Cost of living

People fleeing violence are being driven into extreme poverty by escalating prices — but there is hope.

Similarly in the Netherlands, asylum seekers are given [30 percent](https://asylumineurope.org/reports/country/netherlands/reception-conditions/access-and-forms-reception-conditions/forms-and-levels-material-reception-conditions/) of the social welfare allowance for Dutch citizens. Instead of spending millions of dollars on camps for refugees and asylum seekers, the Greek government, for instance, could subsidise regular housing for them, Veizis argued. Asylum seekers and refugees are legally exempt from healthcare fees charged to foreigners by the National Health Service (NHS). That would include about 249 million pounds ($300m) in tax contributions and the rest through savings on some subsistence support that could be reduced for those who find work. Asylum seekers in the UK are excluded from the state-run Healthy Start scheme, which offers vouchers for fruit and vegetables and milk for low-income pregnant women. Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta and Spain are also making moves towards giving undocumented people the legal right to work. This is less than a tenth of the [25,500 pounds](https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/minimum-income-standard-uk-2022) ($30,000) that the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the poverty alleviation charity, recommends as necessary for a minimum acceptable annual standard of living although this sum includes housing, which destitute asylum seekers do not need to pay for. INTERSOS mapped some of the most deprived asylum-seeking communities in Greece and started an emergency food programme from December 2021. They often have no access to [mainstream financial services](https://www.unhcr.org/uk/financial-inclusion.html) and face severe legal and practical barriers to participating in the economy while awaiting decisions on their refugee status. Although the Home Office says asylum claims are [usually processed in six months](https://www.gov.uk/claim-asylum), the Refugee Council charity published [a report in 2021](https://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/latest/news/thousands-seeking-asylum-face-cruel-wait-of-years-for-asylum-decision-fresh-research-shows/) showing that the average wait time for even an initial decision is likely to be one to three years with some waiting up to five years. The short answer: Food poverty and labour exploitation are hitting asylum seekers harder than citizens, researchers and advocacy groups told Al Jazeera. If they do not receive an initial decision on their asylum claims within 12 months, they may apply for jobs only on a list determined by the Home Office to be in short supply in Britain, including nurses, social workers and engineers.