HOME OFFICE private contractors are forcing asylum-seekers to wear neon wristbands or risk being denied food, it was reported yesterday.

Migrants newly arrived in Cardiff and living in the premises of Clearsprings Ready Homes have complained about the brightly coloured identifiers which exposed them to xenophobic abuse.

Former resident Eric Ngalle, who was granted refugee status last November, described his time there as “one of the most horrible experiences in my life.”

In an interview with the Guardian, Mr Ngalle said: “If we refused to wear the wristbands we were told we would be reported to the Home Office.

“I made a complaint about the wristbands to Clearsprings, but nothing was done.

“We had to walk from accommodation about 10 minutes away to Lynx House to get food and sometimes when we were walking down the street with our wristbands showing.”

He added that people sometimes shouted at him after noticing the wristband: “Go back to your country.”

The report comes less than a week after a housing provider in Middlesbrough was forced to repaint the front doors of its asylum-seeking residents after being accused of marking them out with the colour red.

A spokesman for anti-racism campaign Hope Not Hate told the Star: “Coming off the back of the ‘red door’ debacle in Middlesbrough, the mind boggles at the insensitivity of these Home Office contractors.

“Refusing people access to food is just plain wrong and the means of identification used both clumsy and demeaning.

“Surely it’s not too hard to come up with a better solution than this?”