I am very distressed at the decision of the UK Border Agency to relocate 600 refugee households. This decision has apparently been takes as a result of the termination of the contract with Glasgow City Council to house these people.
Letters have apparently been sent to 600 households advising them that they will be given 3-5 days notice to move from their homes. Each household will be allowed to take two pieces of luggage per person, plus baby equipment, children’s toys and disability aids. This action will effectively mean the potential removal at extremely short notice of 1,311 people from their current homes to undisclosed destinations within Scotland.
From a psychological perspective, this action can have devastating effects on people who are already very vulnerable. It will also affect children who will have to be taken away from their school, their friends and their local connections. Many of these people have already had to suffer forced, sometimes violent uprooting, fleeing their countries through fear for their lives. Another forced uprooting can have dire consequences. Refugee families and their children are not objects that can be stashed or shifter about at the stroke of a pen. They are human beings and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect irrespective of the place where they happened to be born.
Positive Action in Housing has written to the Prime Minister asking him to intervene in the negotiations between Glasgow City council and the UKL Border Agency. The Kirk is entirely in support of this action. Moreover, as a minister within a community which is working actively with asylum seekers, I encourage everyone to be present at the protest which will take place on Brand Street in Govan the 20th of November supporting the refugees against this appalling action.
Showing posts with label UK Border Agency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UK Border Agency. Show all posts
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
Friday, 8 October 2010
The Azure Card, and survival as a failed asylum seeker
Imagine having to leave your country because of war, or violence, or threats to your life. Imagine arriving to the UK, a country which you think might offer you asylum. Imagine your asylum application refused. Imagine contemplating having to be sent back to whence you came from. Imagine the stress and anguish at having to be handed over to officials of the country you fled from. Imagine that you get ill just before you are sent back or you cannot be sent back because of the political situation in your country. Who are you now? You are now a failed asylum seeker under ‘section 4’.
What does this mean?
It means you will receive £35 a week per person as support towards your maintenance. The snag is that the money is not in cash, but locked in a prepaid “azure card” which is accepted at certain supermarkets and shops. Administratively, this sounds like a good idea, if lots of places take the card, there is choice and convenience.
The cards started its roll-out phase since 2009 in Scotland however, its implementation has not been as simple as it might have been expected. Supermarkets that are participating in the scheme are not always the most cost-effective places to buy food. On £35 a week, cheap food is really important. If you have dietary restrictions because of your faith, the food you can eat might not be stocked in the shops that take the card. The card also has restrictions on what you can buy… it is not accepted for transport, or clothes; in fact… it is not money.
To discuss this, and other issues relating to the problems of asylum seekers in Scotland, representatives from Glasgow Citizens for Sanctuary, have been seeking a meeting with Phil Taylor, the Regional Director for the Scotland and Northern Ireland Region, of the UK Border Agency. Despite earlier attempts, the meeting has not materialized. I only fear that in the current economic climate, the voices of those who live amongst us without the protection that UK citizenship awards will be unheard.
Citizens for Sanctuary search and have developed good working relations with UK Border Agency offices elsewhere, why not in Glasgow? Please, Mr Taylor, can you meet-up with these folk?
What does this mean?
It means you will receive £35 a week per person as support towards your maintenance. The snag is that the money is not in cash, but locked in a prepaid “azure card” which is accepted at certain supermarkets and shops. Administratively, this sounds like a good idea, if lots of places take the card, there is choice and convenience.
The cards started its roll-out phase since 2009 in Scotland however, its implementation has not been as simple as it might have been expected. Supermarkets that are participating in the scheme are not always the most cost-effective places to buy food. On £35 a week, cheap food is really important. If you have dietary restrictions because of your faith, the food you can eat might not be stocked in the shops that take the card. The card also has restrictions on what you can buy… it is not accepted for transport, or clothes; in fact… it is not money.
To discuss this, and other issues relating to the problems of asylum seekers in Scotland, representatives from Glasgow Citizens for Sanctuary, have been seeking a meeting with Phil Taylor, the Regional Director for the Scotland and Northern Ireland Region, of the UK Border Agency. Despite earlier attempts, the meeting has not materialized. I only fear that in the current economic climate, the voices of those who live amongst us without the protection that UK citizenship awards will be unheard.
Citizens for Sanctuary search and have developed good working relations with UK Border Agency offices elsewhere, why not in Glasgow? Please, Mr Taylor, can you meet-up with these folk?
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Deportation of unaccompanied children must stop
The UK Border Agency sent back over 300 children who sought asylum in the UK since 2004. The children were deported to their first port of entry into the EU as unaccompanied minors. There are also plans to deport children back to their own countries, even if they originally come from distinctly unstable countries like Afghanistan.
According to the Dublin Regulation the UK Border Agency is acting legally when it deports children; but is it acting sensibly? The following questions come to mind.
Is unaccompanied deportation in the benefit of the child?
What psychological effect will such treatment have on the child?
Will the child be safe upon reaching the first point of entry into the EU?
It is understandable that legislation has to be set in place to avoid an endless “pass the parcel” of refugees within the EU. I agree with Melissa Perring, programme manager of the Children’s Society when she says that this legislation should not be applied to children asylum seekers. Whether the legislation is applicable or not does not make the children go away - they are here and we should treat them with compassion, decency and fairness.
According to the Dublin Regulation the UK Border Agency is acting legally when it deports children; but is it acting sensibly? The following questions come to mind.
Is unaccompanied deportation in the benefit of the child?
What psychological effect will such treatment have on the child?
Will the child be safe upon reaching the first point of entry into the EU?
It is understandable that legislation has to be set in place to avoid an endless “pass the parcel” of refugees within the EU. I agree with Melissa Perring, programme manager of the Children’s Society when she says that this legislation should not be applied to children asylum seekers. Whether the legislation is applicable or not does not make the children go away - they are here and we should treat them with compassion, decency and fairness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)