People seeking asylum in the UK are only able to apply for the right to work after they have been waiting for a decision on their asylum claim for over a year. Even then, the few people who are granted such permission are rarely able to work in practice because their employment is restricted to the narrow list of highly-skilled professions included on the Government’s Shortage Occupation List.

This report argues that a policy change would strengthen people’s chances of being able to integrate into their new communities, allow people seeking asylum to live in dignity and to provide for themselves and their families, give people the opportunity to use their skills, improve the mental health of people in the asylum system, and help to challenge forced labour, exploitation, and modern slavery.

Published in August 2020 by the Lift The Ban coalition.