The British government is not required to provide warm clothing to thousands of immigrants and their children who remain in Britain while appealing the decisions in their asylum cases, a judge ruled on Wednesday.
Immigration laws allow the government to provide accommodation and vouchers for food and toiletries, but not clothing, to refugees while they make appeals, High Court Justice Michael Harrison ruled.
The case was brought on behalf of a Kenyan woman identified only as "AW," who has an 11-month-old son, said her lawyer, Sue Willman.
"As much as I would like to find [Home Secretary John Reid] has power ... to provide the claimant and her baby son with warm clothing for the winter, I am afraid I am unable to do so," Harrison said.
Draft legislation that would allow the government more flexibility in meeting the needs of failed asylum seekers -- who are not permitted to work in Britain while waiting to be returned to their home countries -- is currently being considered by the Home Office, a spokesman for the department said on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.
The draft has not yet been sent to parliament, the spokesman said.
"There are 7,000 people on this kind of support who cannot get clothes and will be affected," Willman said.
"It is a scandal that pregnant or nursing mothers cannot get maternity clothes or baby things. We call upon the government to change the law as a matter of urgency," she said.
Willman said that 20-year-old AW fled from Kenya in July 2002 fearing persecution based on religious motives. The British government turned down her claim for asylum and she is currently appealing.
AW and her son live in Bristol, about 195km southwest of London, Willman said.
The government pays for them to rent a room in a shared home while their asylum application is reviewed.
The government provides her with ?70 (US$125) a week in grocery store vouchers for herself and her baby.
She is required to use the vouchers for food and toiletries and she is not permitted to work, Willman said.
The Home Office and AW's lawyers declined to comment on the reason that she had been denied asylum.
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