DESTITUTE migrants and asylum-seekers are at risk of starvation as the centres that they rely on for food and support close amid the coronavirus pandemic, charities warned today.

A number of migrant-rights groups are calling on the government to lift restrictions on undocumented migrants and asylum-seekers being able to access healthcare, housing and benefits. 

Under current laws, asylum-seekers are not permitted to work or access the benefits system and are given very little support by the Home Office: £37.75 per week. Failed asylum-seekers receive no support at all. 

They survive thanks to a network of charities that provide food parcels, second-hand clothing and supermarket vouchers. But many of these centres up and down the country have now closed due to the pandemic. 

Young Roots, a group supporting young destitute asylum-seekers in London, said its visitors had been “severely impacted” by the reduction in services. 

The group is now handing out emergency packs to young asylum-seekers containing food vouchers, Oyster cards, biscuits and sim cards. 

Rights charity Refugee & Asylum Participatory Action Research called on the government to allow undocumented and destitute people to access safe housing without fear of being persecuted. 

Last week more than 60 human-rights groups called on the government to cease its “hostile environment” policies, which discourage undocumented migrants from reporting symptoms or seeking help. 

In a letter, the groups said: “Emergency public-health measures do not work unless they apply to everyone living in our communities, and we must have assurance that any data collected should not be shared with the Home Office for the purpose of immigration enforcement.”

A London based Covid-19 mutual-aid Facebook group also has been set up specifically to support migrants and asylum-seekers.