Food aid as a source of support and visibility for migrants with no recourse to public funds (NRPF)

In the UK, migrants with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) conditions are denied full access to social security benefits and the labour market, rendering them ‘invisible’ and dependent on third sector organisations, like foodbanks. This qualitative study explored how third sector organisations used food aid to challenge the invisibilising of those with NRPF. In 2022, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were carried out with 17 organisations supporting migrant households across the UK; and with 13 London-based migrants with experience of NRPF status. Organisations such as foodbanks have the resources to intervene in the uncertainty and liminality that NRPF confers by providing material and temporal structure. However, providing crucial support to migrants inadvertently perpetuates the shadow welfare regime that has grown around the ever-expanding gaps in state provision. This paper highlights some of the ways that food aid organisations mitigate the harms of immigration regimes against the problematic backdrop of uncertainty and welfare failure.