A ban on asylum seekers working is driving them into exploitation while legitimate employers are desperate for staff.
Asylum seekers forced to live on a £5.84 a day allowance are being pulled into an underground jobs market, with some earning as little as £1 an hour. SNP MP Carol Monaghan, who has put forward a Bill to allow asylum seekers to work, believes exploitation is inevitable.
She said: “The amount of money asylum seekers are given is barely enough for very basic essentials. Some asylum seekers are looking at the black market as their only choice. So many employers looking for people to work could be paying them properly if they were allowed to work legally.”
According to a survey by campaign group Lift The Ban, 94 per cent of asylum seekers want to work and 80 per cent of the public think they should be allowed to. Monaghan said: “In the context of a global pandemic, a shambolic Brexit and a worker shortage, the untapped potential of asylum seekers is especially pertinent. It would be better all round economically.”
Joe, from Nigeria, was exploited by a churchgoer doing a charity food run to the homeless shelter he stayed in.
He said: “He came in under the umbrella of a religious charity and then offered us work, cash in hand. He didn’t force us but it was exploitative. He took advantage of the fact that when you have nothing you are going to jump at the chance of a little extra money.”
For a 13-hour shift renovating a property, Joe was handed £20. He said: “It was manual labour and heavy work and it was humiliating to be paid so little but the whole system is set up to humiliate you.
“It leaves you completely vulnerable because you have to survive and any money at all is at least something. All we want is the chance to work. If the ban on working was lifted, asylum seekers benefit and so would the country.”
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Asylum seekers can only apply for the right to work after waiting for a decision on a claim for over a year. Even then it is only in a job on the restrictive shortage occupation list, which includes ballet dancers and artists but not HGV drivers, supermarket and hospitality workers.
Essential occupations like nursing and caring were only recently added. In Scotland, there are 40,000 vacancies in the hospitality sector alone.
Staff shortages in the industry are at critical levels, with 45 per cent of operators cutting trading hours or capacity, costing £21billion in lost revenue. It is estimated letting asylum seekers to work would benefit the UK economy by £211.3million per year in tax and other contributions.
Countries such as Canada and Sweden allow quick access to the labour market and Germany allows working after three months. Lifting the ban also has the support of employers.
Recruitment expert Shan Saba said: “It is time we reconsidered the benefits asylum seekers might bring to our shores”.
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