Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust reports increase in destitution
A repeat survey by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust shows that the number of destitute asylum seekers living in Leeds has more than doubled over the last 18 months. Following on from a previous report published in March 2007, it highlights an increase in the number of children living in destitution from 13 to 51 with a total of 331 destitute asylum seekers living in Leeds.
Refugee Council Chief Executive Donna Covey commented: “This not only affects people whose claims have been refused by the government, but also many people whose claims are still being assessed.With our partners in the “Still Human Still Here” campaign, we have been telling the government not to leave these people in limbo. How much better it would be for everyone if instead, they were allowed to work.”
Download the Joseph Rowntree report
Refugee Council press release: Destitution still happening in Leeds
How it was covered in the media:
Guardian: Refugee destitution has doubled, says trust
Communitycare.co.uk:'Government policy behind asylum destitution hike in Leeds'
Yorkshire Evening Post: Leeds see 180 per cent rise in destitute asylum seekers
Australia ends automatic detention
The Australian government have announced the end of the long criticised policy of immediately detaining all asylum seekers. Since September 1992 all people arriving without travel documents, including families with children, have been detained until being granted a visa or deported, leaving some in detention centres for years. Detention will only now be used as a last resort for those who may be a security threat and these people will have their cases reviewed every three months.
Overturning the policy, the Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans said the move: “rejects the notion that dehumanising and punishing unauthorised arrivals with long-term detention is an effective or civilised response”.
How it was covered by the media:
BBC News: Australia abandons asylum policy
The Times: Australia ends detention regime for asylum seekers
The Guardian: Australia revokes instant detention for asylum seekers
Three quarters of health professionals against restrictions on healthcare for refugees, say campaigning doctors
The Observer reported that a group of campaigning doctors had obtained 38 copies of previously unpublished responses from health professionals to a Department of Health consultation on proposals to deny refused asylum seekers access to free healthcare except in emergencies or in the case of certain diseases such as TB and AIDS.
Only five of the respondents backed the proposals. Three-quarters of respondents were concerned that the new rules would break ethical guidelines of the General Medical Council and many were also worried that they would increase the risk of epidemics of infectious diseases such as measles and diphtheria.
The Royal Society for the Promotion of Health commented that although TB sufferers were exempt from the proposals, most people “would be fairly unlikely to self-diagnose TB” and would therefore not seek treatment.
How it was covered by the media:
The Observer: GPs demand right to treat refugees
European youth organisations call for an end to the detention of children
The European Youth Forum, a collection of 94 youth organisations, has called on the EU to ensure that child migrants are not detained, following the draft EU members pact on immigration.
Read the European Youth Forum press release
US announces visas for Iraqis who worked for US government and military
Iraqis who worked for the US government and military in Iraq will be given the chance to gain visas allowing them to settle permanently in the US. Over a five-year period, 5,000 Iraqis a year will be able to enter the US under a new immigrant programme which recognises the risk undertook by Iraqis working for the US in Iraq.
How it was covered in the media:
Times: Iraqis who worked for US offered sanctuary
Refugee basketball star enters British sport’s rich list
Great British basketball international and Sudanese refugee Luol Deng has signed a six-year contract with the Chicago Bulls which is likely to be worth as much as £40m, bringing him in line with other British sporting high flyers such as Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand, and even eclipsing David Beckham’s basic LA Galaxy wage.
Deng left Sudan in the late 1980s with his parents and brothers and sisters who were fleeing civil war, and was granted political asylum in Britain. He will be showing off his talents for the British national team at the September qualifiers for the 2009 European finals and at the 2012 London Olympics.
“England was the country that took me and my family in and allowed me to do what I’m doing today,” he said. “England has given a lot of kids a chance so I would love to give back and I do that playing basketball.”
How it was covered in the media:
The Independent: Basketball: Deng shoots to top of British sport's rich list with £40m deal
Daily Star: Golden Bulls! Brit Hero’s £35 M Deal
Report on the emotional well-being of unaccompanied refugee children
A University of London survey of fifty-four unaccompanied young asylum seekers and over thirty social care, health, education and voluntary sector professionals found a wide range of emotional difficulties among the respondents, ranging from isolation and anxiety to eating problems and depression requiring hospitalisation. Many young asylum seekers thought there was an inconsistent provision of support services and information about what support was available to them.
Download the research briefing
Communitycare.co.uk: The emotional well-being of asylum seeking children
“They are like ghosts”: Overcrowding and removal without warning at Dungavel
The Sunday Herald reported on the practice of ‘ghosting’ at Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre: transporting detainees, including families and children, in the middle of the night either to another UK removal centre or to an airport.
An unnamed removal centre employee told the newspaper that many centres are over 150% capacity and that they had seen families arrive who were “physically exhausted and devastated” having been kept up all night in police vans and transported long distances.
How it was covered by the media:
Sunday Herald: Life inside Dungavel
Destitute asylum seekers reliant on charity for food
The charity Positive Action For Refugees and Asylum Seekers (PAFRAS) was profiled in the Yorkshire Evening Post. PAFRAS is currently helping destitute asylum seekers by providing food at a twice weekly kitchen in Leeds but says the numbers of people in need of help is rising. A PAFRAS worker commented: “We are starting to see something new recently, where babies are being born malnourished because their mothers are destitute. There are children growing up in destitution.”
How it was covered by the media:
Yorkshire Evening Post: The feeding of the 5,000
