Makeshift refugee “camps” are likely to spring up across England this winter as an unprecedented number of those newly granted the right to remain are sleeping rough after speeded-up Home Office evictions, charities have warned.
In July, newly recognised refugees and survivors of trafficking had the number of days they had to find a new place to live after receiving a “notice to quit” before being evicted from Home Office accommodation cut from 28 days to seven after their claim was approved.
Since then, refugee and homelessness charities and local authorities say there has been an acceleration in the number of asylum decisions made and a sharp rise in the number of refugees seeking help for homelessness.
The Home Office said it had recruited a record number of asylum decision-makers, with 40% more in post than in December 2022.
Local authorities have said the majority of refugees who have approached councils for help are single males who they say are not deemed “priority need”, meaning councils have no duty to provide anything more than advice and assistance.
Charities have warned “camps” of homeless refugees could appear in towns and cities across the country in the coming months.
Seána Roberts, the manager of the Merseyside Refugee Support Network in Liverpool, said: “I’ve never seen anything like this in my 25 years in the sector. Normally we might have seen one or two people present themselves as street homeless in a year. Now we’ve got 50 people in the space of six weeks.”
Roberts said she had handed out sleeping bags to a number of refugees in the past six weeks. “They chose not to take tents because they didn’t want to be visible or feel vulnerable in the park,” she added.
The organisation is sourcing landlords and encouraging refugees to sofa-surf temporarily. “We’re just trying every which way to avoid what I think is going to be the inevitable, which is camps made up of tents and sleeping bags,” Roberts said.
The Guardian spoke to a refugee from Eritrea, who has been sleeping rough in the centre of Nottingham since he was granted refugee status more than a month ago.
“I’ve been sleeping in a sleeping bag and wearing a lot of clothes. It has been very cold and I haven’t been healthy. The cold has made me vomit. I’m scared of sleeping outside. There are many other refugees doing the same as me. When it is the middle of winter it will be much worse,” he said.
Nottingham Refugee Forum said the situation in the city had worsened in the past month. A spokesperson said: “We are seeing high numbers of new refugees who are street homeless or are at risk of this.”
The forum is fundraising for 100 care packages for refugees, which include a rucksack, sleeping bag, pack of socks, hat, gloves, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and deodorant.
On Thursday, the BBC reported that two recently recognised refugees from Sudan and Syria who were evicted from Home Office accommodation seven days after being granted leave to remain had been camping outside council offices in West Berkshire.
Maggie Filipova-Rivers, a regional coordinator for the City of Sanctuary UK, said similar situations were likely to occur in the coming months. “This is kind of what it will look like, and we’re likely to see this happening on quite a large scale,” she added.
In north London, Islington council said 126 refugees had presented as homeless in the past five weeks. Before mid-August, one refugee a month on average presented as homeless to the council.
Roulin Khondoker, a councillor and executive member for equalities, culture and inclusion at Islington council, said: “People have been coming to us when they have been given as little as seven days’ notice to leave their accommodation after being granted refugee status, forcing them into vulnerable situations, rough sleeping and other forms of homelessness.
“It is also placing even more pressure on councils’ homelessness services and our partners in the voluntary sector, at a time when housing services are already incredibly stretched.”
Steve Smith, the chief executive of the charity Care4Calais, warned of a refugee homelessness crisis this winter. “Hundreds if not thousands of refugees are facing homelessness or destitution. Refugees are telling us that they are being forced to buy tents and sleep rough in the streets.”
More than 140 refugee and other organisations have written a letter of protest to the government about the changes in Home Office practice shortening the eviction period.
Enver Solomon, the head of the Refugee Council and one of the signatories of the letter, said: “The government is now punishing vulnerable refugees for its gross mismanagement by demanding they move on from hotels at short notice without the support they need.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We encourage individuals to make their onward plans as soon as possible after receiving their decision, whether that is leaving the UK following a refusal, or taking steps to integrate in the UK following a grant.”
