Public and Commercial Services Union

Many people whose applications for asylum are refused are then unable to return to their country because they do not have the means to do so.

It can take some considerable time before travel arrangements can be made and during this period, people are left reliant on the Azure payment card.

The Azure card is topped up by £35 a week for a single person, and can only be used in a limited number of supermarkets.

Often, it does not work at all and people with families are left unable to buy food for themselves and their children.

A recent report by the Asylum Support Partnership, Your inflexible friend: the cost of living without cash, published on the Refugee Council website, highlights several problems with the card.   

Please email the minister Damian Green and urge him to give asylum seekers back their dignity by replacing the card with cash.