With 63 other expert orgs, we’ve written to the government to strongly oppose the reduction in the length of time newly-recognised refugees get to move on from asylum accommodation. This could leave thousands more refugees destitute & on the streets this winter. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

We cannot stress enough how harmful asylum hotels are — contrary to the perception that they are 'luxurious'. They must be closed urgently but not be replaced with crumbling, overcrowded & isolated large sites.  Thanks @benchu.bsky.social for dispelling the myths around asylum hotels 👇

We have been witnessing the fear, sadness & disappointment among the people we support over the last few weeks. The horrific attacks on asylum hotels are a direct outcome of the constant scapegoating of people seeking safety in our politics & the media. This must stop immediately. Our response 👇

📢 New vacancy: We're looking for a Legal Administrator and Training Programme Coordinator to provide vital casework support, manage files and administration for our teams and training programmes. 📍 Based in London 📅 Deadline: 5pm, 27th August We’d love to hear from you. 👉 ow.ly/m6az50WISzR

The plans to use facial recognition technology to assess the age of children seeking asylum are concerning, unless significant safeguards are put in place. Replacing poor human decision making with inaccurate AI will not prevent children being put at risk. www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2025...

Thousands of families with children arrive in the UK every year to seek protection. But they are pushed into extreme poverty by the Home Office. Two months ago, the government froze the rates of financial support given to people seeking asylum. This has a devastating impact on children. 🧵

"I did not come here seeking wealth or running from poverty. In fact, I had a stable life back in my country, Yemen. "What forced me to leave was not economic hardship, but persecution and fear for my safety and the safety of my family." www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Many survivors stay silent due to trauma, stigma & fear of retaliation. We must build trust, create safe reporting channels & remove barriers so they can seek help without fear. On World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, we call for systems that protect & support survivors. #EndHumanTrafficking

❓Did you know that hundreds of thousands of people are forced to wait over 10 years for the right to permanently settle in the place they already call home? And it’s about to get worse. 🧵

🚨 We welcome the government's decision to scrap 'scientific methods' of assessing age of children seeking asylum. X-raying children to decide their age is inaccurate, expensive & potentially harmful. But we remain concerned about the Home Office’s use of visual assessments & plans to use AI. 🧵👇

🚨 Thousands of trafficking survivors continue to be denied permission to stay in the UK despite their critical need for safety and support — a new report by @helenbamber.bsky.social, ATLEU & @ecpatuk.bsky.social reveals. Instead survivors are left in fear and at risk of further exploitation. 🧵1/3

🎧 Second episode of Lawmanity podcast featuring our Executive Director Alison Pickup just dropped! 📻 Listen in to this insightful conversation on securing justice for people seeking asylum and some career advice for aspiring human rights lawyers 👇

🚨 For the third year in a row, our data shows that HUNDREDS of child refugees, who come to the UK alone, are continuing to be incorrectly treated as adults after a visual assessment of age at the border. They are placed with strangers in adult accommodation & even adult prisons. 1/2

📻 Our Executive Director Alison Pickup speaks on Lawmanity podcast about Asylum Aid's vital role in successfully challenging the Conservative government's Rwanda plan. Want to know more about went behind this critical legal challenge? Listen in! 🎧 pnc.st/s/lawmanity

On #WorldRefugeeDay today, we celebrate the friendships, solidarity & joy among our clients, who attend our community groups every fortnight. They bond over shared experiences & fun activities & often inspire us with some extraordinary talent. 🌿🥗🎼🎨🧶 #RefugeeWeek 🧡

🚨 We found that, in the first half of 2024, over HALF of young people seeking asylum were initially assessed as adults by the Home Office but found to be children after being referred to local authorities – at least 262 children. This cannot continue. 1/2 www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

This #RefugeeWeek, #OurSuperpower is resilience ✊🧡 The hostile environment that people seeking asylum in the UK experience takes a huge toll on their mental health. But the resilience and strength of our clients, many of whom continue to face tremendous hardship, inspire us every day.

🚨 We need your support as our wonderful team goes on a 10 km walk w/ @londonlegal.bsky.social tomorrow to raise money for Asylum Aid! Please donate here so we can continue to help some of the most vulnerable people seeking protection in the UK 👇 🙏 londonlegalsupporttrust.enthuse.com/pf/asylum-ai...

Over the past 2 years, we've warned repeatedly that moving men seeking asylum in the UK to Wethersfield causes them profound & long-lasting harm. Instead of closing the site urgently, the govt plans to extend its use — it's disgraceful. We need #CommunitiesNotCamps www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

🚨 16p a day — that's how much the Home Office has increased the rate of asylum support for people in hotels. 😖 It hasn't raised self-catered support rate AT ALL. This is after we provided detailed evidence of the abject poverty people seeking protection are forced to live in. It is disgraceful 🧵

This is a tragic story. Men, women & children who come to the UK to seek asylum are forced to live in squalid hotels, where they often encounter hostile & untrained staff — while private companies running these inhumane housing systems earn millions in profit. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Fantastic achievement! Congratulations from all at Team LALY 🥰

🥳 We are thrilled to be shortlisted for the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards in TWO categories! 🙌 Asylum Aid is a finalist for the 'Legal Aid Firm/Not for Profit Agency' award and our wonderful solicitor Molly Nicolson is shortlisted in the 'Immigration & Asylum Law' category. 🎉

With @antislavery.org and 31 other organisations and survivor groups, we have written to the government calling for an end to the hostile narrative towards migrants and regressive policies that drive exploitation and deny survivors rights, safety and justice: www.antislavery.org/reports/open...

📢 Our team will be walking 10 km🚶‍♀️ w/ @londonlegal.bsky.social to raise funds for Asylum Aid. We need your support so we can continue to deliver high quality legal representation to vulnerable people seeking asylum in the UK. Please donate here 👉 londonlegalsupporttrust.enthuse.com/pf/asylum-ai...

Overcrowded rooms, collapsed ceilings, rats, damp & black mold — these are just some of the horrific realities of living in the UK's asylum accommodation. 👇📽️ 📖 Read our latest blog on how private companies are profiting from this dehumanising housing system: www.helenbamber.org/resources/la...

Today would have been the 100th birthday of our founder Helen Bamber, who dedicated her life to upholding human rights and pioneering methods of care and rehabilitation for survivors of extreme human cruelty. 1/3

Really great to see this victory for family reunion rights for stateless people. Well done @asylumaid.bsky.social and all involved!

The previous government had changed Immigration Rules making family reunion for stateless people much harder. We challenged that in the High Court and won — the court found the changes to be unlawful. Here's what it means for stateless people & their families 👇 freemovement.org.uk/asylum-aid-w...

Last year the government changed its policy so that survivors of trafficking now only have just 30 days to challenge a negative decision from the National Referral Mechanism, even though that decision can leave them without crucial support and at threat of removal from the UK (1/2)

This is a huge relief for thousands who were left in limbo due to the previous government's disastrous Rwanda plan. The failure of the Rwanda scheme stands as a clear example of why the UK must not farm its human rights obligations out to third countries, ever. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

An important thread on how labelling Albania as a 'safe country' puts survivors of trafficking at serious risk 👇

The experiences in this story are horrific but not uncommon. Our clinicians have repeatedly warned that the squalid conditions and substandard food in asylum hotels are causing profound harm to the men, women and children placed there. This MUST change. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Is this the beginning of the end for asylum hotels? It's good news that we'll no longer pay billions to this hotel chain where serious issues have been found, but the problems in asylum hotels go far beyond the failures of a single provider. Here's what must happen now: 🧵👇

Access to justice is a human right and legal aid is a crucial part of the justice system. But people seeking asylum often struggle to get good quality legal advice. At least 57% of those claiming asylum or appealing a refusal are unable to find a legal aid representative.🧵1/3

We are so pleased that Napier barracks, one of the first large scale asylum accommodation sites to open, is finally going to be closed. It's now time to shut Wethersfield and bring an end to housing people seeking protection in ex-military asylum camps. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

🚨 In a judgment today, the High Court has found that the government acted unlawfully in accommodating three victims of trafficking, torture & other extreme human cruelty in the asylum camp at RAF Wethersfield. www.helenbamber.org/resources/la...

It's appalling that the Home Office has spent such an eye-watering amount of tax-payers' money defending their decision to keep Wethersfield open, given the overwhelming evidence of the harm it causes. People seeking asylum must be housed in communities, not camps. inews.co.uk/news/taxpaye...

Important new report 👇 Children who come to the UK to find safety are pushed further into despair. This needs to stop urgently.

In our latest guest blog, Sophie Cartwright @jrsuk.bsky.social delves into a new briefing on statelessness in the UK. Read more: https://buff.ly/3EXanlu @asylumaid.bsky.social @liverpooluni.bsky.social @justrightscot.bsky.social Originally published on Border Criminologies on Jan 22nd.

Over 10 years ago, our client EO, a survivor of trafficking, was sentenced to 12 months in prison for a single offence – fraud. She had escaped sexual exploitation and was homeless. In desperation, she accepted a friend’s offer to get her a false ID so she could work and earn money to eat. 🧵 (1/5)

Since Wethersfield asylum camp opened over 18 months ago, our clinicians have repeatedly warned that the site has been causing a significant deterioration in the mental & physical health of hundreds of men. This is yet more evidence for why the site MUST be shut immediately 👇 #CommunitiesNotCamps

We join 148+ organisations calling on the government to urgently rethink ban on UK citizenship to refugees who arrive in small boats or hidden in vehicles. The ban risks leaving tens of thousands of people as “second-class citizens”. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

Some powerful speeches last night as MPs debated the #BorderSecurityBill As @carladenyer.bsky.social explained - men, women & children seeking asylum in the UK often have no choice but to risk their lives in small boats. Criminalising them & banning support will do nothing to address this problem.

This afternoon MPs will debate the Border Security, Asylum & Immigration Bill for the first time. While the Bill undoes some terrible measures introduced by the previous government, it does not go nearly far enough. We need fair & humane asylum & immigration systems that uphold human rights. (1/2)

It's appalling & inhumane that people seeking asylum are housed in such horrific conditions, leaving them vulnerable to illness & disease. Men who are forced to live in Wethersfield camp must be immediately relocated & the site must be shut. #CommunitiesNotCamps inews.co.uk/news/home-of...

Learn about systemic immigration cases from start to finish by joining our expert speakers on January 26: PLP's Rakesh Singh, Unkha Banda, Nicole Masri, Alison Pickup, and Natasha Simonsen 👇 @dpglaw.co.uk @asylumaid.bsky.social @blackstonechambers.bsky.social @rightsofwomen.bsky.social

🚨 Parts of the new Border Security, Asylum & Immigration Bill build on the much-needed reforms to the asylum system that the government has made since taking office. It repeals the Safety of Rwanda Act and parts of Illegal Immigration Act (IMA). But we have many concerns 🧵1/4

We all deserve to feel safe. We are very relieved that the government has committed to repealing the Safety of Rwanda Act - without a clear commitment to safety and the right to asylum in the UK, people aren't able to rebuild their lives