Unacceptable Death of a person seeking asylum
Yesterday evening, Thursday 7th Feb 2008, Mohammed Ahmadi, a young Kurdish person seeking asylum, died at Gloucester Royal Hospital of heart failure.
Mohammed has been suffering from heart problems for a long time and was diagnosed as having a heart infection and valve malfunction on the 11th Jan 2008 after having been admitted to the cardiology unit.
The doctor kept him as an emergency case due to the severity of his condition. He was discharged a few days after because, according to Gloucester Royal Hospital the Home Office would not pay for his treatment for the reason that his status is still pending.
As a consequence of this, Mohammed's health seriously deteriorated. On Thursday 31st Jan 2008 he was re-admitted as an emergency but even then the needed treatment was not started until Wednesday 06 February 2008.
The treatment he was given should have been for the duration of 6 weeks and should have started on the 11th Jan, as the doctor who examined him on this date had wanted to.
The distressing news of Mohammed's death is an example of the terrible negligence of the authorities in this country, which leaves the lives of so many asylum seekers unprotected.
I have known Mohammed for nearly one year and I was with him today at the hospital a few hours before he sadly passed away.
Adil
Source for this Message: National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (NCADC)
Posted: 8 February 2008
UK majority favours 'pathway into citizenship' for illegal immigrants
"There is a humanitarian justification for this proposal. Many of those who stand to benefit, such as failed asylum-seekers, are destitute and homeless. They are afraid to come forward for help from the state because they would run the risk of being deported. Regularising their status would help them access accommodation and healthcare." Today's Leader in The Independent
Join the Largest Ever Call for Justice for Migrants
Strangers into Citizens March to Trafalgar Square Monday May 7th
Assemble 11:00am for the walk to Trafalgar Square
Westminster Cathedral Piazza
Victoria Street
London
SW1P
Rally in Trafalgar Square 12:30-1:30pm
Further info : http://www.strangersintocitizens.org.uk/
Contact : David Gardner on 020 7375 1658 / david.gardner@londoncitizens.org.uk
Two out of three (66%) British people believe undocumented migrants who have been in the UK for more than four years and who work and pay taxes should be allowed to stay and not be called illegal. Two-thirds (67%) also believe asylum seekers should be allowed to work.
The findings come in an ORB poll commissioned by Strangers into Citizens, a broad-based campaign by the country's largest alliance of civic institutions, the Citizen Organising Foundation.
66% of those polled believe that those who work and pay taxes should be allowed to stay. 67% said those who have been here for more than four years and who work should be allowed to stay. The same percentage believe asylum-seekers should be allowed to work.
The poll showed that only 21% think the Government is doing a good job in handling immigration. It also showed that the British people favour a crackdown on benefit cheats, but view asylum seekers and overstayers favourably as long as they work and pay taxes.
Strangers into Citizens is calling for a pathway into citizenship - via a two-year work permit - for migrants who have been in the UK for more than four years. The campaign has the backing of leading church figures, as well as the Mayor of London, and some businesses and trade unions.
"What this poll shows is that British people welcome immigrants who work and who are part of society. That is precisely the case with long-term undocumented migrants, who have put down roots in Britain because they have found work and opportunity here."
Austen Ivereigh, Strangers into Citizens Campaign Co-ordinator
Naturalisation programmes have been carried out by a number of European countries. Since 1981 there have been more than 20 "regularisations" in France, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain. The largest and most recent was Spain's in 2005, which regularised 700,000.
The Home Office estimates there are around 500,000 "illegal immigrants", a combination of visa overstayers and refused asylum seekers, and admits it does not have the resources to deport them (current deportations run at 25,000 a year).
Strangers into Citizens has been highlighting the plight of what it calls the "shadow people", who are condemned - often for years - to a limbo of fear and furtiveness. Most long-term overstayers work and pay taxes, using false IDs. Refused asylum seekers - many of whom are unwilling or unable to return - often face destitution because they are unable to work. A number of the stories have been collected on www.strangersintocitizens.org.uk.
The campaign is holding a National Day of Action and Celebration on 7 May, following a Mass at Westminster Cathedral celebrated by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and London's other Catholic bishops. Among the speakers at a rally in Trafalgar Square will be Baroness Shirley Williams, Jack Dromey, deputy general-secretary of the TGWU, and the Anglican Bishop of Southwark, Tom Butler.
"This poll is a ringing endorsement of what IAS has recommended to Government over many years, namely that those who work illegally should be regularised in the interests of the British taxpayer (as it could add £1 billion to the Exchequer each year) and in their own interests as it lends dignity to be able to work.
Many asylum seekers and others come from a culture where there are no free handouts and they are used to working to provide for themselves and their families - it is a form of rehabilitation having escaped from appalling circumstances. All asylum seekers should be allowed to fend for themselves by working if possible - to refuse to let them do so is vindictive and leads to tensions in our society. We are delighted that two-thirds of the British public agree with IAS. The Government should wake up and realise that there is more support for social inclusion than for social exclusion."
Keith Best, chief executive of the Immigration Advisory Service
The poll results have also been welcomed by institutes which have argued for regularisation. The Institute for Public Policy Research last year published a report arguing the case for the UK to regularise.
"Politicians of all parties have always argued that negative public opinion stops them from regularising the status of long-term irregular migrants. The Strangers into Citizens Poll challenges this belief, and shows that the British public will accept an amnesty - as long as migrants pay taxes. Its now high time Government considers regularisation as the only economically viable policy option."
Jill Rutter, Senior Research Fellow on the Migration team at IPPR
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants has also produced a policy paper arguing for regularisation.
"This poll makes clear that just talking tough will not be enough to fob off the UK public on immigration. They want the political parties to get real and respond in a way that is workable and fair to migrants who are living as members of our society. We hope this will persuade politicians from across the spectrum to show leadership and at least re-open the debate on regularisation."
Habib Rahman, JCWI's chief executive
"This poll shows that the government's position of not allowing asylum seekers to work is clearly unpopular with the public. Refugee Action believe that the government should grant a legal status with the right to work to refused asylum seekers who cannot return home. There is also no evidence that allowing permission to work will encourage abusive applications as the government seems to think."
Sandy Buchan, CEO, Refugee Action
Regularisation
1. There are estimated to be 4.5 million irregular migrants living and working in European Union member states - about one per cent of the population. Most have overstayed their visas or fallen through the cracks of the asylum system, although some have entered illicitly. The growing trend of irregular migration has been driven by poverty, political instability and lack of opportunity in poor countries, combined with low birth-rates and demand for labour in the EU.
2. Since 1981 more than 20 regularisation programmes in France, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and the UK have provided nearly 4m irregular migrants with either temporary or permanent living and working permits. Some have been exceptional humanitarian programmes, such as Britain's "family amnesty" in 2003 which benefited 50,000 asylum seekers with children. Large-scale regularisations, such as Spain's in 2005 (which benefited 700,000 people) have a short application window and a strict set of criteria. Strangers into Citizens is proposing an "earned regularisation" programme of the sort which offer provisional work permits to migrants who become permanent by having stable employment, passing language tests, etc.
3. Regularisations aim to reduce the size of the undocumented population and the underground economy, to increase tax and social security contributions, to improve the human rights and dignity of migrants, to strengthen the rule of law and national security, and to fulfill labour market needs. Regularisations have curbed employer exploitation while improving the upward mobility and social integration of migrants.
4. Critics of regularisation object that it "rewards" law-breaking and encourage further irregular migration. But migration experts assert that economic factors, not regularisation, are the primary pull factors in illegal immigration, and point to the equal increase in numbers of illegal immigrants in countries which have not had large-scale regularisations.
There are estimated to be 4.5 million irregular migrants living and working in European Union member states - about one per cent of the population. Most have overstayed their visas or fallen through the cracks of the asylum system.
Poll details
* Results are based on a telephone survey conducted among a nationally representative sample of 1,004 British adults aged 18
* Interviews conducted 21st - 23rd April 2007
* Data are weighted to reflect the age, gender and geographic profile of each country.
* Full results and a PowerPoint analysis are available at www.opinion.co.uk/newsroom
* ORB are members of the British Polling Council and abide by their Code of Conduct
Illegal migrants' right to work wins support of public in poll
A campaign for an estimated 500,000 illegal workers in Britain to be given the official right to earn a living would have popular support, according to findings in an opinion poll.
By Colin Brown The Independent 25th April 2007
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2483865.ece
A sensible proposal to break this vicious circle
There is a humanitarian justification for this proposal. Many of those who stand to benefit, such as failed asylum-seekers, are destitute and homeless. They are afraid to come forward for help from the state because they would run the risk of being deported. Regularising their status would help them access accommodation and healthcare.
Leader: The Independent 25th April 2007
http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2483828.ece
Contact Strangers into Citizens
Austen Iverleigh, Campaign Co-ordinator
Email : austen.ivereigh@cof.org.uk
Mobile : 07905 224860
Citizen Organising Foundation
112 Cavell Street
London E1 2JA
Tel. 020 7375 1658
Posted: 25 April 2007
"Down and out in London - The road to destitution for rejected asylum seekers"
Refused asylum-seekers eat out of bins and sleep in parks, public toilets and phone-boxes because of government policy
New reports show government policy forcing refused asylum-seekers into abject poverty
The government's policy on refused asylum-seekers does not work and is forcing thousands into abject poverty, said Amnesty International UK and Refugee Action today Tuesday 7th November 2006, as the organisations published a new report "Down and out in London - The road to destitution for rejected asylum seekers" on conditions faced by those refused asylum and left in limbo in the UK.
The findings, contained in an Amnesty International report on London and a Refugee Action report on another nine cities, reveals the suffering caused by an inhumane and ineffective government policy that cuts off support for refused asylum-seekers. The policy, said the two organisations, is leading to a new wave of widespread destitution.
The reports note that the government is deliberately using destitution in an attempt to drive refused asylum-seekers out of the country. But the research found that, far from encouraging asylum-seekers to return to their countries of origin, destitution made return less likely. The two organisations believe it is vital that the government maintain contact with refused asylum-seekers and that financial support should continue until their cases can be resolved.
Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said: "The government's policy on refused asylum-seekers is a failure on both a practical level and a humanitarian level - forcing people into complete destitution as an attempt to drive them out of the country is backfiring badly and vulnerable people are suffering.
"Refused asylum-seekers in our towns and cities are being reduced to penniless poverty - forced to sleep in parks, public toilets and phone-boxes, to go without vital medicines even after suffering torture, and to relying on the charity of friends or drop-in shelters to survive.
Refugee Action's Chief Executive Sandy Buchan said: "There exists in Britain a new and growing excluded class of people who have no contact with the authorities, no access to work or mainstream support services, and little prospect of their situation being resolved.
"As a policy for dealing with refused asylum-seekers, destitution simply is not working. Driving people onto the streets makes return even less likely. This policy is causing enormous suffering to vulnerable people and does nothing to enhance public confidence in the system."
While shelter and food vouchers are available to those who satisfy criteria for so-called "hard case" support (1) - one of the conditions for this is that refused asylum-seekers must enter into agreements to return "voluntarily", even if their country of origin may not be safe. Many refused asylum-seekers are fearful of such agreements, not least as they are from countries - such as Iraq or Somalia - torn apart by conflict or where human rights abuses are rife. Moreover, in practice it is extremely difficult to forcibly remove people to countries where there are serious safety concerns, difficulties in obtaining travel documents or where there is no functioning airport.
In the first in-depth survey of destitution among this asylum group, Amnesty International and Refugee Action interviewed scores of destitute people, but with large numbers of refused asylum-seekers presently in the UK for various reasons, there are concerns that thousands may be living lives of extreme hardship. Some people who spoke to Amnesty International and Refugee Action have been destitute for over five years.
Many of those interviewed spoke of their "desperation" and the absolute "hopelessness" of their situation. One case highlighted in the reports is that of a 49-year-old Iraqi Kurdish man living in a caravan provided by a church. The caravan has no sanitary facilities. The man, a refused asylum-seeker whose support was cut off in October 2005, survives on food provided by the same church.
The research also interviewed Abdullah, a 26-year-old man who fled Darfur, Western Sudan, where ethnic cleansing by Arab militia forces has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people. He was denied asylum by the Home Office who insisted that he could safely return to Khartoum, against the recommendations of the UN, and despite evidence of returnees being tortured and detained by security services there. To survive, Abdullah has relied on help from churches and friends, and has endured periods of rough sleeping.
Currently destitute refused asylum-seekers are only able to access hospital medical care for emergency treatment or any treatment they were receiving during their asylum process, and they are legally unable to work. Under the present system financial support and accommodation for asylum-seekers is currently cut off 21 days after a final claim for asylum has been refused. The only statutory support then available - so-called "hard case" support - makes vouchers and hostel accommodation available only to those who satisfy certain criteria - and even when it is forthcoming, support is often months late.
Instead, Refugee Action and Amnesty International stressed that the government should maintain contact with refused asylum-seekers and that financial support and accommodation should continue until their case is resolved. For those who cannot be removed within six months, temporary, renewable "leave to remain" should be granted so that they can contribute to society and the economy. In some cases - where there is no realistic prospect of removal from the outset - this should be done earlier. The agencies are also urging the government to explore practical solutions to tackle the backlog of destitute refused asylum seekers, estimated at up to 283,500.
Sandy Buchan added: "We are not opposed to the return of fairly refused asylum-seekers to safe countries by safe routes. But if a person cannot be removed, a humane solution must be found that can allow people to live with some sense of dignity and purpose."
Kate Allen added: "We need a more enlightened policy that would see refused asylum-seekers who cannot be returned home rescued from their current impoverished limbo and allowed to stay and contribute to British society."
Refugee Action and Amnesty International are calling for the government to:
* Ensure that refused asylum-seekers remain on the same financial support and accommodation as during the asylum process until their situation is resolved
* Grant temporary, renewable permission to stay in the country that allows refused asylum-seekers, who cannot safely be returned to their countries of origin within six months, to stay in the UK, to work and to access medical care
* End the long-term limbo of refused asylum-seekers still in the UK after several years, by granting them permission to stay in the country, as well as the right to work, to claim benefits and access medical care
* Ensure that the government's asylum case-workers build in anti-destitution support measures as part of the so-called "New Asylum Model" where cases are managed from beginning to end
ENDS
(1) Financial support and accommodation for asylum-seekers is cut off 21 days after a final claim for asylum has been refused. Section 4 "hard case" support makes vouchers and hostel accommodation available to those who meet one or more specific criteria. These include signing up for the government's Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration Programme (VAARP), having a serious medical reason preventing immediate departure from the UK, or there being no voluntary travel route back to their country. At the end of June 2006, 6,145 applicants were in receipt of Section 4 support. The remainder of the refused asylum-seeking population is destitute. The National Audit Office recently estimated the backlog of refused asylum-seekers at between 155,000 and 283,500.
Amnesty International UK media information:
Neil Durkin: 020 7033 1547, neil.durkin@amnesty.org.uk
Sarah Green: 020 7033 1549, sarah.green@amnesty.org.uk
Refugee Action media information:
Julia Ravenscroft: 0161 233 1956, juliar@refugee-action.org.uk
Stephen Rylance: 020 7654 7707, stephenr@refugee-action.org.uk
End of Bulletin:
Source for this Message:
Amnesty International UK and Refugee Action
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