Testimonies from Asylum Seekers and Refugees in the North East Region

On the impact of not being allowed to work

Click on any of the links below to read testimonies from our Subgroup members. Each theme contains the voices of different people, from different countries of origin. But they all share the experience of exile, and all are now living in the North East and sharing the same experience of the UK asylum system, which doesn’t allow them to work whilst their asylum claim is being determined or they cannot return home.

Did people come here for work or to seek safety from persecution? Is the Government right to view the right to work as a pull factor bringing people to the UK?

The impact on self-respect, dignity and mental health

The impact on marriages and family life

The impact on young people, who as the children of asylum seekers who do not have the right to work, are excluded from higher education and cannot work. What is the future for these young people? What role models are they being given?

Poverty and destitution  

The impact on the UK economy Work ethics in country of origin

Why people take the risk to work illegally & responsibilities back home