Praxis is sounding the alarm over the rising number of people accessing its immigration advice and welfare services who are being forced into poverty and facing homelessness because Government immigration policies and Home Office delays in processing visa renewals are preventing them from supporting themselves, as the cost of living crisis intensifies.

Children living in poverty affected by the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition, who are among the most vulnerable in our society because they and their families are cut off from the welfare safety net – are still unable to access free school meals, despite a recent policy change.

More than four years since the Windrush scandal was brought to light, human rights charity Praxis is concerned that, far from righting the wrongs caused to thousands, seeing the ‘face behind the case’ or transforming itself into a more compassionate institution, the Home Office is instead doubling down on a hostile and punitive policy agenda that continues to destroy lives.

For the past ten years, thousands upon thousands of people unable to prove their right to live in the UK have been forced into the shadows, as they’ve been prevented from accessing basic services and rights - including healthcare, employment, private and public housing and the welfare system. 

Praxis, a charity working with migrants and refugees in London, is sounding the alarm over a government review that could end up taking free school meals away from thousands of children living in poverty because of their parents’ immigration status.

On Tuesday 1st February 2022, peers will debate clause 11 of the Bill, which contains measures that are likely to have significant negative impacts upon the lives of refugees.