Returns to Zimbabwe
The Refugee Council was appalled to hear the Home Office is considering the forced removal of Zimbabweans in exchange for extra cash, due to ‘positive changes’ in the country in recent months since the unity government came into force. As well as going against UNHCR advice, the announcement on 29 October was ill-timed - it came in a week when the UN specialist rapporteur on torture was detained and deported from Harare airport, causing a serious diplomatic incident; when Morgan Tsvangiri had been boycotting meetings in protest at Mugabe’s failure to comply with the power-sharing agreement; and when allegations of arrest, intimidation and harassment of members of the MDC were widely reported.
See the full Refugee Council statement and our poliblog on the subject.
The Refugee Council is quoted in the following articles:
The Guardian: Home Office offers failed asylum seekers cash to return to Zimbabwe. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/29/zimbabwe-failed-asylum-seekers-cash
The Daily Mail: Zimbabwean asylum seekers offered £6,000 increased 'bribe' to return to home country. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223825/Zimbabwean-asylum-seekers-offered-6-000-increased-bribe-return-home-country.html
BBC News: UK plans Zimbabwe removals http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8331731.stm
…But not to Sudan
Following this, the UK Border Agency announced non-Arab Darfuris would not be deported to Sudan, after new Home Office guidelines warned that they faced a “real risk of persecution.”
See full news article here:
BBC News: Darfur survivors to get asylum in UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8340518.stm
Independent: Saved from the death squads: Darfuris given asylum in the UK
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/saved-from-the-death-squads-darfuris-given-asylum-in-uk-1814185.html
Children in the asylum system
Official statistics were released showing the numbers of children in detention across the UK. SNP immigration minister, Phil Wishart, sharply criticised the Home Office’s policy on this, as reported in the Scottish press and on BBC website.
BBC News: UK detained 1300 child migrants. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8335602.stm
Coincidentally, new legislation came into force the following day, that will ensure all immigration staff are responsible for the safety and welfare of children in the asylum system in the UK. After a sustained period of lobbying by the Refugee Council and other asylum and children’s charities, Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill will come into force, requiring all UK Border Agency (UKBA) staff to safeguard and promote the welfare of children seeking asylum.
The Refugee Council warned, however, that this new duty is just a start, and that government policies at odds with the new legislation, including the detention of children for immigration purposes, must now also be urgently revised.
See our press release.
And related articles in the press here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/henryporter/2009/nov/05/children-asylum-home-office
Burmese refugees star in festival documentary
Moving to Mars, a new documentary based on the lives of two Burmese refugee families, headlined at the Sheffield Doc Fest on 4 November. After 20 years in a Thai refugee camp, the family were resettled in Sheffield as part of the Gateway programme. The film focuses on the hopes they have for their lives in England before departure, and the changes and struggles their resettlement brings to their lives on arrival. The Refugee Council contributed to the film, which will also be shown on More4 in 2010.
Read articles on it here:
Yorkshire Post: Film festival opens with moving story of refugees’ first year in Yorkshire: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Film-festival-opens-with-moving.5797683.jp
Screen Daily: Mat Whitecross's Moving To Mars opens 16th Sheffield Doc/Fest: http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/other-festivals/mat-whitecrosss-moving-to-mars-opens-16th-sheffield-doc/fest/5007771.article
Observer: My Week: Romala Girai http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2009/nov/08/my-week-romola-garai
Major changes to asylum system
Following the UK Border Agency’s changes this month in how asylum claims are processed there has been an outcry about the pressure this will put on local services in Croydon, now that asylum seekers must travel there to put in their claim. The Refugee Council has commented that it is unfair and unreasonable to ask people in other parts of the UK to travel to Croydon, and that this new policy makes the asylum system even more inaccessible.
See the Refugee Council’s statement here:
And related articles here:
BBC News: New asylum system unreasonable
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8346021.stm
Croydon Guardian: Asylum seeker influx could put up council tax, warns Croydon councillor. http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/4716015.Asylum_influx_could_put_up_council_tax__warns_Croydon_councillor/
