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The Home Office has barred asylum seekers from using their state support on what it describes as luxury goods and non-essential services, issuing a list of banned purchases that stretches from toys and audiobooks to armoured vehicles and boat rentals.
The rules, which came into effect on 11 August, according to a leaked Home Office document, apply to the pre-paid “Aspen card” system, through which asylum seekers receive weekly allowances of ￡9.95. For those that are self-catered, that allowance goes up to ￡49.18 a week.
The restrictions cover hundreds of spending categories, including furs, fireworks, fortune tellers, aquariums, library fines and even photocopying. Attempts to use the pre-paid card to purchase these items results in a decline of sales.
Charities have condemned the policy as out of touch with the realities of life on such small sums of money.
Steve Smith, the CEO of the charity Care4Calais, told The Guardian: “This list demonstrates how out of touch politicians are with the realities of life for people seeking sanctuary in this country. People seeking asylum are receiving as little as ￡10 per week in financial support. They aren’t buying the ‘luxury items’ the Home Office is suggesting.”
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He added that these rules were about “making life as difficult, and quite frankly as miserable as possible, for people seeking sanctuary in the UK”, describing it as “morally abhorrent”.
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Campaigners also warn that the blocked list risks cutting off access to services that are far from extravagant. Items such as toys or visits to libraries can provide comfort and stability for children and families waiting on asylum claims, but are now restricted under the new system.
Officials accept that some essential services may have been caught by mistake, and a separate review is examining whether the rules can be made more precise by targeting individual merchants rather than whole categories.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Ministers recently ordered a review of the Aspen card system to investigate and address reports of misuse.
“As part of this review, the list of permitted spending categories was immediately revised to ensure that financial support provided to asylum seekers is used strictly for essential living needs.
“We will announce any further changes to the current system in due course once the ongoing review is complete.”