Updated with the following observation 13 March 2022: Please note that over time the law and rules change – some of these thought may have changed, some of the information will be out of date. Also, these are views expressed by Quakers who are not trained in law – please excuse any inaccuracies.
Updated 1 February 2016: Quakers have been asked to consider the QPSW paper regarding sponsorship of refugees, which will be before Meeting for Sufferings on Saturday 6 February 2015.
Below are comments of some Quakers connected with QARN, reprinted with permission – the original paper is here – https://www.qarn.org.uk/homepage/quaker-peace-and-social-witness-private-sponsorship-of-refugees. Quakers should discuss their thoughts with their own Meeting for Sufferings representative
Posted 31 January 2016 – this post will be updated as thoughts come in:
Sarah Dodgson:
Setting up a scheme that was trusted both by Government and by existing migrant communities might release hitherto reluctant private as well as public funding to work in tandem. At present they seem to be pulling against one another in distrust, at least from what I see here in London. I don’t think this is a question of politics or ideology, more a question of which is sustainable and whether there is an endgame to release us from the obligations we would undertake. I was in 1974 still contributing to the support of a Hungarian refugee child sponsored by my school in 1956.
We need to think very long term in this. Which solution will enable most to be done most effectively? If Quakers can be involved in something where warm hearts and cool brains come together without other agendas, to work simply for the immediate need of the children caught up in this, then a “private” faith based scheme could work. But not at the expense of existing work supporting the government sponsored groups of refugees through the welcoming schemes. I think we have the energy to do both, so long as we think on a sustainable scale and don’t get frightened by the huge numbers, whom we will never be able to help. Better to light a candle than curse the darkness Friends.
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Sheila Mosley: I would not support a sponsorship scheme:
• The Government acts on behalf of the people and spends our money – that money should be made available for supporting refugees in UK on our behalf because we have a collective responsibility.
• When individuals become involved financially in this way, around one particular person, the relationship between the sponsor and refugee often creates a sense of feeling beholden, and is distorted. We can show support and create a welcoming environment to all those seeking sanctuary through City of Sanctuary for example.
• Sponsorship does create a hierarchy of deserving/not deserving, real/fake asylum seekers, or to benefit one group over another which is divisive.
We are still pondering –
- Are Friends generally aware of how much support, not just financial and social, but specialised psychological support individuals might need? A significant number of our users are on the waiting list for sessions from Freedom from Torture
- There are so many areas of need that could do with concerned Quaker involvement now – e.g. the Boaz Trust in Manchester has a waiting list of asylum seekers that need to be hosted. including some that are having to sleep rough. Their winter Night Shelter Scheme, in which local Friends participate, can only take twelve men. There is no such provision for women.
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Pete Redwood:
Of course there are echoes of the pre-War efforts to enable Jews to leave Germany; if I’m right, the sponsorship figure then was BP5K, much higher than the figures quoted now. I assume that many Jewish families participated. At that time, there was no Convention giving rights to asylum, and government policy was to exclude.
The For and Against paragraphs are helpful. They are not explicit about our government’s policy of deterring asylum seekers seeking refugee status, including no provision for claims in the country of persecution, and the culture of disbelief which all applicants experience once they reach the UK. Unless there is a strong political and legal commitment to maximising the govt. response to obligations under the Convention, there must be a real fear that this scheme could be used to exclude those would-be refugees who are not sponsored.
Assuming that those sponsored hold refugee status, they would have the right to work and access to eg. NHS and education services.
The Welcome scheme would indeed demonstate the extent of public support for refugees, but this would be on selective basis: those benefitting could tend towards those with professional skills, not necessarily those in greatest need to protection. Friends would be in good company with Citizens UK, the Methodists and others.
Excluding those already within the EU detracts from the common approach by EU governments which would point to a resolution of the current numbers situation/crisis.
As the paper points out, the focus of many Friends and meetings is on people who are already here without the benefits of refugee status, and this scheme does not address their needs. The sensible description of what would be involved in sponsorship can already be applied to a relationship between a meeting and an asylum seeker, with the added dimension of the personal insecurity which is the daily experience of the asylum seeker who has no right to work, limited access to health care and education, no secure accommodation etc.
So I think my starting point would be to welcome the opportunity to sponsor alongside these other bodies, and take an active part in negotiations with the government drawing on our experience of meeting needs. However, Friends and meetings do not need to await the outcome of this scheme before working with asylum seekers already here.
It is good that MfS is giving this such urgent attention, and we will welcome the insights which the meeting in session will engage with. It could well be right that no definitive response should emerge at this early stage, while we engage seriously with colleagues who are addressing the same opportunity and issues as ourselves.
In peace
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Crystal Dickinson:
It would be strange for Quakers not to be seen to be leaders in this field. Insofar as our work carries weight far beyond what our numbers would suggest
we are often looked to for moral leadership in public issues. If, for whatever reason, we are seen to be doing nothing, then, I believe, many others will feel excused from unwelcome moral exertions also – and who will be the losers from that?
The whole question comes down to the contrasting mindsets underlying politics.
This Conservative Government has a very explicit view that the fewer Asylum Seekers come here the better. On the other hand, it does believe in personal responsibility and private enterprise,including private charity. Therefore it will allow additional privately sponsored asylum seekers, provided they are no charge on the public purse. So Government has set not-unrealistic figures on the costs of private sponsorship. With such a mindset, I believe the proposals would involve acting in a way which is entirely just and fair, “according to their lights”. (Perhaps even generous, since they had the power to set a higher figure….)
Any socialist view says “on the contrary, as taxpayers we have real rights to decide how our taxes are spent, and this humanitarian cause is one way in which we want them spent – as many asylum seekers as possible should be allowed in and funded out of our public purse.” Logically, to do this will divert resources from other needs; therefore if this is to be funded out of public monies, designated additional taxes will have to be raised for it; (though everyone knows that public finance is not quite as simple as that!) What are the chances of getting such a Bill into law, and how long will it take even if passed?
Because the need is urgent, and because it realistic to assume that we are stuck with a Conservative Government until at least 2020, pragmatism suggests to me that we should go along the “private” route; on the strictly provisional basis that this must undergo an urgent,radical review on the committment of Quakers to it, following the next General Election
Frankly, if we do take the “private” route, I expect to be disapointed by the paucity of response; I do not expect many Area Meetings to be likely to agree to sponsor more than a single family each -£20k additional to all other AM expenditures is a lot to ask! And I share the view that individual sponsorships are of their very nature non-egalitarian; but – so, too, is throwing too few lifebelts into the water where a boat full of people has overturned. Umm,….could it possibly be better to withold all lifebelts until enough can be sourced? I don’t think so!
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Tommy Gee: To be “taken on”or “taken in”?
The proposal in Para 3.3 of the memo “Refugee Sponsorship”echoing the successful Canadian scheme would require a Trudeau at the helm. Here the Government desire to be in control and what that implies needs close examination as the reality is reflected in immigration detention centres, the use of unfit contractors, punitive restrictions, withdrawal of benefits and net migration targets.
So any scheme must as far as possible be independent of government, with explicit delegated powers. Cooperating organizations with different objectives will complicate and delay what is urgent.
The suggested financial arrangements for sponsorship or “taking on” rather than “taking in” a refugee appear to be a tax on compassion.
There are lessons in the success of Kindertransport. A K2 scheme should be based on the marginal cost of taking children into welcoming homes able to meet any extra expenditure The refugee children should enjoy the same rights and benefits as our own children.
Government should not be let off the hook. As in Canada it should be asked take on half of the refugees and not to use unsuitable private contractors.
The immediate priority must be unaccompanied children e.g. Those who have reached Calais avoiding any delay by security and documentation , and unaccompanied children from camps in Lebanon.
A national register would be very useful .
Members of the EU should be asked to cooperate and be kept informed success will require diplomacy not band standing.