54 Introducing ‘unwanted’ noncitizens other welfare support, falling into the broad category of ‘irregular migrant’.51 Some people can apply for some limited help, but few do so.52 Such a person is forbidden from working and so has no legal means of subsistence other than charity. The apparent contradiction that leads to destitution (no legal work and no benefits) is not a legal oversight. In 2007, a Home Office document explained the thinking behind the policy: [refused asylum seekers] should be denied the benefits and privileges of life in the UK and experience an increasingly uncomfortable environment so that they elect to leave.53 As well as being unable either to work or to claim benefits, since 2004, refused asylum seekers have also been ineligible for public National Health Service (NHS) hospital care beyond emergency treatment and screening for infectious diseases.54 Despite these conditions, many remain in the country. Three primary reasons for this have been suggested:55 (1) Removal is not possible; (2) Fearing compulsory return, they abscond; and/or (3) Desire to ensure that the claim is given proper consideration. Destitution impacts upon individuals’ capabilities, and is reported to make people feel ‘useless’.56 This is mentioned across the studies and reports that highlight wasted human resources, deskilling, negative psychological effects and dehumanisation. The absurdity of this is demonstrated through individual cases, such as those of persons who were respected professionals prior to seeking asylum, but following a rejected claim are left destitute.57 It is striking to consider the difference in such a person’s status before and after the decision on her/is asylum claim, even though nothing about her/im, as a person, had changed, and no new information about her/ im had come to light. Studies show the policy has driven people neither to leave nor to stop claiming asylum, though it has driven them to become more invisible once refused.58 Destitution is not short-term. In a 2009 UK-wide study of visits by destitute 51 Alice Bloch (2013) ‘Living in Fear’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 40(10). 52 Additional support is available, for example for children or those who applied at port of entry. Heaven Crawley, Joanne Hemmings and Neil Price (2011) Coping with Destitution, Oxfam Research Report, February 2011 p. 26, 5; Bloch 2013 ibid. p. 1512. 53 UK Home Office (2007) Enforcing the Rules, Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, p. 17. 54 See Amnesty International (2006) Down and Out in London, Amnesty International UK. 55 For example, Crawley et al 2011 ibid. p. 17. These are explored in more detail in Bloom 2015 ibid. 56 For example, in response to the interview question, ‘How did you feel about being refused asylum?’, including reference to the destitution that has resulted, a respondent explained: ‘I feel useless. My confidence shattered.’, in Kamena Dorling, Marchu Girma and Natasha Walter (2012) Refused, Women for Refugee Women, p. 14. 57 Bloom 2015 ibid. 58 For example, Blitz and Otero-Iglesias 2011 ibid.; SHSH (2007) Briefing paper on destitute refused asylum seekers, Still Human Still Here; OECD 2011.