Together with Women Asylum Seekers Together Manchester, Women with Hope in Birmingham and the Coventry Asylum and Refugee Action Group, we have submitted evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee on the impact of Covid-19 on asylum-seeking women.

In recent weeks we have seen various reports on the gendered impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Women are more likely to be living in poverty, and are bearing the brunt of the economic crisis. Domestic violence cases have increased as survivors are forced to lockdown with their abusers. Meanwhile, emerging data suggests that black and minority ethnic women are at increased risk, compared to white women, of suffering severe outcomes from Covid-19. The intersection of gender, race and immigration status, coupled with the trauma of their past experiences, means that asylum-seeking women are among those women most affected by the consequences of the outbreak

This submission focuses on two key areas of our expertise. Firstly, we summarise the effects of the pandemic and the government’s response to this on women held in immigration detention. Secondly, we look at the impact of the current situation on women who have been refused asylum but are unable to leave the UK, and who have therefore been forced into destitution.

Our key recommendations are:

• All detention centres should be closed and those who are currently detained should be provided with support and safe accommodation in the community where they would have the means to self-isolate.
• Every destitute woman in the UK, even if she has had a refusal on her asylum claim, should be given immediate access to financial support and accommodation where she can isolate safely, whether through the existing system of asylum support or through the mainstream benefits system. This should be introduced with no caveats, no exemptions and no refusals.

You can read the full submission here.