'Indefinite Leave To Remain' for people who are undocumented, destitute, and those in the legal process #HealthAndSafetyForAll
This is our call:
We call upon the British and Irish States to act immediately so that all undocumented, destitute and migrant people in the legal process in both the UK and Ireland are granted Status Now, as in *Indefinite Leave to Remain. In this way every human, irrespective of their nationality or citizenship can access healthcare, housing, food and the same sources of income from the State as everyone else
The Home Office has a duty to provide housing and subsistence to asylum seekers who are awaiting a decision on their claim and are destitute.
Asylum accommodation is primarily delivered by private providers through the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC). Home Office spending on asylum accommodation and support has increased significantly in recent years, from £739 million in 2019-20 to £4.7 billion in 2023-4.
The Home Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry into asylum accommodation. The inquiry will focus on how asylum accommodation is currently delivered, how the Home Office has managed the AAS contracts, and what lessons can be learned and applied to delivery of asylum accommodation in the future. The inquiry will also look at the impact that the current approach to delivering asylum accommodation has on local areas, and how the Home Office works with local partners, particularly local authorities.
Continue reading “Asylum accommodation – call for evidence”People with a claim under modern slavery rules for Leave to Remain often have an asylum case because of their situation …
This inspection examined the performance of the Immigration Enforcement Competent Authority since its establishment in 2021.
This inspection examined the performance of the Immigration Enforcement Competent Authority (IECA), assessing its practices and processes for making decisions, its approach to assuring the timeliness and quality of those decisions, and its management of safeguarding issues.
The inspection was initiated by my predecessor, David Neal, and the bulk of the evidence was gathered in January and February 2024. However, it was not possible to conclude the inspection in the usual manner as there was no Independent Chief Inspector in post from 21 February to 3 June 2024. In June, I asked the Home Office for some additional information and updated evidence. My report, including the Key Findings and Recommendations, reflects both the original evidence and this new material.
Continue reading “ICIBI report: modern slavery decision-making”This is a strong interview with Loraine, Olivia and Maryam who are all very busy in various groups and their daily lives supporting people and working for change:
https://seedsforchange.podbean.com/e/staying-alive-self-organising-for-survival
We know them through StatusNow4All but that is just a small part of their reaching out. They are amazing people with a lot of insight having come through or still living in the asylum system.
They make some very pertinent comments which you may find helpful.
Bridget Young, Director of NACCOM, said;
“Our research shows that thousands of people each year are needlessly pushed into destitution and homelessness as they go through the asylum and immigration system. No one should have to experience trauma, hardship and injustice simply because of their immigration status, but this is the reality for so many.
“Every member of our communities should be able to thrive, not just survive, but that’s impossible when you don’t have a safe or stable home, or enough to eat. Urgent change is needed to ensure that the asylum and immigration system doesn’t keep driving up levels of destitution and homelessness, and fuelling injustice in refugee and migrant communities.”
NACCOM’s latest Annual Survey data reveals that destitution and homelessness in migrant and refugee communities are on the rise in the UK, with thousands of people in the asylum and wider immigration system routinely experiencing trauma and hardship.
Our annual data briefing, Understanding destitution and homelessness in the asylum and immigration system, paints a comprehensive – and shocking – picture of the extent, impact and root causes of migrant destitution and homelessness in 2023/2024, and shines a spotlight on the increasing complexity of service provision in the sector, as voluntary organisations adapt to a turbulent policy landscape.
A hostile and failing asylum and immigration system, coupled with a chronic lack of social and affordable housing, and a general increase in demand for emergency homelessness assistance, are driving up levels of destitution and homelessness in migrant communities. NACCOM’s inspiring and dedicated frontline members continue to provide a vital safety net, but local capacity often can’t meet soaring demand, and unsustainable pressure is being placed on the voluntary sector – a bold programme of action is needed.
The briefing also lays out a set of recommendations for policy reform to ensure that the asylum and immigration system doesn’t actively drive up levels of destitution and homelessness, as it is currently doing.
Read more here: https://naccom.org.uk/launching-our-new-data-briefing-2024-understanding-destitution-and-homelessness-in-the-asylum-and-immigration-system/
Continue reading “UK charity declares ‘refugee homelessness emergency’ as numbers hit record high”Revealed: Former government’s anti-immigration laws have had horrifying consequences for modern slavery victims
In October 2022, the Home Office made what could have been viewed as a small change to its ministerial responsibilities. It stripped the safeguarding minister of the modern slavery brief, which it moved into the portfolio of the illegal immigration and asylum minister.
The change followed months of briefings from the then Conservative government that dangerous criminals, including terrorists and rapists, were “gaming” the modern slavery system by pretending they were victims of exploitation to avoid deportation.
Two years on, openDemocracy has analysed government data and spoken to academics and experts working to support modern slavery victims. We have uncovered that the former government’s ministerial change and accompanying legislation that equated modern slavery to migration has had two major impacts – with horrifying consequences for vulnerable victims.
Read more here: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/british-modern-slavery-victims-prison-immigration-crackdown-small-boats
This is good news – the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration and HP Chief Inspector of Prisons have previously worked on inquiries, for example in relation to Penally and Napier camps, but this new document make transparent the ways in which they intend to collaborate –
Salford council is first signatory to Unison agreement intended to prevent exploitation of migrant workers
Care workers from countries such as India, Nigeria and the Philippines who faced losing their immigration status in the UK if they left their employers have been promised new protections by a landmark, grassroots deal.
The migrant care workers charter is an agreement designed by care workers and the trade union Unison to prevent the exploitation of people on sponsored visas – and Salford council is the first in the country to sign up to it.
Continue reading “Union launches charter to protect care workers on sponsored UK visas”The report by David Bolt, Independent Chief Inspector of Borders & Immigration – ICIBI and his team on contingency asylum accommodation has been released.
See the Chief Inspector’s comments here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/inspection-report-published-an-inspection-of-contingency-asylum-accommodation-november-2023-june-2024
and the report, plus Home Office response here:
An inquest jury has found “multiple failings” and “missed opportunities” at an immigration detention centre contributed to a Colombian man taking his own life in 2023.
The coroner examining the death of Frank Ospina said he had been let down by the state “in numerous ways” which were “utterly regretful”.
Continue reading “Migrant took his own life after multiple failings at UK detention centre”Migrant workers accuse Home Office of targeting the victims of labour exploitation rather than companies profiting from them
Migrant workers living in a caravan encampment raided by immigration enforcement officers have accused the Home Office of targeting the victims of labour exploitation rather than companies profiting from the hidden economy.
Continue reading “Calls for investigation of Uber Eats and Deliveroo after raid on Bristol caravan camp”Destitute and in Danger, JRS UK’s new report, examines the experiences of homelessness among people refused asylum in London in the context of the cost-of-living crisis and following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Alternative Security Review was undertaken to create public dialogue in the UK on human and ecological security. It aims to show that there are other ways of creating security strategies, centring human and ecological security in policymaking.
Public engagement has been an important part of the Alternative Security Review. As well as the formal research activities that sought the opinions of ordinary people, such as the surveys and photovoice research, we ran a several informal projects as part of the ASR.
In the early stages of the project, we convened a series of Roundtable Discussions with Civil Society to explore the state of human security issues in the UK. What do groups working on or experiencing insecurity think about the government’s attitude towards and policy on human security? Where are the links with militarised ‘national security’? Does ‘national security’ harm the human security of certain groups within the UK? And what about climate breakdown?
Read more on the different components of the project here, and read the Executive and Full Reports: https://rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/alternative-security-review/
‘What this history tells us, above all, is that individual episodes or events do not happen in chronological isolation. Government departments operate in societies with long and complex histories which affect both the formulation and also the effects of policy. In the case of the Windrush Scandal, the ‘hostile environment’ policies implemented in the 2010s did not consider properly the people whose lives and heritage have been defined by the events described in this report.’
Executive summary: Learning lessons from history
This report tells two stories alongside one another. The first story it tells is that of the administration of what might loosely be called ‘immigration policy’ in the United Kingdom, in which the movement of people across the borders of the British Isles was periodically restricted and controlled. The second story it tells is that of the history of black people and other ethnic minorities in Britain, whose lives were profoundly shaped by the politics of race in the British Empire and, latterly, the United Kingdom.
Continue reading “The Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal”This is a letter signed by STatusNow4All: In September 2024, the UK Home Office published a contract – it’s offering to pay NGOs in the UK and abroad millions of pounds to help it take people away from their communities and remove them from the UK.
This contract is dangerous, and deeply unethical. Along with 33 other organisations in the UK and overseas, we wrote to the Home Secretary, rejecting this attempt to make NGOs complicit in the Government’s anti-migrant agenda.
Continue reading “NGOs refuse to be complicit in removals”STOP PRESS – These Walls Must Fall and the No to Hassockfield campaign call for the national demonstration to end immigration detention on 19 October 2024 at Hassockfield/Derwentside
We call on our communities to join us to say no to immigration detention and the government’s detention expansion plan!
Continue reading “Demonstration to end immigration detention on 19 October 2024”