Asylum seekers in the UK face a tough financial situation, and a recent study from the University of Oxford and the University of Glasgow sheds light on a problematic system. The study looks at the Asylum Support Enablement (ASPEN) card, a prepayment card given by the Home Office. This card not only gathers personal data but also controls the behavior of asylum seekers, making their lives harder.
The study looks closely at the negative effects of the ASPEN card on UK asylum seekers. It examines 53 documents, including policy papers and legal reports, and involves interviews and focus groups with 21 participants, including asylum seekers, refugees, and people from advocacy groups in Glasgow. The company that provides the card, Prepaid Financial Services (PFS), is also part of the study.
Making life harder
The findings show that the card is making life difficult for asylum seekers. It collects data on what they buy, invading their privacy and making them scared to make choices. On top of that, there are strict rules, like no online shopping, no receiving money from friends or family, and difficulties buying essential items or culturally appropriate foods.
The card’s inconsistent functionality adds to the problems. Even with a weekly allowance of about £40, asylum seekers often end up with no money. They have to turn to charities, already stretched thin, for help getting food and supplies for themselves and their families.
To make matters worse, the bright orange color of the card makes asylum seekers stand out in public, putting them at risk of abuse. This study paints a tough picture for UK asylum seekers, caught in a system that not only messes with their finances but also infringes on their privacy and basic rights.
Inflicting harm
“While much has been said about the potential for AI or Machine Learning to alter the fabric of society, the ASPEN card serves as an important reminder that even mundane technologies such as prepayment cards retain a significant capacity to inflict harm: most notably through social exclusion, financial precarity, and the heightened visibility of a marginalized group,” the researchers explain.
“Our research shows how elements of the UK’s Hostile Environment have become embedded in the ASPEN card: a prepayment card provided to U.K. asylum seekers. It demonstrates how the digitization of welfare payments creates highly opaque conditions of data collection and new modes of social control.”
The prepayment technology from Prepaid Financial Services (PFS), initially used in the UN Refugee Agency’s Cash Assistance Program in Greece, has now been adopted by the U.K. Home Office.
The study reveals that the limitations identified in earlier research in Greece, such as restricted movement and limitations on the types of goods and services that can be bought, have been integrated into the payment technology enforced on vulnerable asylum seekers by the U.K. Home Office.
“Uncoupling the social welfare of people seeking asylum from the rest of society is a policy choice. The lived realities of what it means for people caught in the systems that flow from this choice, as this research shows, are harrowing and should compel us to revise our entire approach,” the authors conclude.
