The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees published a report on the experience of new refugees in the UK (pdf) in April 2017.
This report aims to answer the question – to what extent are refugees welcome in the UK?
It identifies:
- Barriers to integration and a lack of support for refugees that undermine positive examples and take away from the protection that refugee status should entail
- A two-tier system for refugees. Those who have gone through a resettlement route receive more support than refugees who enter the asylum process after arriving in the UK
- No cross-departmental strategy setting out how all refugees, no matter how they arrived in the UK, can successfully integrate in the UK
- Particular barriers faced by vulnerable groups, such as women and children
…and made fifteen recommendations for improvement.
Maurice Wren, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, said:
“It’s unacceptable that the Government treats refugees unequally by offering a relative few the necessary help and support they need to integrate into British life, while simultaneously consigning another much larger group to the high risk of homelessness, hunger and despair.
These are people who have fled the same bombs and the same bullets; it’s vital the Government recognises that they need the same support to begin rebuilding their lives.”
