There are approximately 448,600 refugees in the UK, which makes up 0.6% percentage of the UK population! At the end of March 2024, 118,329 people were still waiting for a decision for their asylum claim. For context, 210,000 people go to Glastonbury Festival every year.

People seeking asylum are placed in disused, former hotels that are no longer operating as hotels, not luxury ones. They often have to share cramped rooms with strangers, can’t cook, and have no control over where they’re sent or how long they’ll stay. It’s not comfort, it’s containment.

The accommodation system isn’t fair on anyone. It costs over £8 million a day and fails to meet people’s basic needs.

People risk their lives to come here, as they need to escape war, torture, and persecution. The real driver of migration is danger at home—not comfort abroad. ‘Deterrence policies’ - making things uncomfortable for asylum seekers when they arrive, to disencourage them from coming - have been evidenced to have no impact on the amount of people arriving in the UK.

Asylum seekers aren’t allowed to work and contribute taxes, even if they want to. Many have vital skills. With fairer policies, they could support public services, not burden them. You can find out more here - Lift the Ban - Refugee Action

Despite what you see on the news, it’s a real mix of people. However, there are bigger numbers of people seeking asylum in the UK that are young men. The journey to reach the UK is incredibly dangerous, with people experiencing slavery, imprisonment, and abuse on the way. Young men are more likely to survive the journey and are therefore more likely to be the ones sent to seek safety by their families. They also deserve protection too!

Ultimately, we want the Government to empower and properly fund local councils with grants to buy and renovate disused housing for people seeking asylum, who should feel safe to put down their roots in our communities.

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.

Of all refugees globally, only a tiny percentage seek refuge in the UK. The UK Government are intentionally vilifying a small minority of people to distract from their own policy failings. Some politicians have manufactured a crisis by allowing a huge backlog of asylum claims to build up and some politicians are using dangerous, misleading, and inflammatory language as a campaign tool.

Waiting times for claims to be processed have increased eighteen-fold since 2010 and 68% of people seeking asylum are now waiting more than six months for their claim to be processed which not only has a detrimental impact on people’s health while they are trapped in this limbo but also means the accommodation costs for people seeking asylum have also increased. Whilst waiting for their claims to be processed, people are also banned from working which doesn’t make any sense. The UK Government could lift this ban right now, which would allow people to earn their own money and contribute an estimated £333 million to the UK economy each year.

Yes, we believe it can! There are countless examples of when people speaking out in a collective voice has influenced political change and policy. Our MPs role is to listen to us and represent our opinions in Parliament, so we need to keep voicing our concerns!

At Ben & Jerry’s, we’ve always stood up for issues that matter to us, led by our guiding principles of fairness and equality. We’ve championed a fair few issues over the years to advance opportunity and justice for marginalised communities all over the globe including LGBTQIA+ rights, climate justice, and working to protect and advance the rights of people seeking a safe place to call home.