Broadcast October 20 2010
A report just released by the Scottish Refugee Council points out that asylum seekers – even when they are granted leave to remain here - find it hard to get jobs and often remain in poverty. The researchers say there are complicated reasons for this, but it seems that a refugee’s route out of poverty is narrower than for others.
My own work with asylum seekers has tended to be mostly with those waiting to find out if they can stay.
It may surprise you to know that right now in Scotland many Asylum seekers (well over 1,000 in Glasgow alone) have recently been issued with a kind of credit card called Azure. No money is given to them. Instead, the £35 paid out to asylum seekers each week is issued via the card. At first glance this may seem like a high tech way of doing business but on closer inspection it is clear that there are real drawbacks.
The card can only be used in a very few shops – mostly Supermarkets. I know if I were living on £35 a week I would want to be able to go into second hand or charity shops to buy clothes. That option isn’t open. The Azure card cannot be used for transport - which means that asylum seekers cannot even get on a bus if they are travelling with young children or the weather is poor. And it is impossible to save money over time (for example to buy a winter coat) as anything over £5 at the end of a given week is removed from the account.
£35 a week is not much for anyone to live on. But the Azure card also limits options and the freedom of choice for asylum seekers in how they spend their own money.
The teachings of most religious and humanitarian traditions indicate that the alien, the weakest and poorest deserve most support. The Bible points out that the real measure of a country is not how it rewards the rich but how it cares for those who have the most need.
And maybe we need to bear that in mind today, as Chancellor George Osborne announces the Spending Review 2010 and we will see the government’s new proposals for our economy. If we aspire to being a humane society we must ensure that those with the least power are given a measure of hope and dignity and not made the ultimate victims of our economic cuts.