NRNE's Multimedia Bulletin: October 2026

We’re happy to share our latest bulletin, featuring media on all things related to No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF).

If you have any suggestions, need clarification, or are having trouble accessing any of the materials, please do not hesitate to get in touch; we are happy to help.

Below is our collection of resources for October: 4 short reads, 4 long reads, 4 podcasts, and 4 videos.

The Care Sector Exploits Migrant Workers. Here’s How They Would Fix It (Tribune, September 2026)
What happens when a care worker’s right to remain depends on a single employer that holds all the power? This short read speaks to four migrant carers about exploitation on the care worker visa, including debt bondage, unpaid travel time, 60–70-hour weeks, racism, sexual abuse and the fear of speaking out. They explain why a proposed fifteen-year path to settlement breaks the five-year promise they built their lives around, and set out the reforms they want.
 
The Case for a Fair and Humane Asylum System (London School of Economics, November 2025)
What if the asylum system’s inefficiencies, not refugees themselves, are what’s costing the public purse? This 8-page executive summary of LSE research models four changes: processing claims within six months, legal assistance at every stage, English language support and employment support from day of arrival. It shows how the current system reached a record £5.4 billion in 2023/24, with accommodation alone costing £2.3 billion. It argues that with the right reforms, refugees would contribute more through taxes and economic growth, undermining claims that they drain public services.
 
Queering UK Refugee Law (Queer(y)ing Asylum, March 2026)

How does the UK asylum system decide who counts as “genuinely” queer and who gets misrecognised in the process? In this 64-minute episode, Diego speaks with Dr Alex Powell (Associate Professor in Law, Warwick Law School) about his book and his socio-legal research with people seeking asylum, legal practitioners and third-sector organisations. They explore how culture-war politics and anti-migrant narratives shape credibility assessments, the pressure to fit narrow expectations of sexuality and gender, racialised assumptions about queer identities, and the evidentiary burdens decision-makers impose.

Why the Right to Work for People Seeking Asylum Benefits Everyone (The Conduit, November 2025) 

What could change if people seeking asylum were allowed to work while they wait for a decision? In this 62-minute Lift the Ban Coalition panel event, experts argue for lifting the ban. Research shows that doing so could boost tax revenue and cut government spending, yet current rules permit work only after twelve months and only in a restricted set of roles, which amounts to an effective ban. The Lift the Ban coalition, a network of over 300 charities, trade unions, businesses, faith groups and think tanks, is calling for the right to work after six months, and this event explains why change is needed now and how organisations can help make it happen.

Anti-Trans/Migrant Rhetoric has Become Normalised (Rainbow Migration, September 2026)
How has anti-trans and anti-migrant rhetoric become normalised, and what does it cost the people it targets? This short piece traces the disproportionate media and political focus on trans people and migrants: trans-related articles rose from 60 to over 7,500. At the same time, Commons speeches on immigration hit a record 5.4% by 2023. They set out four consequences: normalisation, violence and hate crimes, worsened mental health, and scapegoating that distracts from real societal issues.
 
The Care Sector Exploits Migrant Workers. Here’s How They Would Fix It (Tribune, September 2026)
What happens when a care worker’s right to remain depends on a single employer that holds all the power? This short read speaks to four migrant carers about exploitation on the care worker visa, including debt bondage, unpaid travel time, 60–70-hour weeks, racism, sexual abuse and the fear of speaking out. They explain why a proposed fifteen-year path to settlement breaks the five-year promise they built their lives around, and set out the reforms they want.
 
Life for Migrants Crammed in Hotels (The Times, September 2026)

What does “temporary” accommodation really mean for families who spend years in it? This short read follows Malika, who gave birth to twins in a hotel room meant for one person and spent three years in London hotel rooms with her family of five, and Miguel, who waited seven years for an asylum decision and spent a year in Sheffield hotels where his children did homework on the floor. It sets out the wider picture: families make up more than a third of asylum seekers in hotels, including nearly 3,000 children, with reports of rats, racist abuse from staff, and breakfast served so late that children went to school hungry.

Women Can’t Be Left Out in the Cold If We Are to End Rough Sleeping (Big Issue, September 2026)

What happens when homelessness, immigration status and gender inequality collide? This short piece follows Miriam, a 69-year-old Slovakian national who was still rough sleeping when the UK left the EU in 2020 and, cut off from advice services, never knew she could apply for status under the EU Settlement Scheme. Without immigration status and therefore no recourse to public funds, she was shut out of council housing and support. Avoiding the streets at night for her own safety, she became invisible to outreach and described being repeatedly approached by people she believed were coercing her into sex work.

How Pre-Settled Status Creates Barriers to Welfare (the3million, September 2026)

What happens when a million people are told they can access public funds, but discover, in a crisis, that they can’t? This 28-page report from the3million, based on interviews with caseworkers and people with lived experience, documents the hidden “no recourse to public funds” condition facing pre-settled status holders under the EU Settlement Scheme. Because pre-settled status does not by itself count as a “qualifying right to reside,” holders must satisfy the habitual residence test. It follows people like HA, refused Universal Credit despite years of senior employment; CB, left without support after fleeing domestic abuse; and Marta, whose disability payments were put at risk when a Home Office extension failed to appear on her eVisa.

The Case for a Fair and Humane Asylum System (London School of Economics, November 2025)
What if the asylum system’s inefficiencies, not refugees themselves, are what’s costing the public purse? This 8-page executive summary of LSE research models four changes: processing claims within six months, legal assistance at every stage, English language support and employment support from day of arrival. It shows how the current system reached a record £5.4 billion in 2023/24, with accommodation alone costing £2.3 billion. It argues that with the right reforms, refugees would contribute more through taxes and economic growth, undermining claims that they drain public services.
 
Barriers to Healthy Diet for People Seeking Asylum (Salient, April 2026)
What does the government’s duty to provide “three meals a day” actually deliver, and who ends up filling the gap? This 16-page report is based on research with 22 asylum seekers and five food bank staff, finding rigid mealtimes, no cooking or storage facilities, rules against outside food, and “unsafe, inedible and inappropriate” catering. Residents described rotting food, food poisoning requiring hospitalisation, dental problems, weight loss, depression and early menopause, with children’s health the primary concern. The report calls for self-catering facilities, cash support instead of catering, and community-led food projects rather than leaving charities to mitigate the system’s failings.
 
Government Makes £5bn a Year From Immigration Fees (TBIJ, September 2026)

What happens when the state profits from the very people it claims are a burden? This investigation reveals that the UK government made almost £5 billion in profit last year from visa, citizenship and immigration charges, more than it collects in corporation tax from the energy, gas, water, sewage and hospitality industries combined. Some fees are more than ten times the actual administrative cost, with the cost of indefinite leave to remain rising from £155 to £3,226 over two decades. The piece follows families like Bethany and Moheb, forced into debt and cutting back on food to afford visa renewals that can total over £13,000.

Queering UK Refugee Law (Queer(y)ing Asylum, March 2026)

How does the UK asylum system decide who counts as “genuinely” queer and who gets misrecognised in the process? In this 64-minute episode, Diego speaks with Dr Alex Powell (Associate Professor in Law, Warwick Law School) about his book and his socio-legal research with people seeking asylum, legal practitioners and third-sector organisations. They explore how culture-war politics and anti-migrant narratives shape credibility assessments, the pressure to fit narrow expectations of sexuality and gender, racialised assumptions about queer identities, and the evidentiary burdens decision-makers impose.

When Words Decide at European Borders (The Migration Oxford Podcast, July 2026)

How has the language used to talk about migration at Europe’s maritime borders evolved over the last decade, and how has that shift affected legal obligations, rescue responsibilities, and the treatment of people on the move? In this 26-minute episode, a former asylum seeker now working as a UK-based researcher discusses the rise of terms like “deterrence,” “facilitation”, and “externalisation” in policy and political debate. They ask who has the most influence over the language used, whether debates over terminology distract from structural and systemic issues, and what the real-world consequences are, for example, when people seeking protection are described as “illegal.”

Immigration Round-Up: August 2026 (Free Movement, September 2026)

What actually changed in immigration law last month, beyond the headlines? In this 49-minute roundup, Jasmine Quiller-Doust is joined by Mala Savjani (partner, Wilsons Solicitors) to work through August’s developments, including the most recent quarterly statistics release showing immigration, asylum and citizenship numbers all falling; a Supreme Court ruling that an illegal working civil penalty notice was invalid for failing to specify the basis for liability; and two Upper Tribunal cases, one on what makes a good country expert report, and long-awaited country guidance on Albanian male victims of trafficking from the Home Office.

Partner Conversation with Cindy (Turn2Us, December 2025)

What does NRPF actually mean for the people living under it, and why does co-production matter? In this 23-minute episode, Turn2Us speak with Cindy, a co-production partner at Turn2Us. She explains what NRPF means in practice: limited access to state support and no option but to work. She describes how the status leaves families stuck, including children with British passports and additional needs who are “penalised” because of their parents’ status. She also reflects on what drew her to co-production, the importance of speaking up rather than being treated as “only a number”.

Justice for the Missing (EuroMed Rights, August 2026)

What does it mean to never learn what happened to someone you love? In this 10-minute film, four women share their experiences of a loved one disappearing along migration routes: a son, a niece. Through their words, they describe the absence, the uncertainty, and the struggle to learn the truth. Their testimonies underscore the urgent need to search for and identify missing persons, support their loved ones, and guarantee the right to truth, dignity and justice. Since 2014, more than 80,000 deaths and disappearances have been recorded along migration routes worldwide, and the true number is likely higher.

Reframing Narratives around Migration (SOAS, December 2024)

How do policy categories, work visa regimes and digital borders decide who counts as deserving? In this 91-minute panel event chaired by Dr Anna Lindley (SOAS), Zehrah Hasan (Black Protest Legal Support) challenges the legal categorisation of migrants; Emiliano Mellino (Bureau of Investigative Journalism) sets out exploitation in tied work visas, debt, substandard housing, and Home Office sponsorship revocations that punish workers for complaining; Prof Leila Simona Talani (KCL) argues securitisation only turns regular migrants into irregular ones; and Sara Alsherif (Open Rights Group) covers the eVisa rollout and the “digital hostile environment” it creates.

What is the Fiscal Impact of Immigration (Institute for Fiscal Studies, September 2026)

What does the evidence say about how migration shapes public finances, and how might that shape future policy decisions? In this 49-minute IFS podcast episode, Madeleine Sumption (Director, Migration Observatory, University of Oxford; Interim Chair, Migration Advisory Committee) and IFS economist Max Warner take a measured look at how migration to the UK has changed and what it means for the public purse. Rather than trading headlines, they work through the evidence on how different migration routes contribute to the wider economy, and, with net migration now falling sharply, what lower migration could mean for the OBR’s forecasts and the choices facing the Chancellor at the Budget.

Why the Right to Work for People Seeking Asylum Benefits Everyone (The Conduit, November 2025) 

What could change if people seeking asylum were allowed to work while they wait for a decision? In this 62-minute Lift the Ban Coalition panel event, experts argue for lifting the ban. Research shows that doing so could boost tax revenue and cut government spending, yet current rules permit work only after twelve months and only in a restricted set of roles, which amounts to an effective ban. The Lift the Ban coalition, a network of over 300 charities, trade unions, businesses, faith groups and think tanks, is calling for the right to work after six months, and this event explains why change is needed now and how organisations can help make it happen.

Safety Exit