Policies introduced since Labour came to power in 1997 have helped make asylum seekers the most socially excluded group in the UK, according to a report published this week.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that, while poverty has been alleviated for some vulnerable groups over the past seven years, asylum policies have led to a "reduction in rights" for this group in employment, income and housing.
The review of government policies on poverty, inequality and social exclusion finds that the impact of asylum policies "ran in the opposite direction" to other areas assessed, most of which show improvement.
It highlights the withdrawal of benefits for asylum seekers and the introduction of accommodation centres in legislation passed since 1999 as part of a "progressive reduction" in support.
"Asylum seekers... are denied the right to seek employment, have only limited and problematic access to health services and are dispersed to highly deprived areas... where they are vulnerable to harassment and physical attacks," the report says.
"In future, their children are to be educated in segregated institutions. It would be hard to concoct a better recipe for social exclusion."
The report says asylum policies run "contrary" to other government objectives including reducing rough sleeping, encouraging employment and creating an inclusive society.
Charity Refugee Action said the report showed how asylum policy had been "fuelled" by the government's desire to get the numbers of asylum seekers down in response to "right-wing hysteria" in the media.
The charity called for asylum seekers to be allowed to work, and for asylum support, which currently stands at 70 per cent of income support, to be raised above the poverty line.
But the report also reveals that children have benefited most under Labour, with the government "on track" to hit its target of reducing the number of children living in relative poverty by a quarter by 2004-5 mainly through tax benefit reforms.
But the report adds that relative child poverty levels for the UK are still above the EU average.
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