Asylum seeker food wristbands to be scrapped following outcry

Asylum seekers in Welsh capital Cardiff will no longer be required to wear special wristbands to access food after critics warned that it singled people out for abuse.

Residents at Lynx House in Cardiff, where asylum seekers are sent while their claims are processed, had to wear red wristbands in order to get meals, and could not remove them temporarily without destroying or damaging them.

Clearsprings, which alongside multinational giants like G4S is one of the four companies to outsource asylum seeker accommodation for the UK government, had said the wristbands were a “reliable and effective way” to ensure services were delivered efficiently.

However, a former resident of the house – which is well known in the local area – told the BBC on Monday that during his stay motorists would often spot him wearing the wristband and shout abuse at him.

Eric Ngalle, 36, said he had challenged the policy during his two-month stay at the property, but was told it was a directive straight from the Home Office, the government body in charge of immigration rules.

Carwynn Jones, the first minister of Wales, said he was “appalled” by the scheme, and said he had contacted the Home Office to register his “serious concerns”.

Clearsprings has now said residents can use photo ID to access food.

The controversy comes less than a week after another accommodation provider in the northern town of Middlesbrough was forced to backtrack over a policy that saw all doors on properties housing asylum seekers painted red.

Eggs were thrown at the windows of the properties and National Front logos scratched on the doors, with residents saying they felt marked out by the coloured doors.

Jomast, a company sub-contracted by G4S to manage asylum seeker accommodation in Middlesbrough, has said it will review the policy.