Background Undocumented migrants in the UK are at high risk of food insecurity and destitution as a consequence of the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) rule which prevents access to most mainstream social security benefits, public housing and homelessness assistance, alongside severe restrictions on their right to work. There is emerging evidence to suggest that charitable food aid is inadequate in catering to the food needs of undocumented migrants and supporting wellbeing, despite this form of provision becoming increasingly dominant in a changing welfare landscape. This paper critically explores the lived experience and mental health impacts of food insecurity and food aid use among undocumented migrants in the UK.

Methods We draw on interviews conducted as part of a broader longitudinal mixed methods study on food insecurity and mental health in the North and South of England. Participants (n=62) were interviewed three times between January 2023 and June 2024. While a minority of the sample were undocumented migrants, many (primarily white British) participants spoke unprompted about ‘refugees and asylum seekers’ using food charities; we explore these broader, largely stigmatising, narratives alongside the articulated lived experiences of asylum seekers. The data was analysed thematically, informed by a theoretical framework of racialised governance.

Results Food insecurity was unavoidable for undocumented migrants subject to No Recourse to Public Funds and experiences of food insecurity had severe impacts on mental health, causing anxiety and, at times, depression. Over time, a context of food insecurity, stress and anxiety became the norm as asylum seekers were left in ‘limbo’ about their right to remain in the UK. Local public and charitable services did little to mitigate food insecurity and food charities, in particular, were in certain contexts sites of hostility and racialised stigma from other service users, while access to and experiences of both physical and mental health services was largely negative. Our analysis indicates that the racialisation of food insecurity among undocumented migrants was fed by a political context of ‘racialised governance’ which gained cultural traction through media narratives of asylum seekers and which played out in everyday interactions around food/in food charities.

Conclusion Developing the literature on food insecurity among undocumented migrants through new empirical and theoretical insights, we show how food charities continue to be racialised spaces and that access to health services is limited and perceived to be highly racialised.