The question is often asked, “If someone’s asylum claim is turned down, shouldn’t they just go home?” Those who work with asylum seekers know from experience two things. Firstly, many negative decisions are clearly unjust, and genuine refugees are being told to go home to a country where they will be persecuted and possibly killed. Secondly, there are many reasons why you can’t just ‘send someone home’ to their country of origin. Often their homeland will not accept them back – either because they don’t want them, or because they have no proof of nationality. Consequently the refused asylum seeker is left in limbo, with no recourse to public funds, no right to work and, unless they have very generous friends, a bleak future of destitution ahead.

No one knows exactly how many refused asylum seekers are still here in the UK. There may be as many as 250,000, and numbers are increasing every year. There are many ways that you can help this group of people, who must be the most marginalized and vulnerable people in the UK.

Find out how you can help in the Quick Guide to Helping refused asylum seekers.