British Red Cross and Boaz Trust release report looking at ten years of destitution among asylum seekers in the Greater Manchester area
The British Red Cross and the Boaz Trust have today released a new report looking at the destitution of asylum seekers in Manchester.
You can read the report here.
In its own words, A Decade of Destitution: Time To Make A Change "makes depressing reading".
The report charts a project which began in 2003 as a then supposed temporary solution to help destitute asylum seekers in Greater Manchester.
"Ten years since the project started we are in the unenviable position of marking a decade of destitution among asylum seekers in Greater Manchester. Indeed, this month we expect to see the 3,000th destitute person ask us for help," the report states.
One in ten people using the project has been destitute for more than ten years, and almost half have been destitute for at least two years.
Most destitute asylum seekers are at the end of the asylum process, and a significant amount are waiting for emergency support to begin.
Nick Scott-Flynn of the British Red Cross calls it a "humanitarian crisis on our doorstep".
The launch of the report was covered by ITV News here.
In related news earlier this month, the University of Sunderland published a report on the experiences of destitute asylum seekers in the North East.
You can read the report Between destitution and a hard place; finding strength to survive refusal from the asylum system: a case study from the North East of England here.