The Sustainable Development Goals 2030 call for an end to poverty in all its forms everywhere through the adoption of integrated social protection policies. However, recent literature suggests an implicit and explicit discrimination towards asylum seekers and refugees (ASRs) in United Kingdom social policy, leading to high rates of destitution, poor health and isolation. Due to the limited nature of UK government support, many ASRs become involved with semi-formal and informal social protection. This systematic literature review synthesizes existing qualitative literature that documents the impact of these interventions on the wellbeing of adult ASRs in the United Kingdom. The literature offers useful insights into asylum seeker and refugee perceptions of wellbeing, agency, and support responsibility, and how their interaction with social protection providers constrains or enables the realization of their fundamental human needs. The findings demonstrate that government support is inadequate to meet the needs of many asylum seekers and refugees, leading to disempowerment, lack of agency and exploitation. Positive wellbeing outcomes are linked to semi-formal and informal interventions, summarized into six categories: the positive impact of volunteering; physical space and intentional gathering; practical and material support; training and skills development; solidarity, inclusion and understanding; and peer support and advice.

This paper considers United Kingdom welfare provision for asylum seekers in the context of social protection scholarship, policy discourse more commonly associated with international development. Social protection definitions are contested, ranging from those focused on state provision to wider interpretations reflecting debates on holistic wellbeing, human rights and self-actualisation. Most recently, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has called for social protection policies for all citizens to reduce inequality among and within countries. Though there is exigency to reduce the extreme inequality existing between countries, literature is lacking on how social protection can be used to critique inequality within more economically affluent nations. Commentaries on social protection also tend to focus on economic poverty, with less attention given to vulnerabilities such as marginalisation. Literature suggests that UK asylum welfare provision is based on deterrence, control and marginalisation. In response, and to encourage equity in how all countries’ public policy is assessed, this paper utilises an international social protection framework to critique UK asylum welfare provision. It concludes by advocating for transdisciplinary, human-centred and comprehensive social protection policy design, encouraging participation by a wider range of stakeholders and a holistic understanding of wellbeing to meet asylum seekers’ needs effectively and efficiently.

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