IN A further Tory attack on the working class, landlords will be expected to evict entire families, if they believe them to be ‘illegal immigrants’, and that they can do this without a court order.
Under new laws that the Tory government will push through in the new Immigration Bill, landlords will be able to end tenancies, as soon as asylum requests fail. Landlords will also be required to check a migrant’s status in advance of agreeing a lease. Those who do not will face up to five years in prison. Under these plans, financial support for ‘failed’ asylum seekers will also end.
Currently 10,000 asylum seekers and refugees receive a pitiful £36 a week to live off. As soon as their applications have been rejected, the new Tory plans will mean that not only will entire families be evicted, but the £36 a week ‘allowance’ will also immediately be withdrawn leaving families homeless and absolutely destitute to starve on the streets.
Refugee Action said: ‘The government’s kneejerk measures targeting asylum seekers will achieve nothing but greater suffering for families seeking safety.’ Refugee Action Chief Executive Stephen Hale said: ‘Families in the asylum system are already forced to survive on around 50% of the equivalent level of income support, and we know this is pushing vulnerable families into poverty.
‘It seems ludicrous to assume that any family would choose to live under such constraints unless they were in fear of their lives. These proposals would push more vulnerable people into destitution and lead to further discrimination of people with the right to remain or to seek to safety in the UK.’
The Refugee Council said: ‘We are extremely concerned that such measures will have detrimental consequences.’ Refugee Council Head of Advocacy Dr. Lisa Doyle said: ‘These new measures could lead to wrongful denial of access to housing for those with a right to live in the UK, due to fear of sanctions and confusion about unfamiliar identity documents.
‘Refugees and asylum seekers come to the UK escaping persecution. It is our responsibility to offer protection and a place of safety, not to discriminate and to marginalise them further.’
