In spring 2015, the UK Home Office introduced a new rule for people seeking asylum. From then on, if they wanted to make a fresh asylum claim, they would have to do so in person in Liverpool. It didn’t matter where they lived and there’d be no help for those who couldn’t afford the journey.

At Refugee Action, we thought this was hugely unfair. Our work with people who’ve experienced the very worst of the asylum system has shown us just how vital the right to submit evidence for a fresh claim is to many asylum seekers. What’s more, the changes put undue pressure on the city of Liverpool – a community which already welcomes and protects its fair share of refugees.

We launched a campaign – Fairness Not Fares – to raise awareness of the new rules and call for change. Hundreds of people spoke out against the rule changes with us. Many also donated the cost of a journey from Manchester – where we work with many asylum seekers affected by the change – to Liverpool. This helped us make sure the people we support could afford this journey.

Sadly, the rules were introduced in March 2015 and are still in place today. Asylum seekers continue to struggle to make this journey, preventing vulnerable people from being able to make their cases fairly. It’s just one of many problems with the UK’s asylum system- a much wider issue that we’ll be campaigning on further in the future.

How you can help

This campaign highlighted one of the ways the UK’s asylum system robs people of their dignity. If you want to help asylum seekers, you can:

• Make a donation. This will help us make sure that asylum seekers and refugees understand the asylum process and know their rights
• Support our other campaigns calling for refugees to be treated with dignity – like our campaign to widen the criteria for refugee family reunion