Our guest the asylum seeker

Raza was left destitute after he was refused asylum. But then Hannah Atkins came to his rescue – by offering him her spare room

The journey to the warmth and safety of this end-of-terrace house in Manchester has been a very difficult one for Raza, a Kurd from a small village in Iran. He fled in 2007, arriving in northern England with no money and speaking no English. After his case for asylum was refused, he lost entitlement to any support and then spent a bitter winter sleeping in a park and seeking shelter in a church.
Last week, we wrote about four asylum seekers who were living in barely imaginable destitution after their cases were refused. Many readers expressed their horror and wondered how to help. There are charities that work with destitute asylum seekers, though, of course, their funds are minimal, and there are not enough to help all the people who are rejected by Britain’s asylum system. Read more

Call for detention reform – letter to the government 23 June ’10

Barristers comment on RMJ situation

We are barristers from different chambers across the UK. We call on the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the money owed by the Legal Services Commission to Refugee and Migrant Justice is paid immediately so that RMJ is able to continue to provide legal advice and representation to immigrants and asylum seekers. We support the early day motion (EDM 191) tabled by Caroline Lucas MP.

RMJ is a major charity and the UK’s biggest provider of specialist legal services to immigrants and asylum seekers. It now faces closure, because bureaucratic changes in the legal aid payments system have resulted in very long delays in paying it for work that it has done. Read more

Send in letters about RMJ in support of fair legal representation

I am sure many of you have heard that Refugee and Migrant Justice have gone into administration as a result of the new legal aid payment system.

As co-ordinators of End Child Detention Now, we think that whatever the outcome of the current review into child detention, it will mean very little to asylum seeking children and their families if they are denied access to legal representation and a fair outcome to their asylum application.  We are working to publicise as widely as possible, the impact the collapse of RMJ will have on asylum seekers, refugees and migrants across the country.

We have contacted charities working with refugees and asylum seekers and other law organisations to ask for quotes we can use in this work but it would be great if any members of this group – who have been represented by RMJ, have a friend or family member who has been represented by RMJ or who has worked for the organisation could give us a quote they would be happy for us to use in our publicity (we can do this anonymously if you would like, please just let us know).

If you would be happy to give a quote telling us very briefly how RMJ helped you and what difference did they make to your case

With many many thanks,
Mary
End Child Detention Now

email: ma_mccormack@yahoo.co.uk
If you wish to discuss this further please telephone Kathleen Commons on 0787 216 1271.

RMJ debate in the House, and RMJ response – 17 June 2010

Legal Aid Payments

11.33 am

Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD) ( Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make a statement on the consequences of the timing of legal aid payments to the charity Refugee and Migrant Justice.

The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Kenneth Clarke): Refugee and Migrant Justice entered into administration earlier this week. It wrote to me a month ago warning me of the risk, and has since made requests for substantial assistance from public funds. The organisation was one of many that provide legal advice and representation to individuals on asylum and immigration matters funded by legal aid. The Legal Services Commission is confident that there is widespread provision of legal advice in this area and that overall capacity will not be affected by the closure of Refugee and Migrant Justice. More than 250 offices nationally are currently providing this type of service. Read more

Yarl’s Wood immigration centre treated children in a shameful way

It’s clearer than ever that this centre must be closed, says Malcolm Stevens.

A shameful account of institutional incompetence is delivered by a report published this week about Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre. The treatment of children detained there had already caused the Children’s Commissioner and the Chief Inspector of Prisons to express concern, and now it’s clearer than ever that this centre must be closed. Read more

Alternatives to Child Detention

Hansard 17 Jun 2010 : Column 211WH
Westminster Hall

[Mr Mike Weir in the Chair]

Alternatives to Child Detention
Motion made, and Question proposed, That the sitting be now adjourned.-(Mr Goodwill.)

2.30 pm

The Minister for Immigration (Damian Green): I am delighted to have the opportunity today to draw attention to the issue of children in immigration detention. The UK’s policy of detaining children with families in order to effect their removal from the UK is an area of long-standing concern for many organisations that take an interest in immigration and asylum, and for organisations that work on behalf of children. Those concerns are significant, and the Government have, very early on, set out their commitment to ending the detention of children for immigration purposes. We want to replace the current system with something that ensures that families with no right to be in this country return in a more dignified manner. Read more

Government urged to reform ‘shameful’ system said to have left up to 20,000 destitute

Thousands of failed asylum seekers rely on charities for food, says Red Cross

Up to 20,000 failed asylum seekers are living in the UK in conditions of destitution, relying on charities for food, a Red Cross report will say today, criticising the government’s asylum system as “shameful” and “inhumane”.

A network of Red Cross “destitution clinics” across the country gives out food vouchers and food parcels to thousands of refused asylum seekers every week, work that officials describe as similar to their distribution of emergency humanitarian aid in countries such as Sudan Read more

The asylum seekers who survive on £10 a week

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! Read more

End detention of children – tell the UK Border Agency what you think!

We wanted to update you with what’s been happening since the new Government pledged to end the immigration detention of children. As we reported last time, this does not mean that detention of children has ended – we’re not there yet! Instead, the Immigration Minister, Damian Green, has now started a “comprehensive review” into ending the immigration detention of children, which is due to be completed on 9 July – after which, they are due to announce how they will fulfil their pledge to stop detaining children. Read more

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