Fighting for the Forgotten Women in the UK's Asylum System: Accelerate Action Because They Cannot Wait Any Longer

Maggy Moyo is a committed community organiser and activist fighting for refugee and migrant rights. As a Campaign Lead and Community Organiser with Right to Remain, her work has involved leading campaigns in support of people seeking asylum in both Manchester and Liverpool. She empowers women at risk of detention and those reintegrating into the community after detention by creating safe spaces and support networks.

FiLiA stands in solidarity with refugee and migrant Women and echoes Maggy's call to transform the asylum-seeking process into one of safety, justice and humanity.

As we mark International Women’s Day under the theme of Acceleration Action, I cannot help but wonder: How do we accelerate change for the women who are most marginalised, most silenced and most forgotten?

The women seeking sanctuary are fighting battles every single day. Battles not just for their right to stay in this country, but for their dignity, their safety and their mental health.

For many, the trauma does not begin when they arrive here; it started long before. They fled war, persecution and gender-based violence. They came seeking protection. But instead of safety, they are met with a system designed to break them.

I know this because I have lived it.

In the UK, the asylum process is not just about legal applications. It is about control, humiliation and psychological torture for women.

One of the most terrifying experiences women face is the Home Office Reporting System. For years, I had to report in person every single week, knowing that, at any moment, I could be detained.

The impact on mental health is devastating. The days before reporting are filled with anxiety, not knowing if you will come back, not knowing if that would be your day to disappear into detention.

The fear is relentless. Reporting is framed as a welfare check, but we must call it what it truly is: state-sanctioned psychological warfare. These women already live under strict controls, in National Asylum Support Service accommodation, barely surviving on limited financial support. The Home Office knows exactly where they are. So why force them to report? To keep them in fear.

And when they arrive, they are not just checked in. They are body-searched. Their belongings taken. Their smartphones confiscated, a violation that strips them of both their privacy and their dignity. For many, these phones are their only connection to family, to support networks, to the outside world. This experience is not just humiliating, it is retraumatising.

And the worst part? The moment those doors close behind you.

It doesn’t just remind us of prisons, it reminds us of every other door that has locked behind us on this painful journey. The claustrophobic spaces where we have been trapped before. The places where we were abused, where we were powerless and where every moment we thought we might not survive. That feeling never leaves.

For those who do get detained, the psychological impact is devastating. These women are locked up, captured like criminals when their only ‘crime’ is seeking sanctuary. They relive the trauma of their past abuse, they develop severe depression, anxiety, PTSD and they are cut off from legal aid, mental health services and community support.

When they are released, they do not walk free. They carry the weight of their trauma with them, with almost no help to recover.

• Wellbeing services are overstretched.

• Counselling has long waiting lists.

• Legal aid is disappearing.

The UK’s immigration and asylum process inflicts permanent psychological damage, and we have to stand in to help our sisters pick up the pieces.

If we truly believe in women's rights, in mental health support, in justice, then we cannot stay silent about what is happening to women in the UK asylum system. Women seeking asylum are not just statistics. They are mothers, daughters, sisters and leaders!

Let's not just celebrate women's achievements, let's fight for the women who are still struggling. Let's accelerate action because they cannot wait any longer!

Accelerate Action

• Accelerate action in dismantling fear.

• Accelerate action in ending the cycle of detention.

• Accelerate action in ensuring no woman stands alone in the face of cruelty.

• Accelerate action in restoring dignity where the system seeks to strip it away.

• Accelerate action in building networks of care, of resistance, of real sanctuary.

• Accelerate action in transforming the hostile environment into one of safety, justice and humanity.

The time for action is now. These women cannot wait any longer.

Ask me how to Organise Support in Reporting Centres.

X @‌MeggsMoyo

Bluesky @meggsdavid.bsky.social

Join National Protest at Hassockfield Women's Detention 18 October 2025.