Asylum Matters – Y&H Update 28th May 2021

1. Ongoing advocacy

Together with Refugees launch and next steps
The Together with Refugees campaign launched on 10^th May, with over 200 organisations and individuals now on board, taking to social media to call for a kinder, fairer and more effective asylum system. Some of the highlights from activity across the Together with Refugees coalition include:

• This filmand orange heart activity from Asylum Welcome
• A personal messagefrom World Jewish Relief
• Lived experience at the forefront of this filmfrom IMIX
• A connection with the campaign symbolfrom the Jesuit Refugee Service
• And great use of a positive news storyto highlight the message from the West End Refugee Service.

Next steps for the campaign include:

• A media launch for the campaign in w/c 1^st June;
• Highlighting members’ activities during Refugee Week, from 14^th to 20^th Coalition members are encouraged to incorporate the orange symbol 🧡 and/or campaign slogans into plans #WhoWeAre #TogetherWithRefugees;
• Continuing to build the Together with Refugees coalition, with more activity being developed around the 70^th anniversary of the UN Convention in late July.

You can find out how to join the coalition on the Together with Refugees website.

Napier Barracks

The Independent has learned that dozens of people have been wrongly placed in Napier barracks after the Home Office failed to recognise their vulnerabilities. Around one in five individuals placed in the barracks since it reopened on 9 April have been transferred out after the Home Office admitted they had vulnerabilities which, according to its own criteria, made them unsuitable to be in barracks accommodation.

The campaign to close the barracks continues, and last weekend Close the Camps UK held a Festival of Solidarity where more than 200 campaigners from different local groups came together to call for the barracks to be closed.

Glasgow takes a stand against immigration raids
On 13th May, there were amazing scenes of community action and solidarity in Glasgow when two men detained by UK Immigration Enforcement were released back into their community after a day of protest. Following rapid mobilisation by the No Evictions Network, hundreds of residents gathered throughout the day to demand for their neighbours to be released. For Roza Salih, one of the Glasgow Girls, this was a demonstration of what communities can do when they take action together, while Sabir Zazai, Chief Executive of the Scottish Refugee Council, has written in the Times that the protest was a demonstration of solidarity in the face of the hostile environment.

Cross-party Glasgow City Councillors, MPs and MSPs have since sent a public letter to the Home Secretary opposing the New Plan for Immigration and standing in solidarity against dawn raids.

Opposition to planned Hassockfield Immigration Removal Centre
National and local opposition to plans for a new detention centre in County Durham continues, as over 200 people from across the North East have written to the Home Secretary to express concerns about the plans for the detention centre for women at the former Hassockfield Secure Training Centre. Women for Refugee Women has also started legal action against the Home Office, challenging whether the Home Office is complying with equality rules in the development of the new detention centre.

JCWI ‘We are Here’ campaign on routes to regularisation for undocumented people 
The Early Day Motion (EDM) being backed by JCWI on routes to regularisation for undocumented people is now live. It highlights how the immigration system pushes migrants out of status and into the Hostile Environment, and the harms to which migrants are then vulnerable. The full text is online here. JCWI has created a template letter for campaigners to send to their MPs, asking them to sign the EDM.

They have also drafted a suggested Tweet, as below:

Government policy is pushing migrants into the Hostile Environment. Now is the time for simple, workable reforms to the visa system to stop this happening – write to your MP now via @jcwi_uk #WeAreHere https://www.jcwi.org.uk/we-are-here-take-action

Many of these themes were also covered within this powerful piece recently published in the Financial Times from Robert Wright.

Privacy International campaign on ASPEN card monitoring
Privacy International have published analysis on the Home Office’s response to a joint letter to the department demanding that it ceases surveillance of asylum seekers through the payments they make on their ASPEN card. They have also published a short piece on what they think should change with the new ASPEN contractor. You can find a short thread about the campaign here.

2. Research and reports

Freedom from Torture messaging guide
‘Changing the Conversation on Asylum: A Messaging Guide’ is a new report based on research into the most persuasive narratives around refugee rights in the UK.

This messaging guide is a tool to help the refugee and migrant advocacy sector to think tactically, play to our strengths and win. It takes a look at the methodology and messages that can help us carve out a new approach that will be successful in persuading the public that seeking safety is a fundamental human right.

The report includes:

• A ‘do’s and don’ts’ guide
• A messaging format for persuading the people we need to persuade, and energising our base
• Messaging principles

Here’s the link, including both a full report and a summary version. You can also watch the launch webinar for the resource here.

3. Home Office and Government developments

New Plan for Immigration
The Home Secretary has set out further details on the UK Government’s plan to overhaul the immigration system in a speech on 24th May. Various documents were published by the Home Office on the proposals, which primarily focus on non-asylum aspects of the Government’s imigration plans and which are examined in this helpful piece on Free Movement.

Individuals and organisations across the UK continue to stand against the harmful plans contained within the Government’s New Plan for Immigration. An expert by experience has written a powerful piece for Detention Action explaining why the plans will be disastrous, while a senior cleric in County Durham has written to the Bishop Auckland MP calling on her to meet with experts by experience. The National Director of the Chartered Institute for Housing Scotland has written about the impact the New Plan will have on the number of people subject to NRPF and calling for a fundamental change in the Government’s approach to immigration.

Meanwhile, the Home Office has been officially asked to extend the consultation period on the proposals after it ran concurrently with Scotland and Wales’ parliamentary elections.

ASPEN card transition 
Last weekend the Home Office transitioned between the old (Sodexo) to the new (Prepaid Finance Services – PFS) ASPEN card providers. The new ASPEN cards should now be in full operation, but reports across the UK have suggested otherwise. We’ve spoken to the Independent this week about the human impacts of this botched transition.

We’re still working to record the impacts of this transition on people seeking asylum. We are therefore interested in any accounts/case studies of people having issues, such as not receiving or understanding the information, struggling during the weekend blackout, having difficulties with the card, problems calling PFS and Migrant Help or not receiving a new card. We would be very grateful if you could please send any examples of this to us at [email protected].

APPG on Immigration Detention Inquiry – call for evidence
The APPG on Immigration Detention has launched an inquiry into the UK Government’s use of large-scale institutional sites, such as former military barracks and a temporarily ‘de-designated’ Immigration Removal Centre (IRC), as asylum accommodation.

Such sites replicate many of the features found in detained settings, including isolation from the wider community, visible security measures, and reduced levels of privacy and control/agency for residents. The inquiry therefore refers to them as sites of ‘quasi-detention’.

The inquiry will seek to understand concerns about the suitability of these types of sites for accommodating people seeking asylum, bearing in mind the potential histories of torture, trafficking and/or other forms of serious trauma, and the ongoing health and legal needs of such individuals.

The APPG has issued a call for written evidence to the inquiry. The deadline for submissions is 5pm on Friday 25 June 2021.

Should you have any questions about the inquiry email [email protected]

4. Resources, events, jobs and training

Yorkshire Celebrates Refugees- 18th June online Refugee Week event with MPs

On Friday 18th June 2-3.30pm, Refugee Council and City of Sanctuary are holding an online event for Refugee Week 2021 bringing together sanctuary seekers, local decision makers and their constituents from across Yorkshire to celebrate refugees and learn about their lives.

After hearing from speakers with lived experience of seeking sanctuary and receiving a brief update on the Government’s New Plan for Immigration, participants will move into breakout rooms allocated according to local area for a chance to discuss what has been shared with their local representatives.

At a time when the right to seek asylum is under attack, this is an opportunity to ensure politicians hear directly from the people affected. Please consider encouraging your own local representatives to attend if you can. I’ve attached a template invite email below for MPs and Councillors in case it’s useful (feel free to edit, you’ll know what will land best!). If you’re not sure who your MP is you can search here, and I’ve attached a spreadsheet with contact details of all MPs in the region. If you receive a response it would be wonderful to know about it in advance to help us with allocating breakout rooms, thank you.

You can find a flyer in PNG and PDF with hyperlink) which can be shared with your networks, and you can sign up for the event yourself here.

Free online workshop on Refugee Family Reunion finance
Together Now are running a free online session 10am – 11:30 am on Thursday 10 June on refugee family reunion and specifically the financial impact of the process. This workshop is aimed at everyone working with refugees and asylum seekers who want to gain an overview of the process focused on how the costs can impact families in the long and short term. To register please complete the form here.

Maternity Action Telephone advice for the voluntary sector and health professionals

The Migrants Women’s Rights Service advice line will open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 10am -12pm and 2pm to 4pm.  The number is 0207 251 6189. It is a second tier advice line which means it is only for advisers and health professionals (including midwives). The service offers advice on the following issues:

• The housing and support options for all groups of migrant women who are pregnant or new mothers;
• Advice on NHS charging for maternity care;
• Advice on access to primary healthcare, NRPF conditions, provisions such as the maternity exemption certs, HC2 certs, free school meals and free nursery places.

Refugee Council National Infoline Service continues

Refugee Council’s National Infoline service has been extended to 31st July. Live service will continue to be available Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10.30am-1pm and 2-4.30pm. The freephone number to call is 0808 196 7272, although voice messages can no longer be left on the Infoline. For all enquiries please contact: [email protected].

Jobs and opportunities

• Migrant Voice is recruiting a Fundraiser/Business Development Manager, closing date 31st May. More details here.
• Hope Not Hate are recruiting for an Email Campaigns Lead and a Social Media Lead. The closing date for applications to both roles is 2nd June.
• Bristol Refugee Rights is looking for an Advice Worker and a Learning and Group Coordinator, closing date 6th June. More details here.
• The European Network on Statelessness is recruiting a Policy & Advocacy Officer, closing date 7th June. Details here.
• Praxis is looking for a Campaigns Coordinator (closing date 7th June) and a Digital Communications Manager (closing date 9th June). More details about both roles are here.
• PAFRAS are recruiting for a Volunteer and Drop-In Coordinator, closing date 11th June. Details here.
• Action Foundation is recruiting a Head of Client Services, closing date 21st June. Full details are here.

The Other Side of Hope
the other side of hope is a new, UK-based, print and online literary magazine, edited by immigrants and refugees. Their purpose is to serve and celebrate the refugee and immigrant communities worldwide. The magazine is currently calling for submissions, including fiction & poetry (no theme; open to refugees and immigrants) and non-fiction, book reviews & author interviews (open to everyone; theme: migration).

The magazine pays £100 per published author for the print issue, and £50 for the online issue. You can find submission details on their website.

5. What we’ve been reading and listening to

Many of you will have already read Daniel Trilling’s Guardian long read ‘Cruel, paranoid, failing: inside the Home Office’. Full of interviews with officials, former ministers and individuals affected by the department and its decisions; and details which are at once highly familiar and deeply shocking, the article is a must-read for refugees and people in the asylum system, and those organisations working with them.

In more positive news, Ghadaq shared her story in the Metro of finally being granted the right to work after 10 months in the asylum system (she secured early access to the employment market following a legal case on the matter in relation to her particular circumstances). This follows a previous article the Lift The Ban coalition secured in the same paper last November where Ghadaq spoke of her frustration at being locked out of the Covid-19 effort.

The brilliant CARAG ‘Still we rise’ podcast can be found on Apple podcasts, Spotify and on the CARAG website. The latest episode has an interview with Alphonsine Kabagabo, who survived the Rwandan Genocide and is now Director of Women for Refugee Women in London.