Coronavirus: Migrants fleeing abuse 'face losing support'

Wanjiku Mbugua said women seeking help were concerned they would be deported if they left abusive partners

Money to help migrants fleeing domestic abuse could be cut after the coronavirus crisis, a charity has said.

At the start of the pandemic, the Welsh Government announced £10m for councils to help people at risk of homelessness, including victims of domestic abuse.

Westminster controls immigration, so Welsh ministers could "struggle to help" once there are no longer public health grounds to continue.

The Home Office will pilot a £1.5m fund for charities helping migrants.

People subject to immigration control have no recourse to public funds (NRPF), meaning they are not entitled to most welfare benefits.

NRPF can apply to people in the UK legally in cases including a spousal visa, student visa or with limited leave to remain with NRPF as a condition.

Prior to the pandemic, women with NRPF who fled abuse might not have been accepted into a refuge if they were not eligible for housing benefit to fund their place, said Wanjiku Mbugua, head of regional services in north Wales at Bawso.

The charity provides temporary accommodation to black and minority ethnic women at risk of domestic abuse.

Wales' Minister for Housing and Local Government, Julie James, said there was "an immediate public health need" for the £10m funding to ensure people could socially isolate.

The UK government controls immigration but Wales is in charge of its own health system, allowing the Welsh Government to provide cash to councils to support people with NRPF.

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Julie James said she was concerned about women who felt they had "no option but to go back to an abuser because they have nowhere else to go"

Ms James said: "Sadly, once the public health crisis is over and we can no longer justify using public health powers to do it, then unless the UK government does something, we will be struggling to help people."

She said the government would work with the voluntary sector, but admitted: "Finding a charity that isn't in receipt of public funds and has sufficient funding and resources to help people is pretty difficult."

Ms Mbugua said she was familiar with the scenario facing many women after going through something similar in 2000 while living in Bridgend.

"I went to the local authorities to ask for support... and I was holding my one-year-old baby.

"I was kept waiting for about two hours and they came out and they told me 'we've rung all the department's offices looking for support for you, but nobody can support you, you must go back to your husband and tell him to help you'.

"It was really difficult and I had a seven-year-old and had this baby and I was very new in the country, I didn't know anybody."

Ms Mbugua said her organisation was able to place every woman who needed to go to a refuge during the pandemic.

But she said some did not want to go into a refuge as it requires moving to a nearby town to keep them away from their abuser.

Many were "not willing to move" from where they have settled and others have refused a place in a refuge as it means they are unable to work, she said.

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With no announcement about funding beyond March 2021, Ms Mbugua is concerned about where many women will be able to go.

"When they come to us they all say the same thing: 'I stayed for so long because they told me the minute I reported him, I would be deported, my migration status is based on him, linked to him, I'll be deported'," she said.

A new domestic abuse bill which passed its final stage in the House of Commons on Monday did not include any proposals to make domestic abuse survivors exempt from immigration law limitations.

Home Office minister Victoria Atkins said there was "a lack of evidence to demonstrate which cohorts of migrants are likely to be most in need of support, the numbers involved and how well existing arrangements may address their needs".

But opposition MPs said this data would not be available unless NRPF was dropped for domestic abuse victims.

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, said: "We are in a position where we just don't know what the picture is, and if we were to do away temporarily with the NRPF that would then bring people forward in confidence that they weren't going to be penalised in any other way."

The Home Office said: "Migrant victims can access the specialist support they need, including independent financial support if they leave their abuser, and we're investing £1.5m to help them access safe accommodation.

"Extensive action to support those with no recourse to public funds has also been taken, including an extra £300 million for the devolved administrations."