Resources

Asylum Aid has welcomed a landmark Upper Tribunal judgment finding that the Home Office acted unlawfully by operating a secret practice for around nine years of granting recognised victims of trafficking only 12 months' Temporary Permission to Stay (Victim of Trafficking) ("VTS leave") in recovery cases where applicants could not provide evidence showing how long their medical treatment would last. The case, brought by Asylum Aid, forced the Home Office to disclose for the first time that the practice existed and had been in operation for such a long time, was communicated only through verbal instructions and was never set out in written guidance.

The Public Accounts Committee’s report lays bare what organisations like Asylum Aid have long known through our daily work with people seeking protection: the UK’s asylum system is not only inefficient and costly, it is fundamentally failing the very people it is meant to protect. The findings confirm a system characterised by poor decision-making, chronic delays, and a lack of coherent strategy for reform.

We are deeply alarmed by the UK government’s proposed reforms to asylum support, set  out in its consultation on implementing provisions of the Immigration Act 2016.

Asylum Aid has submitted evidence to the government's consultation on proposals to replace the existing asylum appeals tribunal with a new Independent Appeals Body (IAB). Our response sets out serious concerns about both the proposals themselves and what they would mean for the people we represent.

Piya has served as Interim Executive Director over the past 7 months, during which she has provided strong leadership and helped shape the organisation’s strategic direction. She joined Asylum Aid following the appointment of Alison Pickup, the former Executive Director, as CEO of the Helen Bamber Foundation (HBF) Group in August 2025. Asylum Aid is part of the HBF Group. 

Asylum Aid is deeply concerned about the UK government’s proposed changes to settlement which risk entrenching insecurity, poverty and exclusion, undermining integration and social cohesion, and placing additional pressure on public services. They will cause significant harm to affected migrants, refugees, and stateless people.

2024 was a year of exciting change and consolidation for Asylum Aid. As the final year of working towards the 2022-2024 strategic objectives, we successfully delivered on our commitment to increase our own capacity to provide our much-needed expert legal representation to survivors, taking on 93 new clients across the year. We worked in partnership to increase capacity across legal deserts, partnering with legal advice providers from Devon to Manchester through our innovative model of training and remote supervision. We grew our statelessness project and our casework, enabling us to reach many more survivors.

Over the last weeks, we have been deeply alarmed about the far-right attacks outside asylum hotels and threats of more organised violence across the country. We strongly condemn the racist and vitriolic targeting of people seeking protection in the UK. We stand in solidarity with the men, women, children and families at the sharp end of this hostility, who deserve to live in dignity and with safety.

On 12th May, the government published its Immigration White Paper which contained a range of regressive measures, including those that would make it even harder for people living and working here to secure permanent settlement. In addition to recent changes to eligibility for citizenship, the government’s approach will further harm those trying to build a life in the UK. This includes the survivors we support who have experienced the worst humanity has to offer and now simply want safety and security.

Helen Bamber Foundation Group (HBF Group) is pleased to announce Alison Pickup as their new Chief Executive Officer. Alison, who is currently the Executive Director of Asylum Aid, a charity part of the HBF Group, will take over from Kerry Smith, who has been the CEO of the HBF Group since May 2018 to June 2025.  

The Border Security Bill retains the 'public order disqualification' that has already blocked hundreds of survivors of trafficking like our client EO, a survivor of trafficking, from support because they have a criminal conviction. Not all survivors have access to legal representation and are able to challenge these decisions.