May 2021:

Thousands of asylum seeking families have been left without any money for food or essential purchases for over a week because of a shambolic switchover of debit cards.

Positive Action in Housing, a refugee and migrants homelessness charity, is still receiving a high volume of reports of impoverishment from asylum seekers in Glasgow and elsewhere across the U.K.

By late Thursday afternoon (May 27, 2021), our Homelessness Casework Team had received over 250 calls, visits and messages from worried families in Glasgow, and more than 100 elsewhere in the U.K., asking for help with money for food because of the Aspen Card Switch.

Those affected include elderly people, families with babies and young children, single men and women, amongst them people with mental health trauma, as well as physical health problems.

Asylum seekers were told to expect their new cards to begin working on Monday 24 May. Their debit card was stopped on May 21. Asylum seekers in the UK are forbidden to work or save money in a bank account. This means they are wholly dependent on the Home Office for their care. Families were advised to stock up on food until then. Asylum seekers in accommodation are meant to receive just over £5 a day. (Hotel based asylum seekers are meant to get £8 a week). This state of impoverishment can go on for months or years. So people cant stockpile food because they already live in a state of near destitution. So this is a vulnerable community already impoverished which makes the crisis even more acute.

By Monday 24 May, cards were not activating correctly, or had not arrived in the post. There was a limit on cash withdrawals or there was nothing on the card. One woman reported that her card was declined at the shops, with a message advising she should contact her bank, even though she did not have a bank account (asylum seekers are not allowed to). Several people reported that their card could not be activated because it would not accept their dates of birth. A man reported having gone to the ATM and found there was a limit on cash withdrawals.

The Home Office contracted helpline (MigrantHelp) was effectively blocked due to the numbers seeking help, with people reporting delays of between 1 and 2 hours waiting, or lines going dead. In some cases people say they were told to contact other organisations or call back later..

What are we doing?

Positive Action in Housing is running an emergency service throughout the Bank Holiday period to ensure families in Glasgow have access to food and essentials.

We have begun an emergency distribution of £11,000 of emergency grants to 145 households in Glasgow, identified as vulnerable , and an additional £4,000 of emergency food vouchers.

Our caseworkers have begun triaging emergency cases and contacting the Home Office and MigrantHelp on behalf of families to request working Aspen Cards with credit on them.

We have mobilised our Humans of Glasgow Volunteer network to deliver Emergency Food Packs.

CALL TO ACTION

Write to your MP in your own words (using any of the text above) and also to the Home Secretary, and express your concerns and ask why they did not test the system to avoid a full scale crisis

Remember to copy your correspondence to home@positiveactionh.org. (Our detailed statement and full contact details for the Home Secretary can be found here).

Donate via CAF, JustGiving or PayPal Giving. Alternatively, post a cheque to: Positive Action in Housing, 98 West George St Glasgow G2 1PJ. For other ways to give, visit our donate page. Companies can ask us to invoice them by emailing us.

Use the hashtag #AspenCardScandal and tag @positiveactionh in social media to highlight the scandal.

Your donation is very much appreciated and will directly support families and individuals affected by the debit card switch. All gift aid from this appeal will be used towards the running costs of the Lifeline Service.

www.positiveactionh.org/donate