Marjorie and Sweetny – please lend your voice
November 12, 2009 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
On Friday 13 November, Marjorie – whose story many of you will be familiar with from The Testimony Project website and launch – will find out whether she is to be reunited with her daughter Sweetny.
Marjorie has been separated from Sweetny for 7 years. The last time she saw Sweetny, Sweetny was 4 years old. She is now 11.
Since the death of Marjorie’s mother who was Sweetny’s guardian and only relative in Uganda, Sweetny has effectively been brought up by her boarding school, spending her holidays there while the other children go back to their families.
On Friday, Marjorie’s appeal against the Home Office’s refusal to allow Sweetny to enter the UK will be heard. She will be providing DNA evidence to demonstrate that she is indeed Sweetny’s mother (one of the grounds on which the refusal was based)
She asks for your support.
What you can do
(1) Show your commitment to Marjorie’s case by standing alongside her at court. The appeal will be heard at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, Taylor House, 88 Rosebery Avenue, EC1R 4QU at 10am. Taylor House is about 5 minutes walk from Angel tube.
(2) Send an email of support to Marjorie at The Testimony Project by emailing info@testimonyproject.org All messages will be given to Marjorie before the hearing.
(3) Leave a message of support for Marjorie under her testimony on The Testimony Project website: www.testimonyproject.org/video/marjories-video-testimony
If you haven’t yet seen the video of Marjorie and Sweetny which includes footage from Uganda, it is still available on The Guardian website:
www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2009/aug/07/asylum-seeker-visa
Thank you for lending your voice.
Holly Pelham
Director
The Testimony Project
+ 44 (0) 7989 540 704
www.testimonyproject.org
Scottish Refugee Council press release: New Rules From UKBA
October 17, 2009 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
New rules forcing asylum seekers to travel 400 miles to lodge their claims are a huge step back, says Scottish Refugee Council. They are calling for the immediate halt to changes in the asylum system which mean vulnerable people now face longer journeys as well as delays in vital support.
Read the full press release at: www.scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk/press/UKBA_Changes_141009
Support for 27 high-tension areas
October 13, 2009 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
By Dominic Casciani
BBC News
The government is naming 27 areas which it says need intensive support because of pressure from recession, migration and social change.
Communities Secretary John Denham said the areas would be targeted to help residents understand they had not been forgotten by decision-makers.
A full list of 100 areas is being finalised over the coming months.
The move comes amid internal government debates about how best to reach out to disenchanted white working classes.
The BBC’s home editor Mark Easton said: “The 100 areas have been identified as disengaged and alienated with a sense of resentment and prone to exploitation by the far right.”
The areas, some as small as a housing estate, have been identified from economic data, broader measures of what local people think and analysis from local officials.
Many of the areas to be targeted are predominantly white and working class where traditional jobs have gone amid dramatic social changes.
Some have seen a rise in far-right political activity or long-term anti-social behaviour problems.
Others have seen a collapse in trust in local authorities and services and resentment over the arrival of Eastern European workers. In all cases, existing funding and regeneration plans have not led to a change in perceptions.
Mr Denham said £12m would be spent across the areas to work out exactly why people in these areas feel aggrieved and under pressure.
He said he wanted to combat a perception that some areas were favoured over others in a competition for resources. Mr Denham called on people in the targeted areas to speak out, even if their fears raised “difficult and uncomfortable issues”.
Mr Denham said: “These are communities that are under a great deal of pressure, they have certainly had a lot of money invested in them but lives have changed.
“Work has changed, migration may have changed the communities, people feel that there a lot of competition for social housing and other resources in the community.”
The initiative comes amid continuing pressure from some town halls for help in how to deal with massive social change in areas which have never had to deal with it before.
Some councils have told government they have struggled to maintain the confidence of local people who feel they had been left behind as policymakers have appeared to focus on the needs of incomers.
Mr Denham denied these areas had been largely “forgotten” by policymakers, but added: “These are areas where we know that people will often say I’m not sure that someone is speaking up for us, does anyone really understand what is happening to our lives.”
“We have to demonstrate that people do and that we are on the side of every community in this country, no special favours, privileges, just fairness.”
Story from BBC NEWS
Training On Support Options For Refused Asylum Seekers
September 18, 2009 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
Asylum Support Appeals Project is running a free training session in London on accessing asylum support (formerly NASS support) for asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers. The session is suitable for people advising destitute asylum seekers on how to access support from UKBA.
Date: Thursday 12th November 2009 from 9:45 am to 4:45 pm.
Venue:
Friends Meeting House – Room 12
173 Euston Road
London NW1 2BJ
The course will cover:
- Introduction to asylum support (housing and welfare for asylum seekers)
- Section 4 support and section 95 support
- Criteria for UKBA support
- How to apply for support
- Appealing against Refusals or Withdrawals of support.
The training must be booked in advance. Places are limited to two participants per organisation.
For further details and a booking form, please contact Tom at office@asaproject.org or call 
020 8686 1888
.
A quick word about ASAP?
Asylum Support Appeals Project (ASAP) is an advocacy organisation working to prevent destitution among asylum seekers by defending their legal rights to food and shelter. ASAP is the only specialist asylum support appeals charity in the UK.
As well as providing training, ASAP runs an asylum support Advice Line for Advisers, and provides free representation for asylum seekers in asylum support appeal hearings at the First-Tier Tribunal (Asylum Support) in London. ASAP is able to take referrals for representation if you have a client with an appeal hearing.
Please visit ASAP website for details on how to refer.
For further information about ASAP’s training or other services, get in touch with Tom at office@asaproject.org.uk or call 020 8686 1888.
Stop cuts to asylum support
August 22, 2009 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
The government has recently announced, in a letter sent to refugee agencies that from October, support to single asylum seekers aged over 25 is to be reduced to just £35.13 each week. This is basically £5 per day, to cover anything that an individual might need while waiting for a decision on their claim.
This means everything – food, toiletries, clothes, travel, phone calls – on just £5 per day.
While the amounts going to children, couples and 18-24 year olds will go up in line with inflation, the government has decided that because supported asylum seekers are provided with accommodation that includes utilities bills, unlike other people on benefits they don’t face additional costs when they turn 25. So, they are introducing a single rate for all single asylum seekers regardless of age.
We are really disappointed that, instead of using this as an opportunity to raise rates for under 25s, the change will mean a cut from £42 to £35.13 for over-25s. This means that people who start receiving support from October will have to manage on nearly £7 a week less than current rates – leaving them to survive on just a little more than 50% of standard income support.
If asylum seekers who are able to work were allowed to do so, they wouldn’t be forced to rely on benefits.
Asylum seekers are among the most vulnerable impoverished groups in our society. They have often experienced unimaginable traumas, including torture, rape or other forms of violence, and have come to the UK with nothing. They deserve our help and compassion, not to be penalised.
What’s more, the government did this without any consultation, on the basis that it believes no-one will care. We know this is not the case, and we need your help now, to stop this change going ahead
Please write to the Home Secretary, Rt. Hon. Alan Johnson MP, to ask him to reconsider urgently.
The Refugee Council website has a model letter for you to print out and send to the Home Secretary : www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/stopcuts . If you have time, please personalise the letter as this will increase its impact. Don’t forget to include your own address.
Thanks for your support.
The Campaigns Team
Refugee Council
Government slashes support to asylum seekers awaiting a decision
July 31, 2009 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
The government announced yesterday that it is cutting its cash support to destitute asylum seekers waiting for a decision. Currently, single asylum seekers over the age of 25 receive £42.16 a week, which is 30% less than a single person over the age of 25 who is resident in the UK. The government is planning to reduce this to £35.15 per week from October, leaving asylum seekers with only £5 per day to live on.
This is despite the consumer price index, which measures inflation, standing at 5.2%, which means that overall destitute single asylum seekers aged 25 or over will be more than £9 per week worse off.
Donna Covey, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council said:
“We are appalled that the government has moved to cut support to asylum seekers, who are some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Of course, these are hard times for everybody and no-one should receive preferential treatment. But asylum seekers who are destitute only receive 70% of income support as it is, and are not allowed to work. These changes mean they will receive a little over half of what the government says is the minimum people need to live on.
“The number of asylum seekers to the UK has dropped dramatically in the last few years, and we must remember that many of these people have experienced torture, persecution and human rights abuses and most live in already deeply impoverished circumstances. Surely a more practical solution would be to allow those that can to work, and contribute to the growth of our economy, rather than penalising the poorest and most vulnerable?”
Source:Refugee Council
