Hand-to-mouth existence of Manchester’s destitute

asylum seekers

Independent Asylum Commission: Asylum Support and Destitution

12 October 2007

ASYLUM SEEKERS and refugees will tell an independent hearing how they have been forced into a desperate hand-to-mouth existence on the streets of Manchester after their claims were turned down.

A coalition of local agencies headed by Refugee Action has identified asylum seekers and refugees from global trouble spots including Darfur, Ethiopia and Somalia, who will tell the Independent Asylum Commission how they came to be destitute, why they fear returning to their country and how they have survived with no support and no right to work.

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Voluntary returns programmes

A refugee or asylum seeker may decide to leave the UK and return to their country of origin. A host of reasons and factors may influence the decision to return but care needs to be taken before any decision is made to return. If a person returns to the country of origin, then s/he may lose permission to stay and a right of entry to the UK.

A person can choose to make their own arrangements to leave the UK independently. But there are also assisted return programmes which offer help to leave the UK and assistance back in the country of return. Each programme has its own rules about who is eligible for help and the type of assistance it provides.

The assisted voluntary return programmes described are not run by the Refugee Council.

NASS Policy has advised that applications for work permission under the EU Directive must be made to

the IND Asylum Casework Directorate. Only the main asylum applicant can request permission to work

which will be considered by an asylum caseworker. The Directive (and the Immigration Rules) state that

permission to work can be denied if the delay in dealing with the asylum claim can be attributed to the

claimant, only the asylum caseworker can determine this. There is no one IND department dealing with

requests for permission to work. Those wishing to seek permission should write to IND Asylum Casework

Directorate quoting their HO reference number.

You can apply for permission to work if:

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THE CLANNEBOR PROJECT BACKGROUND
The Clannebor Project (“Clann” is Gaelic for family; “Ebor” is Latin for York), is a pilot project currently being run by the Border and Immigration Agency based at Leeds Waterside.
The project has been designed to encourage families who are appeal rights exhausted (ARE), and who have no basis to remain in the UK, to depart voluntarily. It actively promotes IOM and voluntary departure at every point in the process.
A number of families have been selected for the pilot, and it includes a wide cross-section of nationalities. (more…)

The European Commission has unveiled a Blue Card for skilled immigrants, its version of the US Green Card.

If accepted by member nations, the card would allow suitably qualified people and their families to live and work within the EU.

The EU says it needs 20 million skilled immigrants over the next 20 years, and is very short of expertise in engineering and computer technology.

Correspondents say another aim of the proposal is to deter the best brains from emigrating to the US and Canada to find work.

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The Court of Appeal gave judgment this morning in R (AR) (Afghanistan) -v- SSHD dismissing the Home Office appeal against the decision of Collins J in the High Court in November 2005. The Court of Appeal confirmed the High Court decision and clarified the legal position on what should count as a fresh application for asylum.

If a “failed asylum-seeker” presents new evidence to the Home Office which would lead to a reasonable prospect of succeeding in an appeal before an immigration judge, the Home Office must “record a fresh claim for asylum”.

A “fresh claim” means that the applicant can receive welfare support while it is being dealt with, and also may appeal to an immigration judge if the Home Secretary goes on to refuse the fresh claim after fully considering it.

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18 October 2007

New research by the Refugee Council and the University of Birmingham contains powerful evidence of refugees’ own experiences and understanding of integration.

Carried out in the London Borough of Haringey and Dudley in the West Midlands, the research is an important contribution to the debate about integration and settlement into Britain.

While the report shows that there are some successes, it is widely accepted that integration in many areas is poor, and various government initiatives are in place to try to address this. However, the research shows that Home Office policies on asylum, including restrictions on the right to work, benefits below the poverty line and lack of help with settling into the UK until people have been granted leave to stay hinders integration and creates more divided communities.

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The Immigration Minister, Liam Byrne, pledged a ‘new balance in migration policy’ during a speech to public servants in Essex today.

Speaking to an audience drawn from key local representatives in education, business and local Government, the Minister set out a 12-month programme of sweeping changes to Britain’s immigration systems and strategy. (more…)

Refugee Council response to Simplifying Immigration Law: an initial consultation [August 2007]

In June 2007 the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) issued a consultation document setting out how it plans to proceed with its intention to rationalise immigration legislation. BIA plans to have a further more detailed Consultation at the end of 2007 and to legislate in the autumn of 2008.

Although consolidation of the existing legislation is extremely welcome, and long overdue, it is clear that the government’s intention is to go much further into a process of simplification that seems to be concerned more with speed and ease of processing immigration cases rather than ensuring the protection of refugee and human rights. It is not clear at this stage what the future overall framework will look like and the Refugee Council is urgently seeking more detail prior to the next stage of Consultation. The current concerns are outlined in this response.

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The number of people applying for asylum in the UK fell by over 2,000 in 2006 to its lowest level since 1993, according to statistics published by the Home Office today.

The figures show that 23,610 applications, excluding dependants, were lodged last year, representing an eight per cent fall in applications when compared with 2005.

While asylum applications continue to fall, the removal of those with no right to be in the UK reached record levels. In 2006, 63,865 people were removed from the UK, an increase of ten per cent on 2005 levels. The number of failed asylum seekers, excluding dependants, removed last year increased by 19 per cent. (more…)