Worcestershire asylum seekers plead for right to work

The Home Office's asylum system faces a huge backlog with 173,000 people waiting to find out if they can remain in the UK. BBC Hereford and Worcester spoke to asylum seekers with their lives on hold as they stay in Worcestershire..

Fatima's journey to Worcestershire started at night, in the back of a lorry, with her husband and her eight-year-old daughter.

They fled Iran after she and her partner converted to Christianity which she said is a crime in the country "punished by death".

"If our government understand where we are, they'll want to kill me," she said.

Fatima - not her real name - is a computer scientist with a postgraduate masters degree and arrived in the UK in September.

After eight months in a hotel, her family was offered a house to live in but only on a temporary basis and her family's claim for asylum has only partly been processed.

She said: "It's very difficult for us... I worry about my daughter because if they didn't accept us... after that what should we do?"

Johannis, 26, is from Ethiopia, a county which experienced two years of civil war until November.

After seven months in London, he was moved to a hotel in Worcestershire but has seen no progress on his claim in more than 18 months.

Home Office rules restrict what asylum seekers can do which include not being able to apply for employment in their first year.

Despite those constraints, Johannis said he was doing his best to build a new life as he volunteered in a charity shop two days a week and studied GCSEs at a college.

"I want to live my life, to work and to pay tax," he said.

At the start of April, Home Office figures stated 577 asylum seekers were staying in Herefordshire and Worcestershire although it is now understood the figure is more than 600.

In June, ministers said they were working "non stop" to cut the claims backlog.

Restrictions around working and training for asylum seekers are necessary, the government says as it argues easing them could lead to a rise in economic migrants.

But Steffi Price, from community group Evesham Vale Welcomes Refugees, said the system was not working and asylum seekers needed better communication.

"They will sit and wait and wait and wait. They will ask 'how is my claim going?' 'We don't know'," she said.

"Being able to work would make a huge difference. Around here we are struggling for hospitality staff and for agricultural staff."

The Home Office said it was on track to clear the backlog in the asylum system by the end of 2023.

"The number of decisions being made overall is up by 35% and we are also doubling the number of caseworkers to further speed up the system," a spokesperson added.

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