This is part of the UK Government’s policy to deter people from seeking asylum in the UK, known as the “hostile environment” policy. The problem is, it doesn’t work – people fleeing war and violence have no choice but to leave their countries. Research shows that they go to places based on where they have connections or speak the language, rather than taking into account countries' immigration policies.

While people are waiting for the government to make a decision on their claim, they aren’t allowed to work – oh, unless they’ve been waiting for a year and are a prima ballerina or a nuclear medical practitioner, or any of the very niche jobs on the UK’s Shortage Occupation List. The shortage occupation list is an official list of occupations for which there are not enough resident workers to fill vacancies. It’s extremely restrictive and the Home Office won’t say whether anyone seeking asylum has been able to get a job from it.

This policy change would actually bring us into line with the rest of Europe. Ireland recently changed their policy to give people seeking asylum the right to work.

A refugee is a person who has been officially recognised as needing to flee their country of origin and is unable or unwilling to return because of a well-founded fear of being persecuted because of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. A person seeking asylum is somebody who has applied for the same protection but is waiting to hear if their application will be granted in line with the above criteria.

We are asking them to grant the right to work for people seeking asylum, and their adult dependants, unconstrained by the shortage occupation list after six months of having lodged an asylum claim or further submission.

For this campaign we’re partnering with Refugee Action and working as part of a coalition called Lift the Ban. The coalition is made up of around 50 organisations including grassroots groups, NGOs, think tanks and social enterprises. For more information, have a look at their website.