There has been a dramatic rise in refugee homelessness in the UK as charities hand out tents and sleeping bags to those forced to live on the streets for the first time.
According to research shared with the Guardian, a 99 per cent rise in refugee homelessness has been observed in the last year.
When including asylum seekers and other migrants, the figure jumps to a 125 per cent increase.
According to the No Accommodation Network (Naccom), an umbrella organisation for 140 frontline organisations working with asylum seekers, these are the highest numbers they have ever dealt with.
“There is a refugee homelessness emergency,” their report concludes. It adds that charities are left to fill the gap and provide a vital safety net due to significant gaps in statutory services and a “hostile environment” for refugees and other migrants.
The rise is put down in part to the large backlog in asylum claims, and the last government’s attempts to clear that.
While refugees and charities welcome the speedier processing of protection claims, they say there is not enough affordable housing available in the private rented sector.
Bridget Young, the director of Naccom, said: “Our research shows that thousands of people each year are needlessly pushed into destitution as they go through the asylum and immigration system. Urgent change is needed to ensure that the system doesn’t keep driving up levels of homelessness.”
