QSA calls for kitchens for asylum seekers
Staff from QSA'a Cook Up programme have called for 'a kitchen-first approach' for people within the asylum system
Quaker Social Action (QSA) has called for ‘a kitchen-first approach’ for people within the asylum system.
The call is based on the staff’s learnings from its Cook Up programme, which provides free kitchen access in central and east London for ‘anyone who needs one’, including people experiencing homelessness, refugees and asylum seekers.
‘We would like to see shared kitchens in temporary accommodation or access to community kitchens facilitated by local councils or the Home Office,’ says Sean McNamara, Cook Up development worker, and Aqeelah Malek, Cook Up manager, on QSA’s website. ‘We need a more human approach, not the prison-like environment we have at the moment. We would like policy and practice matched up to a system where housing and food are adequate, and where people have some degree of autonomy, starting with the food they make for themselves and their families.’
According to QSA, a Freedom of Information request made by The Guardian revealed that there were 463 recorded complaints about inedible food in temporary accommodation last year alone. ‘People stuck in the immigration system, including those claiming asylum, just want to get on with their lives, and an important part of this process is preparing food,’ write Sean McNamara and Aqeelah Malek.
Since September 2023, five families formerly participating in Cook Up have moved into accommodation with a kitchen. In the majority of cases, these were families seeking asylum who had had their asylum claim accepted. Many had been living in hotels for extended periods of time, unable to work and without a space to cook.
The article also highlights how people recognised as refugees are given much less than the fifty-six days homelessness protection owed to people by Local Authorities under the Homelessness Reduction Act to move on from their Home Office accommodation. ‘In less than two months, they must apply for Universal Credit (UC), find work and find new accommodation,’ the article says.
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