Insights into the Impact of the Illegal Migration Bill on accommodation and detention changes

Key Messages

• Most organisations currently support people seeking asylum who reside in hotels, accommodation sites and immigration detention centres with the majority supporting asylum seekers in hotels.
• 84% of organisations provide emotional and mental health support followed by access to healthcare and English language training.
• 48% of organisations have seen changes in the way hotels are being managed over the last 6 months.
• Around a third of organisations (32%) have reported significant increases or decreases in their service uptake or number of service users since the Illegal     Migration Bill was developed. Others highlight that the needs of service users have increased rather than the actual numbers.
• 29% of organisations have already put in place or made plans to support asylum seekers at the new sites with many highlighting the increase in     numbers, the increase in homelessness, and the need for legal support which many feel unable to provide.
• Organisations have grave  concerns about the role of contractors in implementing the accommodation changes.
• 76% of organisations want training on how to prepare for the implementation of the new Illegal Migration Bill and the potential changes to service delivery, 74% want workshops and 71% collective action.
• There is a call for the sector to collectively change the narrative about asylum seekers rather than working within the current government framing. 
• The biggest difference that organisations believe would impact their capacity and ability to respond to the accommodation related changes  in the Bill are more funding, continuous and collective focus on how the new law breaks international humanitarian law, guidelines on best practice when working with people in large accommodation centres for all stakeholders, guaranteed access to clients in accommodation centres, trauma informed training provision to accommodation providers, and mapping of who is doing what and where in terms of services across the accommodation areas.

“If it happens, we need to radically change our service as we will have more destitutions and homelessness to deal with”

Key concerns about the expansion of detention and quasi detention sites in future through the Illegal Migration Bill are:

• There is a call for the sector to collectively change the narrative about asylum seekers rather than working within the current government framing.
• The mental and physical health impact on asylum seekers due to the adverse effects of the experience of detention (increased isolation and family separation). This is on top of the trauma of seeking asylum, leaving their home country and travelling.
• The large increased number of people in detention alongside inadequate safeguarding for vulnerable people especially children, the elderly and LBTQI who will become difficult to identify‍
• Decrease in living standards for people seeking asylum when they move into detention facilities.
• The risk of people being pushed into exploitation and slavery to avoid the Home Office
• The lack of access to legal advice especially in areas where there has been no previous asylum dispersal and capacity within the legal aid contractors to provide access to free immigration advice
• The impact on refugee integration and move on housing when people get status if they have been housed in facilities with no local connections‍
• Detention sites will become de-facto asylum accommodation as people will be moved there so swiftly.
• That organisations will not be able to adapt their services to work in the new locations.
• The risk of increased tensions within the accommodation and between detainees and the local community

“Who will be there to identify their needs and help advocate for appropriate support and accommodation?”

The following would make the biggest difference to organisation’s capacity and ability to respond to the accommodation related changes in the Bill?

1. ‍More funding, capacity building to increase staff and their skills as well as clarity on funding cycles whose short length make resource commitment and investment a challenge. Costs will increase significantly if services are moved to rural areas outside cities.
2. Continuous and collective focus on how the new law breaks international humanitarian law and is essentially an asylum ban.‍
3. Local coordination roles for organisations to support new sites. 
4. ‍More and better engagement with refugee and migrant communities affected by the Bill.
5. A focus on gaining the support of local MPs.‍
6. Joint efforts with third sector partners and local support groups to raise awareness about why people seek sanctuary.‍
7. Collective insistence on knowing Home Office plans on the implementation of the Bill including timelines, and the criteria for who and how long people will be in accommodation centres 
8. ‍Legal aid providers for people supported.
9. Guidelines on best practice when working with people in large accommodation centres for all stakeholders.
10. Guaranteed access to clients in accommodation centres‍
11. Trauma informed training provision to accommodation providers‍
12. Mapping of who is doing what and where in terms of services across the accommodation areas.‍
13. Having a good pool of referral partners and other agencies to support the work of organisations.

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