What’s it like to be a child refugee?

Three teenagers who came to Britain as child refugees discuss their experiences on
Woman’s Hour, 17/08/2010. You can listen to the interviews here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009g9d7

These are the young people — Gervelie, Hamzat and Mohammed — whose stories feature in the terrific Frances Lincoln series : REFUGEE DIARIES
http://www.franceslincoln.com/index.php?page=results&series=192&c=1

In celebration of ordinary lives – Shining a light on refugee children’s experience

Say the word ‘refugee’ to yourself. Without thinking, what images and notions enter your mind?

Now, think about it.

The last Saturday of Refugee Week 2010 was an important day in the lives of four refugee children and their families – a celebration of childhood regained.

We have told their stories in a series of books for children, the Refugee Diaries. At the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, these children’s lives were celebrated. This was a marker for them and all those who have supported and cheered them on – a day to celebrate the longed-for ordinariness of their lives. Read more

A High Court judge ordered the UKBA to stop removing foreign nationals from the UK with little or no warning

Written by Emma Ginn
Update on Medical Justice Judicial Review

A High Court judge ordered the UKBA to stop removing foreign nationals from the UK with little or no warning after individuals were denied access to justice in the process.

Immigration officers have descended on vulnerable people late at night and transported them under guard to early morning flights a few hours later.  Medical Justice, a charity that provides independent medical advice to immigration detainees, claims that some people were not able to contact a legal representative and challenge their removal. Mr Nyam, a seriously ill man, was arrested last month for removal to Cameroon in a manner that a judge described as “completely unconscionable” (see case-study below). Read more

Where is Gloria now? Nobody knows

As the case of a deported frail and mentally ill woman shows, our stretched asylum system fails the most needy and vulnerable

Late on Thursday evening, Gloria, who has lived in the UK for more than 14 years, was deported. No one has a complete picture of Gloria’s life. She was “clearly vulnerable” according to the UK Border Agency official who interviewed her when she applied for asylum, and might have learning difficulties too. She has mental health problems for which she has been receiving treatment. Read more

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

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

A matter of conscience: hunger strikers at Yarl’s Wood

On Friday 5 February women detained at Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire started a hunger strike. It involved over eighty women who were locked up at the centre.

The following Monday the Black Women’s Rape Action Project – who support women at Yarl’s Wood – published a report that alleged that the hunger strikers had suffered brutal recriminations and had been beaten by guards and subjected to racist abuse:

‘Over fifty women are currently trapped in an airless hallway in Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre. On Friday 5 February they began a hunger strike. Today they were herded into the hallway where they have been left there for over two hours without access to water or toilets. Four women, including an asthma sufferer, have fainted. Around 1.30 the guards came into the hallway and started to beat women. As we spoke to one woman she told us that someone was bleeding. One of the managers told the women they would regret what they have done; she called the Chinese women monkeys, and the Black women black monkeys. Four other women have been locked in other rooms for three hours, and have been told by room mates that their belongings have been packed. They are worried they face immediate removal even though their cases are still being considered. Fifteen women have been locked up in “Kingfisher”, the punishment wing. Read more

The voices of the hunger strikers

Denise McNeil is from Jamaica. Her brother was murdered there and she fears for her family. The mother of two spoke to me on the telephone from Yarl’s Wood Kingfisher segregation block on Saturday 20 February.

Denise seemed very weak and tired. She told me she was ‘so depressed’ and hadn’t been outside for two weeks. Sanitary conditions are ‘disgusting’ she said. ‘No water in the tap’, and the toilets were ‘not flushing’. She had been placed on suicide watch. As we spoke a male officer stood at the door. There were no proper medical facilities. Read more

Removal and HIV

The following comes from UKBA policy documents and instructions, and below is caselaw followed by a link to the BHIVA recommendations .

The Article 3 threshold
Applicants may claim that their removal from the UK would constitute a breach of Article 3 on account of their medical condition. Recent caselaw, both at domestic and Strasbourg level, has confirmed that the circumstances in which such a breach could be established will be exceptional. For guidance
please refer to the IDIs Chapter 1 Section 8 Paragraph 3.4.
[ which reads: 3.4. Human Rights Act. This paragraph has been withdrawn for updating. Claims that removal from the UK would breach Articles 3 and/or 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights because of the claimant’s medical condition should be considered in accordance with the House of Lords judgment in the case of N v SSHD (2005) UKHL31 and other relevant case law. http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/IDIs/idischapter1/section8/section8.pdf?view=Binary] Read more

Locked up indefinitely: The prisoners who have committed no crime

Hundreds of failed immigrants are held in UK detention centres for years. The inmates of one are now on hunger strike

By Emily Dugan and Jane Merrick

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