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Asylum seekers made to wear wristbands to get food | Asylum seekers made to wear wristbands to get food |
(35 minutes later) | |
A private company that provides meals for asylum seekers in Cardiff has said it will drop demands for them to wear wristbands as a condition for receiving food. | A private company that provides meals for asylum seekers in Cardiff has said it will drop demands for them to wear wristbands as a condition for receiving food. |
Around 200 asylum seekers in the city were told to put on the brightly coloured bands. | Around 200 asylum seekers in the city were told to put on the brightly coloured bands. |
But some called it dehumanising and said they had become targets for abuse. | But some called it dehumanising and said they had become targets for abuse. |
It comes after asylum seekers in Middlesbrough said they were targeted after their doors were painted red. | It comes after asylum seekers in Middlesbrough said they were targeted after their doors were painted red. |
A company housing the asylum seekers later said it would repaint the doors after concerns people could be singled out as immigrants. | |
'Stressful' | |
On Sunday, Labour MP for Cardiff Central Jo Stevens said she had been in touch with the operations director for Clearsprings Group - the company contracted by the Home Office to run accommodation services in Cardiff. | |
She tweeted that she had been given an undertaking that the practice would stop on Monday. | She tweeted that she had been given an undertaking that the practice would stop on Monday. |
Earlier one man, Eric Ngalle, told BBC Wales he had spent nearly two months at one home - Lynx House - and had challenged the need to wear the wrist bands. However, he had been unable to change the policy. | |
He said he was told it was a Home Office directive, but added that none of the asylum seekers believed this explanation. | He said he was told it was a Home Office directive, but added that none of the asylum seekers believed this explanation. |
He said he felt having to wear the wristbands was "labelling" and "stressful". | He said he felt having to wear the wristbands was "labelling" and "stressful". |
Elsewhere, Chloe Marong, who works at the Trinity Centre in Cardiff which provides support for asylum seekers, said that many people were unhappy about the wristbands. | |
She told BBC Wales she thought the treatment was dehumanising and left people vulnerable to abuse. | She told BBC Wales she thought the treatment was dehumanising and left people vulnerable to abuse. |