Homeless charity Shelter and the Refugee Council yesterday both welcomed the Law Lords’ unanimous rejection of the controversial law pushed through by former Home Secretary Blunkett which denied welfare support to ‘failed’ asylum seekers.
Shelter said Wednesday’s ruling is ‘a human rights victory for homeless people’.
Shelter added in its statement: ‘In a unanimous decision, five Law Lords rejected what is a final appeal by the Home Office against the Court of Appeal’s decision that it cannot legally deny basic support to destitute asylum seekers under Section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.
‘The Government had argued that refugees who fail to make an asylum application within 72 hours of arrival in the country should be denied accommodation and subsistence payments.
‘Shelter, which intervened in the case, had argued that a dire shortage of free night shelters meant “there is no realistic prospect of a destitute asylum seeker obtaining accommodation”.
‘In his ruling, Lord Hope highlighted factors such as the health impact of “exposure to the elements” caused by rough sleeping, together with the “humiliation and sense of despair” of being left destitute, as enough to require the Secretary of State to provide support to prevent a breach of the European Convention.’
Shelter Director Adam Sampson said: ‘The Government’s defence of Section 55 meant people who had fled human rights abuses in other countries were facing inhumane and degrading destitution whilst pursuing their asylum claims in the UK.
‘As the Prime Minister said in 1999, in the 21st century it is a scandal that there are still people sleeping rough on our streets. The Government should now remove this inhumane and degrading piece of legislation from the Statute Book.’
Maeve Sherlock, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council said: ‘We are delighted with this unanimous judgement. It was disgraceful that vulnerable refugees were left to starve on the streets.
‘Section 55 brought immeasurable harm to many innocent refugees who were guilty of nothing more than asking for protection here.
‘Thousands of people, who arrived here scared, alone and traumatised, were refused basic food and housing by this unjust law and forced to sleep rough on British streets.
‘A significant proportion of these later would be given refugee status or leave to stay in the UK.
‘Section 55 failed to make the asylum system fairer or more effective.
‘We believe there are many ways in which the system can be improved and hope the government will choose now to concentrate its efforts on working with us and others to ensure refugees are properly protected in the UK.’
