The responsibility a mother shoulders to raise and protect her child is one of the greatest stresses a woman faces.
Now, add onto that the fact she has fled her home country, is seeking asylum, battling poverty, and unsure of the future.
This was the situation Mercy Baguma was facing, the Ugandan asylum seeker who was found dead in her Glasgow flat with her screaming one-year-old right beside her.
Baguma had been given limited leave to remain in the UK. She was able to work with her granted status, but when her leave to remain came to an end, she was forced to stop working, since asylum seekers are not permitted to work while claiming asylum.
Not long after, she was found dead, leaving her malnourished baby without a mother.
The case has highlighted the fact that asylum seeking mothers are particularly vulnerable and in desperate need of extra practical and mental health support.
When a person begins to seek asylum in the UK, they are provided with the bare minimum for survival. They are put in temporary housing and given £37.75 per person in the household per week.
Some may think that those are generous offers to a non-British citizen that has yet contributed to the economy. But asylum seekers are just as much human beings as any British citizen and deserve an equal standard of care as someone born within the UK. They may be fleeing trauma, poverty, abuse, or slavery – making them even more deserving of our hospitality, empathy, and support.
The asylum process is meant to take six months, from start of the application to a final decision being made. However, this process often takes much longer – with figures up to March showing that 31,516 people have been waiting longer than six months. The wait can be even longer as appeals can be made if the asylum claim comes back with a negative decision.
An asylum seeking mother that is placed in temporary housing with her children, awaits her asylum decision while living in a neighbourhood that she doesn’t know, in a house or room with limited necessities, and with no idea when she will be told she needs to move to other accommodation.
Her children are often home with her all day, every day – awaiting the decision of whether or not they will be given the right to remain in the UK. During this time, children often do not attend school as they may be moved to another location at any point during the asylum process.
“One way to minimise stress of asylum seeking mothers would be to allow them the right to work and provide childcare to enable them to do so.”
For those of us that have mothered children during lockdown, we can relate to the slow breakdown of our mental fortitude as we try to entertain, feed, and parent children without any break. We felt lonely, irritable, and anxious. These mental struggles are the norm for asylum seeking mothers, with the added worry of not knowing whether they will be allowed to keep themselves and their children inside the safety of UK borders.
A mother claiming asylum is given £37.75 per week per person, money that needs to cover all costs, apart from housing and utility bills. Summer clothes, transportation costs, phone bills, course fees, winter coats, shoes, sanitary products, washing up liquid, nappies, food, and formula is just the start of the list of necessary items that must be purchased with the money. If you have a family, you know that money goes as quickly as it comes. Asylum seeking mothers live in constant fear that they will not be able to provide for the needs of themselves or their children.
“If asylum seekers were allowed to work, it would give mothers the chance to take control of their finances, have a mental break from children, and integrate into their community”
The human brain can only handle a limited amount of stress. Mothers that are claiming asylum are carrying the stress of their past (usually involving trauma due to poverty, war, or death), their present (feeding and clothing their children, awaiting an asylum decision, loneliness from lack of adult contact), and their future (whether they will be able to stay in the UK).
We need to recognise the unique pressure they are under and provide them with additional practical support and mental health services. Not only for the benefit of the mother, but for the well-being of her children. Children rely on the strength of their parents, and a mother needs to be supported so that she can continue to provide stability and safety for her children.
One way to minimise stress of asylum seeking mothers would be to allow them the right to work and provide childcare to enable them to do so.
At the moment, the UK does not allow people seeking asylum to be employed. BEAM, a charity that crowd funds to get people into work, told me: “Many asylum seekers have brought over incredible skills from their home countries. Without their right to work, it can be difficult for these women to rebuild their lives and care for their children.”
If asylum seekers were allowed to work, it would give mothers the chance to take control of their finances, have a mental break from children, and integrate into their community – all of which contribute to the physical and mental well-being of the mother and her children.
Lauren Crosby Medlicott is a freelance writer.