You do that through free public transport *and* adequate support. This includes friendly companions who can join you in travelling, inclusive social opportunities, access to good food and suitable clothing so people can go on adventures.

I want every asylum seeker to experience the freedom of using public transport, to feel confident working out getting from A to B, and the joy of moving freely and safely around their local area and beyond - when they might not have had that feeling before.

They can't use buses, they can't take taxis, they can't have jobs, they can't have houses, and in about six months there will be another uproar about how many refugees are in hospital due to preventable illness

It takes a lot to show up to appointments when medical staff treat you with disdain & disrespect, when receptionists are hostile & impatient, when interpreters are unavailable, unreliable or judgemental. It's exhausting. It negatively affects your mental health & puts you off seeking further care.

I thought I had ample experience of medical gatekeeping having experienced transition healthcare in the UK. Boy, had I only scratched the surface! There are so many people in the asylum system suffering with treatable medical conditions because navigating healthcare is just too hard.

If you miss appointments with a specialist and your referral is withdrawn, you then have to go through the whole rigamarole of getting re-referred. A taxi means not having to stress about missing a connection between buses or getting lost trying to find the hospital.

You're often banned from having guests visit you, which makes it hard to get support with making and changing medical appointments. If public transport is unreliable and you risk missing a medical appointment, it's challenging to ring up and explain, nevermind rearrange the appointment.

I know one guy at an asylum hotel who doesn't have a shared language with anyone else at the hotel. We were only able to converse because we both know some German.

Asylum hotels isolate you from people who could attend appointments with you & advocate for you.

Some asylum seekers might have little to no experience of travelling by e.g. train. It's hard navigating a city by public transport when you a) don't speak much English, b) know that hate is being stoked up against you and understandably fear other people, and c) are feeling unwell!

For asylum seekers with limited English and/or limited prior access to medical care, the process of changing GP is extremely challenging.

Besides which, you might have highly complex healthcare needs, likely including trauma, and so recounting your health issues to new doctors may be triggering.