Study finds substandard and unsafe asylum accommodation puts mothers and babies at risk

A recent report by the Durham Infancy & Sleep Centre at Durham University and the charity Amma Birth Companions assesses the health, safety and well-being of babies and their mothers in dispersal asylum accommodation in Glasgow.

You can download the 18-page report here.

Durham Infancy & Sleep Centre and Amma Birth Companions held interviews and focus group with asylum-seeking mothers to understand their experiences of dispersal accommodation and what it was like to look after babies and toddlers in these places.

Overall, the report finds that women with babies navigating the UK asylum process are being placed in substandard accommodation in unsafe locations where they and their babies are at risk in multiple ways. Inadequate housing negatively affected the health, wellbeing, and safety of mothers and babies, causing feelings of stress and depression on a daily basis.

The report states: "Sources of stress included anti-social behaviour and hate speech from neighbours, along with experiences of hostility and racism from housing staff. The designated systems for seeking help were inefficient, and often hampered by dismissive or obstructive responses from staff. The resources wasted by housing providers in terms of staff time and client time led to feelings of anger, outrage, and frustration amongst participants."

Researchers found the asylum housing system "appears to weaponise incompetence" and housing provider staff regularly used fear as a tactic to suppress attempts of asylum-seeking mothers to make complaints or assert their rights.

"For these participants in Glasgow, relationships with housing officers were universally stressful. In some cases housing officers were directly hostile, with participants recounting incidents of bullying, fear-mongering, and lying. When housed in an unsafe area, one participant described having repeatedly requested to be moved with no success," the report notes.

Threats of relocation elsewhere in the UK were described by multiple women as a strategy used by housing officers and managers to dissuade residents from making or escalating complaints about the accommodation.

Women spoke about the unsafe and unsanitary conditions in which they lived with their infants, with common complaints about broken fixtures and flimsy furniture that put toddlers and small children at risk. Some women reported being housed in unsafe areas where they were subjected to hate speech, threats, and anti-social behaviour. Durham Infancy & Sleep Centre and Amma Birth Companions found all of these factors made infant care challenging, with mothers suffering from distraction, exhaustion, stress, and depression that negatively impacted baby safety.

The report highlights: "Mothers' and babies' safety and health are compromised by direct factors such as poor location and accommodation, and by indirect factors such as maternal stress and depression that are exacerbated by difficult living conditions and compromise mothers' ability to look after their children. This was starkly highlighted when one participant revealed that she had recently chosen to terminate a pregnancy as she felt she could not cope with caring for another baby in her current living conditions."

Durham Infancy & Sleep Centre and Amma Birth Companions make a number of recommendations in the report for improved conditions and support for mothers with babies and small children seeking asylum. Key measures include ensuring all accommodation meets safety and habitability standards. Additional recommendations highlight the importance of respectful communication and privacy from housing officers, the prohibition of intimidation tactics, and compliance with national accommodation standards.