Home Office faces court action over asylum seekers' care

Hasheem was shot three times by the Taliban and still struggles to walk. He is seeking asylum in the U.K

A charity that supports asylum seekers is preparing to take legal action against the Home Office.

About 50 people with physical disabilities or mental health needs are staying in the Tendring area of Essex.

Maria Wilby, from Refugee, Asylum Seeker and Migrant Action (RAMA), said "there is no support for the vast majority of people there".

The Home Office said it was committed to "the safety and wellbeing" of all disabled asylum seekers.

Maria Wilby, from Refugee, Asylum Seeker and Migrant Action (RAMA), said there was a lack of trained staff

RAMA has told the government it will seek a judicial review unless it receives a response on Tuesday.

The charity said its move was"the last attempt we have to make sure people are looked after properly".

The asylum seekers are homed in temporary accommodation run by the Essex-based company Clearsprings for the Government.

Ms Wilby said there were "no staff with training" that can look after asylum seekers with disabilities and claimed "very few social care assessments" have taken place.

Hasheem, who is in his late 20s and from Afghanistan, is one of the asylum seekers

He worked in the Afghan airforce alongside NATO forces and was shot three times in the leg by the Taliban.

Despite seven operations, he stills finds walking difficult and needs further care and an operation.

'Lots of problems'

"As someone who worked with this government I was expecting at least more treatment or at least more facilities," he said.

"But since living at this current location there are lots of problems."

Hasheem claimed other asylum seekers have had issues accessing care support and basics like clothing. They each receive £9.10 a week but all their meals are provided.

It will be a year in August since Hasheem - not his real name - arrived in the UK and he has been living in temporary accommodation since.

He described his life as "living in an open jail".

An X-ray shows one of the bullets in Hasheem's leg. He worked alongside NATO forces in Afghanistan.

'Suffered for months'

Another resident of the accommodation, Sahar, is bedbound at the same accommodation as Hasheem, having fled Sudan.

She praised staff as "good" and said it was clean but cannot move around without support and there are no handles in her room that would aid her walking.

She said she had "suffered for months" trying to get to the bathroom.

"The staff in here are not allowed to help me walk as they are not trained for that, Even if I fall down they can't help me to get up on the bed, they just call the care line."

Hasheem says he stills limps when walking and struggles to stand on his right leg.

That is a service Tendring Council provides for free to help elderly and disabled people who have fallen and need help.

Anastasia Simpson, assistant director of partnerships from Tendring Council, said the authority had "no funding for our contingency accommodation to support asylum seekers in the district".

She added: "This funding goes directly from the Home Office to the provider in this particular case it's Clearsprings."

The Home Office said it did not commission care services.

A spokesperson said: "Asylum accommodation providers are contractually obliged to ensure accommodation is accessible for disabled people and where concerns are raised we work with providers to ensure they are addressed."

Clearsprings, the provider of asylum seeker services in Essex, said it would not comment.

A spokesperson for Essex County Council, which is responsible for local social care services, said it worked to "meet the care and support needs of any individual who lives in Essex".

The BBC has changed the names of the individual asylum seekers in this report to protect their identity.

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