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Coping with Destitution. Survival and livelihood strategies of refused asylum seekers living in the UK

Document number
2660
Date
2011
Title
Coping with Destitution. Survival and livelihood strategies of refused asylum seekers living in the UK
Author/publisher
Heaven Crawley, Joanne Hemmings and Neil Price, Centre for Migration Policy Research (CMPR), Swansea University, Oxfam
Availability
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Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Irregular Migration, Feminization of migration, Economic migration, Labour migration, Free movement, Undocumented migrants; Undocumented labour; Migrant rights; Migration management; Comprehensive approach to migration; Migration policy; Restrictive migration measures,
Summary
This research uncovers how the hundreds of thousands of people currently living in the UK, with no access to legitimate means of securing a livelihood, survive on a day-to-day and longer-term basis. The strategies adopted by destitute asylum seekers have been analysed within a sustainable livelihoods framework, to ensure a systematic understanding of the different types of resources to which asylum seekers do - and do not - have access, and the impact this has on their lives. This approach also allows us to identify changes to government policy that could help prevent destitution among refused asylum seekers. Fundamentally, the need to remain hidden and to avoid any risk of being deported affects every decision made by destitute asylum seekers, and in turn the coping strategies which they adopt.
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