62 per cent of the Scottish public support giving people the right to work while waiting for a decision on their asylum applications.
Scottish Refugee Council policy specialist Daniel O’Malley said: “This polling shows that there is a clear disconnect between how much people seeking asylum actually have to live on, and how much the wider public think they do.
“When you consider that £8.86 per week – just £1.26 per day – is supposed to cover transport, clothing, toiletries and other basic essentials, it doesn’t go far. We might think of hotels as a luxury, but the reality of staying long-term in a hotel rooms and living on less than £10 a week is really tough. Everyone needs a safe home and enough money to cover the basics, including those who are coping with the anxiety and stress of fleeing warzones and violent regimes.
“The current asylum system traps people in poverty while at the same time prohibiting people from earning a living to support themselves and their families.”