{"id":50315,"date":"2025-04-25T20:45:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T20:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/50315\/"},"modified":"2025-04-25T20:45:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T20:45:15","slug":"victory-for-asylum-seekers-as-tfl-pledges-better-access-to-cheaper-travel-after-city-hall-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/50315\/","title":{"rendered":"Victory for asylum seekers as TfL pledges better access to cheaper travel after City Hall protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Campaigners celebrated outside City Hall on Friday after learning that Transport for London (TfL) has made a renewed commitment to help asylum seekers gain access to cheaper travel.<\/p>\n

A crowd of asylum seekers and activists gathered outside the mayor\u2019s east London headquarters after TfL pledged to \u201cbetter support\u201d those arriving in the UK seeking protection, in terms of applying for discounts they may already be entitled to receive.<\/p>\n

It follows a campaign on the issue by the charity Citizens UK, and also comes after the London Assembly last year passed a motion calling on Sir Sadiq Khan to provide asylum seekers with free bus travel for essential journeys.<\/p>\n

\"VictoryCampaigning alliance and charity Citizens UK hosted a celebration outside City Hall after TfL pledged to provide better support for asylum seekers in applying for discount travel options. Credit: Citizens UK<\/p>\n

While Friday\u2019s announcement falls short of the Assembly\u2019s request, Citizens UK believes it marks an important victory in helping asylum seekers take their children to school, or attend English language classes or medical appointments.<\/p>\n

Asylum seekers, waiting to hear from the Home Office whether they will be granted refugee status or sent back to their home country, live on as little as \u00a38.86 each week to cover any costs unrelated to their food or housing. They are usually unable to work and are not allowed to claim benefits either.<\/p>\n

A TfL spokesman said: \u201cWe are always looking to ensure that our customers can access concessions and travel discounts as easily as possible and have been discussing with Citizens UK how we can better support those seeking asylum given their unique personal circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsylum seekers can already apply for existing TfL<\/a> concessions, which benefit customers of all ages, but only where eligible. Those who need help completing their online applications can also contact our customer services to get further assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VictoryCampaigning alliance and charity Citizens UK hosted a celebration outside City Hall after TfL pledged to provide better support for asylum seekers in applying for discount travel options. Credit: Citizens UK
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Campaigning alliance and charity Citizens UK hosted a celebration outside City Hall after TfL pledged to provide better support for asylum seekers in applying for discount travel options. Credit: Citizens UK<\/p>\n

It is unclear at this stage what changes TfL may make to its processes to improve awareness and accessibility of its existing discount schemes. But the pledge to continue working closely with Citizens UK on the issue has been welcomed by campaigners.<\/p>\n

Khadiga, a community-organising leader with Citizens UK, said: \u201cI am a single mother of two school-aged children. One journey to school and back by bus costs \u00a33.50.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we only received \u00a38.86 a week, for everything from school uniforms to phone credit. How can we afford the bus?<\/p>\n

\u201cAll parents should be able to take their children to school. But, on my daughter\u2019s first day of school, I was too sick to walk. I begged the bus driver to let us on. But we were refused as I couldn\u2019t afford the fare. My daughter missed her first day of school. Imagine if you can\u2019t get your daughter to school?<\/p>\n

\u201cFor parents like me bus travel is essential so that we can support our children to get to school, so we can attend parents evenings, and so we can up pick our children up when they are sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noelle Doona, assistant headteacher at Hendon<\/a> School, said: \u201cOur parents seeking asylum are doing the best they can. But the cost of bus travel creates a significant challenge.<\/p>\n

\"VictoryCampaigning alliance and charity Citizens UK hosted a celebration outside City Hall after TfL pledged to provide better support for asylum seekers in applying for discount travel options. Credit: Citizens UK<\/p>\n

\u201cParents simply cannot afford important journeys to school including parent\u2019s evenings, school performances, or picking their children up when they are sick. We believe every child should be supported at school by their parents\/ guardians and we believe bus travel is essential to facilitate this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sir Sadiq\u2019s deputy mayor for transport, Seb Dance, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: \u201cThe mayor and I are committed to doing all we can to help vulnerable Londoners travel across our city, including supporting those seeking asylum.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pleased that TfL have been working positively with Citizens UK to improve processes for individuals seeking asylum and ensure that they are able to access travel concessions they are entitled to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Never miss another news story, subscribe to Harrow Online for FREE!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Campaigners celebrated outside City Hall on Friday after learning that Transport for London (TfL) has made a renewed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[2527,748,393,4884,7833,257,7834,27050,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-50315","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-asylum-seekers","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-harrow-online","13":"tag-london","14":"tag-london-news","15":"tag-news-in-london","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114400561052229000","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}