge is now more than £1,000 per year for adults in most visa categories," the report states.
A family of two adults and two children on the 'ten year route' to settlement in the UK face a total cost of well over £50,000 for fees and surcharges alone.
As the report further notes, those who cannot afford to pay fees to extend their leave to remain risk falling into irregular migration status, with all the attendant risks, including continued poverty and limited entitlements.
A need to obtain legal advice can also incur significant costs, especially due to the lack of legal aid for most immigration-related matters, and the lack of capacity in the voluntary sector to provide advice.
While the APPGs note their report has only been able to briefly address some of the ways in which immigration policy directly affects poverty in the UK, they say it is clear that the impacts are wide-ranging and significant.
Baroness Lister, the Co-Chair of the APPG on Poverty and Vice Chair of the APPG on Migration, said: "This report shows that all too often Government policy is creating hidden poverty and destitution for people in the immigration system. By creating a hostile environment for many in vulnerable circumstances, it is not only pushing people into extreme poverty and destitution, but is leaving local communities – local government and civil society groups – to pick up the pieces. The report demonstrates the urgent need for an inclusive immigration system that respects the human rights of all asylum seekers, refugees and migrants and serves the social and economic needs of the country."
A number of recommendations are made in the report to provide a potential starting point for the Government to better connect policy-making across departments and between all levels of government in order to reduce poverty.
"The beneficiaries of more joined-up, more evidenced-based and more humane policy making will not just be migrant households and communities but also the wider community, local government, voluntary organisations and employers. While the lack of clear data on the intersection of migration and poverty makes it difficult to put a precise cost on different policy interventions, the social and economic benefits of action - in both the short and long term - are clear. Poverty is an inhumane and ineffective tool for enforcing UK immigration policy and we must work together to ensure that no one in the UK faces deep poverty or destitution," the report concludes.