GOVERNMENT policy is still denying refugees access to housing despite the Tories’ calls to bring in all rough sleepers during the pandemic, a public-law centre told the Morning Star yesterday.

Migrants’ rights groups are calling on the government to ensure that all rough sleepers are provided with accommodation regardless of their immigration status.

The government declared on March 26 that all homeless people would be put up in hotels and temporary housing by that weekend.

But the law still officially blocks people with insecure status from accessing emergency accommodation. 

Responding to questions on the issue, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has said publicly that councils can use discretion about whether to support destitute migrants.

But the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) claims that — behind closed doors — councils have been told that immigration rules still apply and that they will not be reimbursed for housing homeless migrants. 

“As a result, support for destitute migrants through Covid-19 has been inconsistent across and even within local authorities,” PILC co-ordinator Benjamin Morgan told the Star. 

In a letter to Mr Jenrick sent on Wednesday, PILC and the Migrants’ Rights Network stressed that leaving the issue open for councils to decide will “inevitably lead to many people with no recourse to public funds being left out of the homelessness response.”

The letter repeated calls that all councils must be given clear guidance to provide housing to destitute migrants. This should be done by giving councils ring-fenced funding to cover these costs, it said.

Most migrants living on the streets are rejected asylum-seekers or people with insecure immigration status, meaning that they are usually ineligible for public funds.

Without state support, most destitute migrants rely on charities to survive — but many of these institutions are now closed due to the pandemic.

“By leaving homeless migrants out of the pandemic response, the government is prioritising immigration enforcement over public health and human rights,” Mr Morgan charged. 

The Star asked the government to confirm whether it has told local councils that they are not required to support destitute migrants, but the request was ignored. 

A government spokesperson said: “Nationally, over 90 per cent of rough sleepers known to councils at the beginning of this crisis have now been made offers of safe accommodation – ensuring some of the most vulnerable in society are protected from the pandemic.”