What do we do? Network members own experiences

QARN members are all Quakers, some are members and others are attenders.

We have wide experience that we bring to the Network, and have identified the following as examples of what we as individuals and with our Meetings have been involved in:

• I worked 22 yrs in European Commission. Last 5 yrs i.c. anti-racism action development, and welfare questions for extra-European migrants in the E Union.
• Founded Brussels Q meeting, and founder member and some-time treasurer of Quaker Council for European Affairs [QCEA].
• Since retirement, some 12 yrs visiting detainees in Dover Immigration Removal Centre as member of Dover Detainees Visitor Group, and standing as bail security for detainees at release request hearings.
• Some lobbying of MPs.
• My main activity over the past 18 months has been the Bail Observation Project of the Close Campsfield Campaign and that is likely to continue as we intend to do another study, and I have offered to work on the analysis of the data as I did for our first report.
• I now attend the Detention Forum meetings for QARN.
• I am on Quaker United Nations Committe, Geneva [QUNC], and I am part of the reference group – Refugees and Human Rights.
• My local meeting contributes food for destitute asylum seekers and I collect it and ensure that it goes to Asylum Welcome
• Founder and coordinator of Merseyside Churches’ ecumenical fund for destitute asylum seekers
• Chair of charity giving psychotherapeutic support through horticulture to traumatised asylum seeking families
• Former Chair (10 years) of Liverpool’s only open access drop-in centre for asylum seekers and refugees (also offering food, English language classes, housing, immigration and employment advice)
• Trustee of Merseyside Refugee Support Network
• Member of steering group of Churches’ Refugee Support Network (an informal network of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland)
• Convenor of trustees of Quaker Concern for the Abolition of Torture (Q-CAT).
• Turning the Tide Resource Person,
• Msc Social Policy and Planning,  European MA in Migration, Mental Health and Social Care, Past research worker at UEL on the survival strategies of migrants in East London.
• Retired social worker, community worker and voluntary organisation manager.
• Initiator and member responsible for development,and administration, Spare Room for forced destitute migrants.
• Member London Hosting Development Team, NACCOM. Caseworker Refugee and Migrants Project Newham.
• Committee Member Assoc. of Families Adopting from Abroad from 1995 to  its amalgamation with OASIS – 2012
• 2001-2004, first Chair - Yarls Wood Befrienders,  2005-2011 on the Committee as Fundraiser
• Visited and supported assorted Detainees, and ex-detainees,  continuously, since 2001.  2004-8 I set up and ran a four-year project mini-hostel (4 beds) for homeless, destitute, ex-Yarls Wood women. I raised funding from local charities, Mothers’ Union, and individuals.
• Luton & Leighton AM has accepted my concern to get children fully innoculated before removal.
• Since 2004 I have been mentor to an Afghan man and later his family as well, who now all have settled status (through a project entitled “Mentoring Refugees into Employment” run by Leeds Met Univ/St George’s Crypt/Refugee Council/Leeds City Council).
• I have been volunteering on the Teaching English at Home  project run by Leeds Asylum Seekers Support Network (LASSN).
• I write lobbying letters to my MP and other relevant people as issues arise.
• I support Leeds Asylum Seekers Support Network [LASSN] financially
• As a Quaker Meeting we are providing financial support to Solace, an organisation doing mental health work with asylum seekers and refugees in Leeds
• Hosting destitute asylum seekers in my home
• Running a winter night shelter for destitute asylum seekers one night a week – other churches cover the other 6 nights
• Visited and supported detainees, and ex-detainees,  continuously, since 2001.  2004-8 I set up and ran a four-year project mini-hostel (4 beds) for a group of 9 or 10 people.
• Local Meetings keep in touch about asylum issues. Most are involved in support, visiting, fundraising or campaigning in association with 5 different local organisations.
• I represent QARN on Still Human Still Here, the national campaign to end destitution among asylum seekers.
• We have face to face contact, an email group, and occasional business meetings. We take asylum and immigration matters to our local business meetings, organise our food collections for destitute asylum seekers, and from time to time hold other events to maintain awareness about asylum issues.
• I was trained up as an accredited immigration/asylum lawyer in around Jan 2008 (which is different from a solicitor) with Refugee Legal Centre, which then became Refugee Migrant Justice.
• Throughout I have had friends in the system, and have been involved in supporting them in various ways with their anti-deportation campaigns; finding solicitors; aspects of their cases including accessing legal reps and expert witnesses for judicial review and appeals;  mental health breakdowns; housing issues; raising funds for a mobility scooter; Refugee Week activities; homelessness; detention; giving birth; family deaths; and also joyous singing and performing at music festivals; and involvement in an episode of Secret Millionaire (that was a surprise)  etc etc
• I’m not really active on refugee issues at the moment, no longer volunteering at the Red Cross and my Spare Room guest has moved out after 2.5 years. Still interested but my time is mainly on other issues.
• I work with the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, a Quaker trust which makes grants for work promoting rational and humane migration and asylum policies benefitting both migrant and settled communities in West Yorkshire; at national level in the UK; and across Europe

Sample letter: Transparency of UK BA decision-making regarding detention

Dear                                                                    MP,

Transparency of UK BA decision-making regarding detention

I am writing, as your constituent, to deplore UK BA’s use of detention in the immigration system of this country. It is, in my view an infringement of the individual’s rights as a human, and ultimately a threat to all our liberties. It is wrong to lock people up with neither a suspicion nor a conviction of a crime, without time limit. Read more

Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency is inviting stakeholders’ views

The Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency  is inviting stakeholders’ views on  development of his inspection plan for 2012-13. 

Views should be sent to: chiefinspectorUKBA@icinspector.gsi.gov.uk  or to the postal address: Attn: Inspection Plan Consultation, Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency, 5^th Floor, Globe House, 89 Eccleston Square, London, SW1V 1PN by30 November 2011.

Still Human Members are encouraged to propose the asylum support system for review, including: Read more

What are Quakers doing?

Quakers are involved in many ways to address concerns  relating to the asylum process, and in a variety of different ways to welcome and bring some relief to those people who are subjected to these processes. 

Extract from our Survey of Friends’ asylum and refugee work in Britain Yearly Meeting in 2007

In June 2007, the Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network decided to conduct a survey of Quaker Meetings to try to build a picture of the work done by Friends in support of asylum-seekers and refugees. All PMs were sent a copy of a questionnaire and, as well as this, many meetings were sent e-mails. The letter pages of The Friend were also used to encourage responses.

The members of the Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network are aware that the  activities listed below are likely to be an under-estimate of the level of Quaker activity in this area.

The main type of activities are listed below along with the number of times they were mentioned in the reports:

Befriending 20

Conversation and social activities (including holidays) 13

Asylum seekers supported by meeting 7

Provision of  mid-, long-term or emergency accommodation 7

Fundraising and financial support 24

Collecting items 9

Meeting House used 8

Teaching English 6

Visiting detention centres (including airports)  10

Accompanying asylum seekers to court 2

Political activity  13

Awareness-raising amongst Friends 2

Regular public witness 1

Ecumenical & interfaith activities 13

Trustee / board member in asylum-related charity 5

Action in other pressure groups and charities 27

Employment (including legal) 9

Work related to asylum-seekers’/refugees’ health (physical and mental) 8

Publicity (photography project) 1

Local campaigning 1

Some examples of Quaker activity:

Some meetings in rural areas provide short breaks and holidays for asylum-seekers. One meeting hosts an annual summer party on the beach.

Meetings which are based near detention centres (including airports) make regular visits to support the detainees.

Several Friends have a great deal of individual professional expertise. One Friend has written 35 expert opinions on asylum cases, and others have been active in setting up and running advice centres.

One meeting has maintained a fortnightly vigil in support of asylum-seekers outside the local cathedral since November 2006, with some support from other churches.

Several meetings have befriended individual asylum-seekers, used the meeting house for accommodation, and accompanied them when they need to sign on or attend court.

Several Friends are committee members or trustees of organisations which support asylum-seekers and refugees.

Several Friends offer short-term or long-term accommodation to asylum-seekers in their homes.

One meeting has supported a Friend who has invested in two houses in their city to be used for accommodation for asylum-seekers. Meeting has helped by providing furniture and equipment and paying utilities bills.

Two meetings are involved in “City of Sanctuary” projects.

One meeting provides a library for the local Refugee Centre and Peace House.

We received supportive comments from some Meetings which do not have asylum-seekers in their geographical area. We would like to suggest to those Meetings that they can perform a valuable service by keeping themselves informed of developments and writing to their MPs and other decision-makers.

It is the intention of the Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network to produce a directory of the main Quaker activities throughout our Yearly Meeting. This is an ongoing project and will be undertaken in consultation with Local Meetings. Those meetings or individuals who are willing to have their details included in such a directory should reply to our e-mail address info@qarn.org.uk.

No plans to adopt a maximum time limit for immigration detention

Damian Green says in a letter replying to a question put to an MP:

‘There are no plans to adopt a maximum time limit for immigration detention. This would be out of step with long-standing UK law and policy and goes beyond the requirements of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights.’

We had hoped for changes that would affect the length of detention for those in the immigration system,  and this may still come through the Judges who have decision-making authority when a bail application comes before them. See: Immigration Bail Hearings: A Travesty of Justice? Observations from the Public  Gallery, Campaign to Close Campsfield, March 2011.  http://closecampsfield.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/ccc-bop-report-low-res.pdf.

A default position was not mentioned in Damian Green’s letter. It looks as though we have some way to go with this campaign, and QARN as a network seeks to make connections with other campaigning organisations so that we can work collaboratively.

29.9.2011

Petition to retain the ban on Capital Punishment

 

Responsible department: Ministry of Justice

 

A petition to call on the government to retain its position regards the abolition of the Death Penalty for all offences. That the British people note that only 58 nations currently use capital punishment, as opposed to 95 which have abolished it, further notes the un-retractable nature of such a sentence in incidents of miscarriages of Justice, further notes the death penalty does not reduce crime or act as a deterrent and in US states which practice capital punishment incidents of homicide are higher than US states which do not, further notes the higher cost of capital punishment compared to life imprisonment, believes that British Justice should not be in the same league as China, Iran, North Korea, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Syria which do practice capital punishment on a routine basis and that the death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights and an affront to the values of British Justice.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1090

Suggested letter to send to your MP about indefinite detention

House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

Dear

Re: End indefinite detention of people in immigration removal centres

I am writing to call for the end to the indefinite detention of people who
are in immigration removal centres across the UK.

Detention Action believes that the Home Office practice of indefinitely
detaining people who cannot be returned to their country of origin is a
waste of money and human lives. I encourage you to read Detention Action’s
report No Return, No Release, No Reason and the previous report Detained
Lives: The real cost of indefinite detention. These reports highlight that
indefinite detention simply does not work: as a means of deporting people,
it is ineffective and grossly inefficient, costing £68,000 per detainee per
year. The testimony of detainees shows the terrible human cost, with many
experiencing mental health problems, self-harming or attempting suicide.

The UK government derogates from the EU Returns Directive which sets an 18
month maximum time limit for immigration detention. Detained Lives calls on
the government to end this inhumane and ineffective practice.

I would like to ask you to urge the Home Affairs Committee and the Joint
Committee of Human Rights to investigate the detention system.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Demonstrate against new family detention centre in Sussex 30 July 2011

Croydon NoBorders is calling for a demo in Haywards Heath from 1pm on Saturday 30th July to protest against a new detention centre for children and families which is due to open in late summer at nearby Pease Pottage.

Haywards Heath is the home of Mid Sussex Council which granted planning permission for the former Crawley Forest School to be converted into a migrant prison.

The migrant prison, known euphemistically as a “pre-departure accommodation centre”, will be run by the infamous security firm G4S, who are facing charges for corporate manslaughter following the death of deportee Jimmy Mubenga on a BA flight in November. The prison will “normally” hold families for up to 72 hours but they could be held for up to a week in “exceptional circumstances”. Read more

Amnesty calls for complete overhaul of enforced removals by private security companies

UK: Ill-trained, dangerous and unaccountable- Amnesty calls for complete overhaul of enforced removals by private security companies
Posted: 07 July 2011
The UK Government must conduct a complete and radical overhaul of the current system of enforced removals from the UK, according to a new briefing and campaign launched today (7 July) by Amnesty International UK.

Private security companies, contracted by the UK Government, have reportedly used dangerous and improper control and restraint techniques. In the 2010 case of Jimmy Mubenga at least, these appear to have resulted in someone’s death. One such technique was nick-named by contractors “Carpet Karaoke”, as it involved forcing an individual’s face down towards the carpet with such force that they were only able to scream inarticulately ‘like a bad karaoke singer’. It involves the seated detainee being handcuffed, with a tight seatbelt through the cuffs and their head pushed down between their legs. There is a serious risk of death by positional asphyxia when this technique is used. Read more

UK: Ill-trained, dangerous and unaccountable- Amnesty calls for complete overhaul of enforced removals by private security companies

Amnesty International: 07 July 2011

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