Adapted from:
The social care needs of refugees and asylum seekers
(All Credits - Social Care Institute for Excellence)

Definitions and entitlements
In everyday language, the terms ‘refugee’ and ‘asylum seeker’ are often used interchangeably, suggesting that they refer to the same people. This is not the case.

In law refugees and asylum seekers are very different. The context for meeting the social care needs of each group is complex, both in terms of the public debate on refugees and asylum seekers and because of the complex framework of entitlements to welfare and social care services.

Refugees
A refugee is an individual to whom the UK government has offered protection in accordance with the Refugee Convention 1951. Some refugees are granted humanitarian protection or discretionary leave to remain as part of this ‘protection’.

Since August 2005, people granted refugee status and those granted humanitarian protection are given leave to stay in the UK for five years, at the end of which their protection needs are reviewed and their status could be revoked. Discretionary leave is usually granted for three years, although it can be given for a shorter period of time.

Asylum seekers
An asylum seeker is a person who has asked for protection but has not received a decision on their asylum claim.

Asylum seekers are excluded from many mainstream services and benefits. If they are destitute, they can apply to the National Asylum Support Service, which provides accommodation and limited cash support set at 70% of the Income Support level. Currently, Income Support for a single adult over 25 is set at £39.34
a week. Subsistence-only support is available for individuals who make their own arrangements for accommodation.

The National Asylum Support Service disperses asylum seekers across the UK. The dispersal process can lead to extreme isolation and, as a consequence, many people ‘choose’ the subsistence-only option so that they can remain in London or other cities with established migrant communities.

Additional support for asylum seekers with social care needs within the National Asylum Support Service is limited. The service can make special payments to meet particular needs, but in practice this power is rarely exercised.

Local authority social services departments have a duty to assist asylum seekers in the following circumstances:

• If they have needs that are not due solely to destitution, for example needs arising from a disability. This is a requirement under the National Assistance Act 1948.
• If they are leaving a mental health or psychiatric hospital after being detained for treatment and require after care support in the community. This is a requirement of the Mental Health Act 1983.
• If they have been looked after as children in local authority care or are unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. This is required under the Children Act 1989.

Refused asylum seekers
A refused asylum seeker is someone whose asylum application has been unsuccessful and may face removal from the UK. However, in recent years an increasing number of asylum seekers at the end of the asylum process have been unable to return to their country of origin. The reasons for this vary and include illness, risk of persecution, having no safe route home and a lack of appropriate documentation.

Refused asylum seekers are entitled to virtually no welfare, health or social care services. Once an asylum application has been rejected, all entitlement to support from the National Asylum Support Service, including limited social care, secondary and tertiary healthcare, is cancelled. Limited support (in the form of accommodation and vouchers) is available under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, but only to people who cannot be returned, or who agree to cooperate with the process of being returned.

Unaccompanied children, and families with children, are exceptions to this rule and continue to be eligible for support until returned.

The complexity of this entitlement framework leads to a situation where even those who are eligible for a service are unlikely to understand their rights. Also service providers may not recognise their capacity or their duty to provide a service. The relationship between a complex entitlement framework and the practical accessibility of a service for asylum seekers is visible in areas such as healthcare, where they are routinely refused services they are legally entitled to receive.

Migrants
In contrast to refugees and asylum seekers, migrants generally exercise choice over their decision to migrate, and their motives are often based on a desire to improve their economic position.

Many people migrate to the UK for employment or to study at UK universities, while others come to join spouses or relatives as part of family reunion schemes. In addition, European Union nationals are able travel to the UK each year as part of their right under European Community law to exercise free movement.