Think of a country with half a million people living on less than $2 a day. Did you think of an African country?
According to the London School of Economics, there may be hundreds of thousands of people living on a pound a day here in the UK.
They estimate that there are up to 500,000 failed asylum seekers in the UK, people who have been denied refugee status but have not been deported. Asylum seekers have not allowed to work since 2004, but can only claim benefits if they agree to return to their country of origin. Since many face torture or imprisonment should they return, they would prefer to live destitute here than go home.
The LSE found that the average failed asylum seeker lives on just £7.36 a week. 73% of them have slept outside, and 38% have been assaulted.
Christine Majid of Pafras, believes the government has dodged the immigration issue by driving failed asylum seekers underground. “In the 21st century the fact that the government is trying to starve people out of the country, it is absolutely inhumane and it just isn’t working. These people would rather starve on the street here than return to their own countries.”
A new campaign, Still Human, Still Here, seeks to bring attention to those who have fallen through the gaps, some of the most vulnerable people in the country. It demands that the right to work be restored, and the UK government stops using destitution as a policy tool.
It makes me stop and think about what’s truly important.