However, to reduce applications to EU countries, EU governments try to ensure that potential asylum seekers stay close to their country of origin. It is not Western countries that are bearing the brunt of increased population movement, but the poor countries of the southern hemisphere. Abolishing the voucher system The UK government is publicly committed to tackling social exclusion and child poverty. However, the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 systematically excludes asylum seekers from mainstream social security provision. The fact that most asylum seekers are forced to use vouchers is humiliating.
Vouchers also have practical problems.
The most efficient and cost-effective way to deliver support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute is through cash benefits, not vouchers. In December 2000, Oxfam launched a joint report with the Transport and General Workers' Union , and the Refugee Council , on the impact of the asylum vouchers scheme. The report provides damning evidence that vouchers further traumatise some particularly vulnerable people. It's difficult for many asylum seekers to obtain sufficient food and basic essentials. There are countless stories of people forced to wait weeks for their vouchers to arrive.