U.K. company criticized for asking migrants to wear wristbands

LONDON — A private company that required asylum-seekers to wear red wristbands says it has dropped the practice after facing heavy criticism.

A statement from Clearsprings Ready Homes said it has decided to end the practice Monday. The policy had come under fire from legislators who warned it singled migrants out for possible harassment and abuse.

READ MORE: Banksy takes swipe at France on migrant crisis

“We are talking about asylum seekers who are fleeing persecution and war in their home countries,” Labour MP Jo Stevens said. “They don’t want to be visible, that is the whole point.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We are talking about asylum seekers who are fleeing persecution and war in their home countries," Labour MP Jo Stevens said. "They don't want to be visible, that is the whole point."

“They’re trying to blend in to the community and there are plenty of other methods of having people show identification in order to gain access to Lynx House and in order to get their three meals a day, which is all they get.”

Clearspring holds a government contract to provide accommodation and meals to the asylum-seekers at a facility in Cardiff, Wales. Asylum-seekers are not allowed to work or to claim welfare benefits but they are given food and shelter.

READ MORE: 45 migrants, including 17 children, drown in migrant boat sinkings off Greece

The company said in a statement it will “look for an alternative way of managing the fair provision of support” now that the wristbands have been discontinued.

Some migrants have said wearing the wristbands has exposed them to abuse from local residents.

Questions about the policy follows news last week that some migrants elsewhere in Britain had had their doors painted red, making them targets for vandalism and racial abuse.