Black Networking Group » refugee

Child asylum-seekers targeted in Home Office budget cuts

BNG — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 21:20:57 +0000

By Robert Verkaik, Home Affiars Editor, The Independent on Sunday Monday, 11 October 2010

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/child-asylumseekers-targeted-in-home-office-budget-cuts-2103184.html

Thousands of child asylum-seekers are to be removed from Britain under savage budget cuts being drawn up by the Home Office ahead of this week’s comprehensive spending review.

A briefing document sent to ministers sets out detailed proposals to remove child refugees before they reach 17 years old, and recommends bearing down on benefits given to asylum seekers. The UK Borders Agency (UKBA) plans to cut a third of its staff by 2014, prompting fears of security risks at British ports and airports Under the proposals, the UKBA says it would be able to reduce its annual £2.45bn budget by £346m.

Setting out a number of options for cutting costs, the document reads: “We need to resolve underlying trend on asylum support … On asylum support this will involve, for example, continuing recent tightening of entitlement to support, removing minors before they reach the age of 17 …”

But the Home Office is also considering saving money by offering a partial amnesty to asylum-seekers whose claims have been delayed by processing backlogs. The paper recommends “continuing to consider grants [of the right to stay in the UK] where agency delays mean even failed asylum-seekers are still in-country after several years”.

There are further plans to end the right of appeal to those applying for migration visas outside the UK, to reduce costs. But of greatest concern will be a policy of mass removal of unaccompanied children before they reach 17 and a half, the age when they are deemed to be adult asylum-seekers. Under current rules unaccompanied child asylum-seekers are usually granted leave to remain in the UK until they can make a fresh asylum application as an adult.

There are more than 4,200 unaccompanied child asylum-seekers in Britain, with most being supported in local authority social services homes. Emma Ginn, of the charity Medical Justice, said last night: “Many unaccompanied children are orphans. Many have escaped various forms of slavery, war and being made into child soldiers. To deport vulnerable unaccompanied children is despicable. To do it to save money is indecent … How we treat asylum-seeking children is already uncivilised, but to sink this low would cost our international reputation dearly.”

The document says: “In total these [cuts and policies] could deliver up to £346m of annualised cash savings by 2014/15 which would allow a reduction in taxpayer funding of £53m. It would mean around 3,500 more staff cuts (ie more than 7,000 from 2010/11 to 2014/15 or almost a third of our current complement).

This would imply a virtual doubling of caseworker productivity as a result of management culture and technology enabled redesign. It would mean a large percentage of travellers passing through automated gates at the border and more risk-based controls based on improved intelligence and scanning capability.”

But the officials warn: “These changes obviously involve significant level of management, project and implementation risk. … If bigger budget reductions are needed or to be able to deal with some of the funding and cost pressures from manifesto commitments we will need to go further.” Paul O’Connor, the Home Office group secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), said that cutting staff would lead to security risks from international criminal smuggling gangs and child and sex traffickers. He said: “There should be no compulsory redundancies. In terms of frontline security our members are the first port of call to maintain proper border controls. If they decide to cut one in three this country will be less safe and lead to a massive exploitation of young people.” He warned that job losses would also have an effect on the backlog of asylum cases built up over the last few years. “We expect services to be diminished because there will be fewer people to deal with the backlog, which will get worse … All this experience and skill built up over the years must not be jettisoned on the altar of the cuts.”

One of the proposals outlined in the document has already been implemented. The £50m Immigration Impact Fund, which gives aid to local authorities to help support asylum-seekers living in their region, was quietly dropped over the summer. And it was reported earlier this year that the Home Office was preparing to set up a £4m “reintegration centre” in Afghanistan so that failed Afghan child asylum-seekers can be returned home. An organisation is being sought to run the centre in the capital, Kabul, which would aim to help their resettlement. The aim is to assist 12 boys a month, aged 16 and 17, and 120 adults.

A spokeswoman for the UKBA said no decisions would be taken until the Government had completed its comprehensive spending review. She said no budget figures or policies had been confirmed.

The asylum seekers who survive on £10 a week

BNG — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 22:22:31 +0000

They can’t work, they can’t claim benefits, they have nowhere to live. And their only means of survival is one £10 food voucher a week. Four failed asylum seekers tell their desperate stories.

Since this era of financial austerity began, newspapers and magazines have hurried to publish advice on how to get by on a straitened budget. So here is one to beat all others. Today we offer a guide to surviving on under £10 a week. Without a roof over your head! Without a bed to lie on! With no support from family or friends!

It’s quite possible, and here’s how. These helpful tips come from four failed asylum seekers in Birmingham, who remain in this country, preparing to appeal the Home Office decision, sleeping meanwhile in hedges, doorways, old garages and staircases.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/16/asylum-seekers-survive-on-streets?CMP=twt_gu

Devon & Cornwall Refugee Support

BNG — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 23:25:08 +0000

Why We Need Your Help

Although the Asylum Support Agency provides for housing and living expenses for asylum seekers whilst their claims are active, this support is erroneously withdrawn on frequent occasions. DCRS advocates for the reinstatement of this support, but in the meantime we help with subsistence through these temporary periods of destitution. We also provide food for some who have reached the end of their asylum claim and are no longer entitled to ASA support, are not allowed to work and have no means to support themselves. This includes people whose lives would certainly be endangered on return to their home country, but do not qualify for leave to remain in the UK.

Support Us Please!

Your donation of Money, Food or Clothing is gratefully received and much needed. Please make cheques payable to The Treasurer at ‘Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support Council’ (send with a completed gift aid form.)
If you are interested in being more involved with the work of DCRS, you may like to take on voluntary work for us. DCRS has approximately 40 volunteers in a variety of exciting, useful and challenging work. Places are limited, but if you are interested please send a CV and covering letter to THIS ADDRESS, marking your envelope ‘Volunteer Coordinator.

http://dcrsc1.cfsites.org/

EU Parliament Criticizes Roma Expulsion by France

BNG — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 21:55:50 +0000

The European Parliament has criticized the move by the French government to expel its Roma migrants.

Since August, France has deported about 1,000 ethnic Roma to Romania and Bulgaria. In a resolution passed Thursday, the European Union called for France to bring it to a stop.

European Parliament member for London Jean Lambert says France’s Roma policy is discriminatory.

“It is not saying you have committed a crime and therefore you as an individual should be expelled from this country,” Lampert. “It really is sort of state discrimination of a group, which is already one of the most disadvantaged in the European Union.”

The resolution was passed with 337 votes; 245 voted against.

Lampert says it is unusual for the European Parliament to make such an open criticism of a member state, but she says the current situation demanded it.

“Today a majority of the members of the European Union took the position that this was so bad that, yes, they were going to name member states responsible,” said Lampert.

The resolution was also critical of the European Commission. It said the Commission, as guardian of the EU treaty, should have made a strong, quick response when the expulsions first started.

Discrimination against national or ethnic groups is forbidden under EU law. The French government says it is not stigmatizing Roma or breaking EU law. It says the deportation is a question of public safety. Roma were recently involved in a few public order incidents, including a riot in southeastern France.

Christian Schweiger from Britain’s Durham University says discrimination is an ongoing problem in Europe.

“This has been an ongoing issue,” said Schweiger. “Racial division, religious division has been an issue and countries very often do not abide by these rules.”

The resolution passed by the European Parliament also criticized the treatment of Roma by other member states. This week, Italian authorities dismantled illegal Roma camps around Milan and Rome.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=roma+expulsion+from+france&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a

Black Mental Health UK

BNG — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:59:19 +0000

About us

Black Mental Health UK (BMH UK) was established in 2006 to raise awareness and address the stigma associated with mental illness.

The aim of our work is to see a reduction in the inequalities in the treatment and care of people from African Caribbean communities who use mental health services, and to inform these communities on how to influence the strategic development, policy design and implementation of services.

BMH UK’s focus is on empowering African Caribbean communities to improve the Black service user experience and reduce the over representation of Black people at the coercive end of psychiatric care.

Please note
The Black Mental Health UK does not provide help, treatment, counselling, care service or advice for those in crisis. We are not able to discuss individual cases.

http://www.blackmentalhealth.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=56

The scandal of ‘criminalising’ mental health patients

BNG — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:37:18 +0000

Community and faith groups condemn the rapid rise in prisoner suicide rates

Tuesday 2 January 2008

Human rights group Black Mental Health UK have added their voice to the growing numbers of community and faith organisation who have condemned the rapid rise in the numbers of suicides of people in prison over the last 12 months.

Government statistics indicate that black prisoners are currently in the system at a rate that is five times higher than that of white prisoners; this has led to fears that these latest stats will hit the black community hardest.

‘Clearly there are concerns about this and we need to have an ethnic breakdown of exactly who has died in prison in the last 12 months in order to establish current trends.

One suicide is one to many and we have seen figures on the over representation of ethnic minorities within prison settings but not been given any answers as to why this is not being addressed’ Lord Herman Ouseley, former head of the Chairman of the Commission For Racial Equality said.

The Ministry of Justice announcement has revealed that 93 people lost their lives last year and comes in tandem with a statement from The HLPR (Howard League for Penal Reform) which shows that 45 percent of those who died were either being held on remand, unsentenced or awaiting sentence after conviction.

‘It is disturbing to see that half of the people who have lost their lives in these institutions were not actually convicted of any crime but rather were on remand or awaiting sentencing,’ Rev Paul Grey, New Testament Church of God, Nuneatun branch said.

Penal reformers blamed overcrowding for the increase in deaths. HM Inspectorate of Prisons thematic review of mental health published last October showed staffing levels in prison mental health care are just one-third of what is needed with the majority of prisoners with mental health problems getting inadequate care and are being released with the same, or worse, problems.

‘It is not conducive to anyone’s mental well being to be behind bars, human potential was never meant to be locked away it was meant to released. The current models that are being used are flawed, if they weren’t’ then people staying in the system would not be dying,’ Rev Paul Grey, New Testament Church of God, Nuneatun said.

BMH UK have welcomed prisons minister Maria Eagle call for an inquiry into the reasons behind the increase, to look into measures to improve security for those suffering from mental health problems. ‘An inquiry is welcomed and urgently needed, what we must ensure is that there is appropriate and equal representation of all stakeholders, especially from communities group most adversely effected by this.

It is horrifying to think that there has been at least one death every week in 2007 in prison settings. We need an ethnic breakdown of these figures to gauge the extent of the problem so we can establish effective strategies to ensure that these figures come down.’ Matilda MacAttram director of Black Mental Health UK said.

For interviews please call M: 07852 182 750

Notes to the editor

* Black Mental Health UK is a human rights campaigns group established to address the over representation of African Caribbean’s within secure psychiatric care and raise awareness to address the stigma associated with mental health.

* African Caribbean’s are 44% more likely to be sectioned, 29% more likely to be forcibly restrained, 50% more likely to be placed in seclusion and make up 30% of in patients on medium secure psychiatric wards despite having similar rates of mental illness as British white people.

* African Caribbean’s make up 14% of the prison population but are less than 3% of the national population.

The Forum for Preventing Deaths in Custody report was published in September 2007

http://www.politics.co.uk/press-releases/bmhuk-community-and-faith-groups-condemn-rapid-rise-in-prisoner-suicide-rates-$483681.htm

The Destitution Trap

BNG — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:32:56 +0000

http://www.refugee-action.org.uk/campaigns/destitution/april09_mp_action.aspx

Please take action now to end destitution of refused asylum seekers.

An atrocity by stealth

BNG — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:28:03 +0000

Through my eyes

BNG — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 12:49:13 +0000

Alongside From War to Windrush, the Imperial War Museum is also launching a new online exhibition as part of the Their Past Your Future programme entitled Through My Eyes: Stories of Conflict, Belonging and Identity. The exhibition will illustrate the ways in which various twentieth century conflicts have made people rethink or reaffirm their own sense of identity and belonging. The online exhibition features a wide variety of personal stories from a range of different countries. Some explore the influence of the Empire and Commonwealth on personal choices to fight and serve, whilst other stories are from men, women and children forced to leave their own war-torn country and settle here in the UK.

The exhibition will be launched in two phases. The first, which goes live in June, includes stories from Windrush passengers, First World War volunteers, Kindertransport children, Basque evacuees, displaced persons from the Second World War, people affected by the Indian Partition and also those affected by the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya. The second phase will be launched in the autumn and will include the experiences of Vietnamese boat people, refugees from Bosnia, refugees from Kosovo and survivors of the Rwandan genocide.

http://www.throughmyeyes.org.uk/?PHPSESSID=f5c4b3360f9d3729d5f6ba70e72a1256

Moving Here

BNG — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 10:58:11 +0000

Moving Here explores, records and illustrates why people came to England over the last 200 years and what their experiences were and continue to be. It offers free access, for personal and educational use, to an online catalogue of versions of original material related to migration history from local, regional and national archives, libraries and museums.

Explore photos, recordings and documents, research your family history and even add the story of how you came to England.

http://www.movinghere.org.uk/