Asylum-seeking women forced to sell sex to survive - is there a way to tackle this but still keep the work ban to discourage more immigration?

[AliasGrace47]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/may/07/work-ban-forcing-uk-female-asylum-seekers-into-sex-work

Pay them more money so they can feed their families.

They interviewed only 117 women, yet even in that article it is claimed that a fifth of adults seeking asylum are women (ie 20%). How many in 2025 alone, have come in to the UK on boats? A lot more than those %s will agree. Sorry - if data is suspect then I don't tend to believe much of the rest of the article. Those numbers are so small that none of their %s are even close to being statistically relevant.

So 2 out of the 117 thought it OK to say they didnt want to work, or perhaps more charitably they didnt understand the question. After all it was from women across 33 countries so probably english is not a 1st language for many.

Do you see the issue? I think it is a very poor article. I am not dismissing the experience of those women. I think they have been represented very badly.

Re. the work ban, when fleeing persecution or war the motivating factor isn't employment.

The whole immigration conversation is a mess, economic migration and asylum seeking are not the same thing. And because it's a mess, we have consequences like this.

I think a pp has misunderstood the article. The data isn't suspect, it's a small piece of qualitative research - the topic is worthy of consideration. The government obviously knows all this, and more.

Why would they be forced into sex work they are given money

They are given £49.18 per person in self catering and this is reduced to £8.86 if it's catered.

Additionally:
Pregnant women: £5.25 per week.
Children under 1 year: £9.20 per week.
Children aged 1-3: £5.25 per week.

Here's a link to the full report.

https://www.refugeewomen.co.uk/safety-and-survival/

I actually think we need a wider discussion on whether a work ban is the right approach for all asylum seekers, migrants etc. My logic is require them to work and pay tax and NI etc. rather than the tax payer providing accommodation and benefits.

I agree. Reading this, it seems the benefits would outweigh the drawbacks, assuming thr report is accurate. At the same time, we need to stop the flow. It's mostly men coming, isn't it? Economic male migrants? I wish we could help these women, and if we can set some limits we would be better placed to take them in.

It's shitty for men who can't get jobs, but if we try & solve everyone's problems we solve no one's and put the economy under strain. Women refugees are especially vulnerable, they should be the priority.

It's mostly men, and they are mostly granted asylum.
As you say, women refugees are especially vulnerable, which is why it's mostly men who make the journey, and then try to bring their families over afterwards.

But the ability to work is what encourages them to come. It's much easier to work here illegally than in other European countries.

What work would they do, it's mostly low paid, unskilled work anyway, there's no way they would pay enough in to pay their way and make it worthwhile.

Them? Asylum seekers are being t an amorphous blob!
They are fleeing an unsafe situation, not trying to screw us over! I can see no negatives at all to allowing people who are waiting for their claim to be processed to work.

Actually, I'll just add, to clarify. I definitely think asylum seekers should be able to work. Economic migrants, no. We can have compassion while drawing lines.

I'm referring to refugees, as is the report. By Women 4 Refugee Women . If you read it, you'll see the Women mentioned jobs like accountancy they were trained in, though I don't know how representative this is

And how can you tell the difference?

The Torys were deliberately not processing asylum seekers so their rich mates could make money off housing them in hotels etc (industries hit hard by covid and seasonal markets). The answer to this is very simple, process them so they are either granted approval or deported. I'm really disappointed that the labour government is not working to clear the backlog.

Indeed... This is what I believe morally- how would that work in practice? It seems there are serious flaws in the current system, but how to fix them...?

Generally tho I think it's men who come for economic reasons. Women are more likely to be refugees- isn't that correct?

The Tory gov were sneaky bastards! Labour def needs to pull their socks up on this issue.

For economic migrants, I see sending them back as a tough love solution in some ways : brain drain will not help Albania, or anywhere else (I think most want to settle here?) Hopefully the situation there will improve soon- helping refugees should be our priority when processing, not economic migrants.

I guess the problem is that because no one has been actually processing the asylum seekers for the last 10 years the roles and physical processes aren't there and they need to ramp up to it. But given the nations attitude at the moment and the rise of reform they are hardly going to lose votes getting things back on track. They could at least prioritise the women and children.

Absolutely this. It's very simple!

The point is if they could work legally it would contribute to the country. To suggest migrants can only do low paid, unskilled work is a myth. Many are educated and could contribute to this country.

Legal work would also undermine the traffickers.

This is really radical but I would like to see everyone entering the UK, having to give finger prints, DNA swab and photo and be given a NI and NHS number.

If the police raid brothels etc. they can identify those not on record, create a record and break the cycle. It’s about out smarting the traffickers.

No, around 70% of those who come here via small boat are given refugees status.

It feels you have a bit of a distorted view here.

In a country with a civil war, human rights abuses, religious intolerance or other internal push factors, both men and women are at risk and may be eligible to claim asylum/refugee status. It is harder for women to travel, it is even more risky, women often can't leave children etc.

I'm not convinced that statement is true as so few of them have actually been processed but I wouldn't expect any economic migrants to be risking their lives on a dinghy. The economic migrants are the ones overstaying holiday/school visas etc.