Concerns about the use of army barracks, hotels, offshoring etc etc. continued 2023
This post follows on from the initial post which became very long, but can be found here Here we update the post with reports of atrocities around the army camp accommodation and hotels, and other Home Office plans to accommodate people in new sites.
See also posts regarding ‘Detention Centres‘ such as such as Hassockfield/Derwentside, and also the post regarding plans to export people seeking asylum to Rwanda
Re: children: https://statusnow4all.org/article-39-seeks-legal-protection-for-highly-vulnerable-children-housed-in-home-office-hotels/
Updated 2 May 2023: SNN signatory organisation Jesuit Refugee Service launches their report: Napier Barracks: the inhumane reality
an in-depth report of the experiences of men held in quasi-detention at Napier Barracks
DOWNLOAD THE REPORT
The Jesuit Refugee Service UK (JRS UK)’s report ‘Napier Barracks: the inhumane reality’ shines a light onto the experiences of people placed in the asylum camp at the disused Napier Barracks in Kent.
JRS UK ran an outreach service to Napier for two years from October 2020. What we saw on the ground was deeply troubling: the site was bleak and rundown, the setting was securitised, the accommodation was crowded. This all took a serious toll on mental health. The report draws from the accounts of 17 forcibly displaced people supported by JRS UK held in Napier Barracks between July and November 2022.
Continue reading “Concerns about the use of army barracks, hotels, offshoring etc etc. continued 2023”Opening Hearts through the Arts
See Life Seekers Aid:
Life Seekers Aid is a charity for asylum seekers and refugees, run by asylum seekers and refugees.
Founded in 2021, Life Seekers Aid is a successor to Camp Residents of Penally—CROP—an organisation established in 2020 by asylum seekers inside Penally Camp in Wales.
CROP worked for the welfare and rights of asylum seekers housed in this military camp during the pandemic, cooperating with local and national charities, legal and medical organisations, and official bodies.
Read more and see the artwork: https://www.lifeseekers.org/
Updated 27 June 2022: ‘Adopt a Refugee’ – Loraine Masiya Mponela
Reckless ‘Nationality & Borders’ legislation
We continue to campaign for those who have precarious status to be granted Indefinite Leave to Remain and for there to be discussions about how to move forward with the banners of #StatusNow4All and #HealthAndSafety4All.
When the will is there, it can be done – that is our point: there is hope yet … We will collate reports and legal challenges here.
See more information about the Illegal Immigration Bill here: https://statusnow4all.org/illegal-immigration-bill/
Updated 7 April 2023: Gov.uk : This is just mean and unnecessarily cruel to a destitute person: Gov.uk: New crackdown to prevent illegal migrants accessing bank accounts
Data sharing with the financial sector will begin today as the government cracks down on illegal migrants accessing banking services.
Making it more difficult for unlawful migrants to access financial services is an important tool to help deter illegal migration by preventing people from working illegally and profiting from services they are not entitled to.
Having access to a current account can assist those here unlawfully in obtaining work illegally and securing credit. It can help those without permission to be in the UK gain a foothold in society, regardless of their immigration status.
Identifying an unlawful migrant’s current account may also provide evidence of illegal working, helping identify and stamp this out.
Continue reading “Reckless ‘Nationality & Borders’ legislation”Exporting people seeking asylum – Rwanda
There will be further protests about removals to Rwanda: See reports below
Updated 2 April 2023: BBC: A lot to unpack from that interview – Laura Kuenssberg
Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
It was the first time the home secretary had come into our studio live and there was plenty to talk about – and plenty of headlines from what she had to say.
First off, Suella Braverman was resolutely determined to defend her plans to send migrants to Rwanda, saying repeatedly that in her view it is, contrary to the United Nations’ view, a safe country for refugees.
There’s no question that there’s public desire to stop the terrible trade of people trafficking across the Channel. Many governments, not just the UK, are grappling with what to do. But there are plenty of practical and political problems about the home secretary’s approach, and huge jeopardy in her and the prime minster’s slogan to “stop the boats”.
Continue reading “Exporting people seeking asylum – Rwanda”Detention Centres — IRCs
See also updates about the tireless campaigning of Daisy and family here: https://statusnow4all.org/enabling-nurse-daisy/
See posts regarding contingency accommodation which is sometimes quasi-detention
1 April 2023: Guardian: Death of detainee near Heathrow prompts immigration detention crisis fears
Frank Ospina’s death followed by reports of suicide attempts by other detainees at immigration centre
Lawyers and charities have predicted an unfolding crisis in immigration detention after the death of a detainee and reports of subsequent suicide attempts by others.
The Home Office confirmed that investigations had been launched by police and the prisons and probation ombudsman into the death of Frank Ospina on 26 March. He was being held at Colnbrook immigration removal centre near Heathrow next to the adjoining Harmondsworth immigration detention centre. He is believed to have been 39 and from Colombia. Detainees said he took his own life, although this has not been confirmed.
A notice to detainees from the centre manager Paul Rennie dated the day the man died states: “It is with respect that I have to announce that resident Mr Frank Ospina sadly passed away today.”
It adds: “Please be assured we are doing all we can to reduce the risks of such incidents happening again in the future.”
The Guardian received reports from several detainees that shortly after reports of Ospina’s death circulated, a number of detainees attempted suicide, and that some detainees staged a protest at the centre earlier this week.
Charities have also highlighted delays in carrying out what are known as rule 35 reports, which assess vulnerabilities of people in detention such as whether they are a suicide risk. The Home Office did not comment on these reports.
The detention problems come at a time when the Home Office has announced it will be expanding the use of immigration detention. In a fact sheet published on 31 March officials said that under the new rules “it is for the home secretary rather than the courts to determine what is a reasonable time period to detain an individual”
Continue reading “Detention Centres — IRCs”Sunak’s ‘stop small boats’ plan is a desperate gamble he seems unlikely to win
12 March 2023: The “illegal migration bill” places a legal duty on the home secretary to remove anyone who arrives on a small boat, either to Rwanda or another “safe third country”, “as soon as reasonably practicable”.
For this plan to work it will be necessary to detain each and every person arriving in a small boat until their removal can be affected. The logistical problems here are immense. Last year the total entering by this route was 45,756. The figure for the current year is likely to be as high, with over 3,000 arriving since January.
According to the Oxford University Migration Observatory the immigration removal centre estate has a capacity for detaining people in the region of 2,500 places. A further 500 people have been detained in regular prison establishments but the scope for making greater use of these facilities is limited. The statistics provided for the UK in the World Prison Brief shows the prison system already in an overcrowded state, with more than 83.000 people being held across an estate with an official capacity of just over 77,000.
Continue reading “Sunak’s ‘stop small boats’ plan is a desperate gamble he seems unlikely to win”‘A punishing process’: Experiences of people on the 10-year route to settlement
2 March 2023: Guardian: Half of people trying to get permanent UK residency by 10-year route struggle to afford food
Effects of ‘devastating and punishing’ Home Office system introduced in 2012 now being felt, experts say
More than half the people trying to secure permanent residency in the UK through the Home Office’s “devastating and punishing” 10-year route struggle to afford food and pay bills, a survey has indicated.
The 10-year route to settling permanently in the UK was one of a series of deliberately tough measures introduced in 2012 by Theresa May when she was home secretary, as part of drive to cut net migration. Researchers say the full effects of the policy are only now starting to be felt.
Continue reading “‘A punishing process’: Experiences of people on the 10-year route to settlement”Barriers and Bridges to Wellbeing
Updated 25 February 2023: Vulnerable asylum seekers ‘prisoners in their own homes’ after fleeing war zones
As many asylum seekers say they have been placed in unsuitable properties littered with tripping hazards, an expert blamed the system which she says ‘creates a hostile environment’
Alimony Bangura, a disabled asylum seeker from Sierra Leone, is living in Manchester (
Disabled asylum seekers who fled war zones for the safety of Britain say they have been left as prisoners in their own homes.
Many claim they have been placed in unsuitable properties that are littered with tripping hazards and have broken lifts.
One disabled man told how he fell while trying to reach his upstairs bathroom.
And a blind refugee said he could only go out once a week with the aid of carers.
Their misery continues despite a 2020 court case which found the Government failed to provide disabled-friendly digs.
Campaigners say they have warned Home Secretary Suella Braverman of a string of cases across the country.
Worryingly, there is no official record of how many asylum seekers are disabled.
Continue reading “Barriers and Bridges to Wellbeing”StatusNow4All Newsletter February 2023
| Welcome to this edition of SNN newsletter where we are covering a number of items that will be of interest to everyone involved in migrant and refugee solidarity work. The first article analyses the government ‘s responsibilities for the racist riot in Knowsley. The second highlights how four reviews of the hostile environment recently published by the Home Office show that this policy is racist. The fight for antiracist workplaces and our call for status now for all is the focus of our third article, while the fourth article shows the strong support of the BFAWU (Bakers, Food & Allied Workers Union) to our campaign and reports an important motion approved by its executive committee. |
Stop the deportations
Channel Crossings
See also https://statusnow4all.org/concerns-about-the-use-of-army-barracks/
Updated 1 February 2023: Gov.uk: Leadership of small boats operations returns to the Home Office
The Small Boats Operational Command (SBOC) will bring together the government’s response to small boats with 730 additional staff.
Read more: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/leadership-of-small-boats-operations-returns-to-the-home-office
Telegraph: Stop migrant boats or face defeat, Suella Braverman tells Tories
Home Secretary tells The Telegraph the party’s reputation for competence is ‘on the line’ and crossings must be tackled to win election
Continue reading “Channel Crossings”Migration Health and Care
PICUM: FINLAND: NEW LAW EXPANDS HEALTH CARE FOR UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS
A new law has recently come into force in Finland that expands health care for undocumented migrants living in the country. Under this law, undocumented people can now access necessary care – that is, care that health care professionals deem necessary. This covers, for instance, conditions like diabetes or asthma that, if left untreated, would constitute a risk to the person’s health and increase the likelihood of urgent care being needed in the future.
Continue reading “Migration Health and Care”Enabling Nurse Daisy
Updated 21 January 2023: Another beautiful day as we stand in solidarity with the women incarcerated at the Derwentside IRC aka Hassockfield detention centre.
We were joined by students from Durham university – this tells us our call to shut down this centre is gaining momentum. We had senior member from Durham and a politician that spoke strongly against this establishment. It was peaceful and the police were there but did not have work very hard.
Continue reading “Enabling Nurse Daisy”Waling Waling’s call for the rights of domestic workers
Waling Waling: In 1997/98 the then Labour government accepted that domestic work in the private household would be recognised as work in employment legislation.
This followed a ten-year long campaign organised by Kalayaan, Waling Waling, the Commission for Filipino Migrant Workers (CFMW) and fully supported by the Transport & General Workers Union, now Unite. Other organisations and individuals including parliamentarians in both Houses and in the European Parliament supported the campaign over the years. Disgracefully, in 2012 the then Home Secretary in the coalition government, Teresa May abolished the domestic worker visa with rights and protections, saying that future domestic workers would be protected under the Modern Slavery Act, thereby reducing workers with legal rights and protections to victims with the promise of protection. This system simply doesn’t work.
Continue reading “Waling Waling’s call for the rights of domestic workers”