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Campaigning for the Right to Work for People Seeking Asylum

Asylum Matters: 16.10.2018: Join us in Campaigning for the Right to Work for People Seeking Asylum
Asylum Matters has come together today with more than 80 charities, think tanks, faith groups, businesses and trade unions to launch the ‘Lift the Ban’ campaign calling on the Government to grant the right to work to people seeking asylum.

The campaign is launching with a new report that reveals the full extent of both the moral and economic evidence for lifting the ban. It makes the case that policy reform would support integration into new communities, allow people to live in dignity and provide for themselves, and improve the health and wellbeing of people in the system. It also features new statistics from a survey of 246 people with direct experience of the asylum process which revealed that:
  • 94% of respondents would like to work if given permission to do so;
  • Nearly two-thirds (65%) were working before they came to the UK;
  • 74% had a secondary level education or higher, while 37% had an undergraduate or postgraduate degree.
The report also looks at the economic case for lifting the ban and suggests that this could produce an economic gain for the Government worth tens of millions through increased tax revenues and savings on asylum support payments. You can find the full report here.
Join us spreading the word about the campaign!
  • Take part in the social media conversation using #LiftTheBan. Comms resources can be downloaded here
  • Sign the petition calling on the Home Secretary to lift the ban.
  • If you represent an organisation, business, think tank, or other organised group, why not join the Lift the Ban Coalition if you haven’t already? Email us on lifttheban@asylummatters.org
  • For more ideas on how you can help download the Lift the Ban Activism Pack – we need people to talk to their local MPs, get in touch with local media, host events and gather petition signatures in order to secure change!

 

Feel free to get in touch with any questions or thoughts about how you can get involved with the campaign – email us on  lifttheban@asylummatters.org. For more information on the campaign and what we’re calling for you can visit: http://lifttheban.co.uk/

Working in partnership locally and nationally to improve the lives of refugees and people seeking asylum through social and political change.  
 
Find out more at www.asylummatters.org