In response to yesterday’s High Court ruling on hard case support, Maeve Sherlock, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council said:

“We welcome today’s ruling that highlights our long-running concern about the fate of those asylum seekers at the end of the asylum process who have been refused leave to stay but cannot then be removed.

“It cannot be right to leave people in limbo more or less indefinitely. If there is no realistic prospect of returning an asylum seeker after they have been through the asylum process, the Home Office should quickly regulate their status so that they can begin to rebuild their lives.

“The present situation is resulting in destitution in cases where people are in fact entitled to a form of support, however basic.

“We hope that this ruling will go some way to ensuring that life for these people will become a little more bearable.

“We agree with the judge that information regarding eligibility for hard case support should be widely available and will continue to strive to play our role in this.”

Ends

Notes to editors:

1. Find out more about the judgment

2. Download the judgment (pdf).