Why do we call for Status Now Archives

July 25, 2021July 25, 2021

Secret deal to remove Zimbabweans from UK

StatusNow4All network members picked up intelligence about people being summarily snatched when reporting or at home – you will find below a series of updates since then.

Below you will find a petition, a suggested letter for your MP, information about demonstrations, letter from APPG Zimbabwe asking the Government to take note of the dangerous situation and halt the removal of people to that country,

We are reminded that UK Governments over many years have often acted in their own interests, and have broken agreements or made deals with the Zimbabwean Government, regardless of the impact on Zimbabwean people.

Access to our Court system is crucial at these times, for people in this fervently hostile environment. People detained for deportation found that fax machines did not work, lawyers were fully booked and they were deprived of their right to challenge the removal directions.

On the day of the flight, 21 July 2021, the Courts declared that a particular group of people were at risk if they were returned, but those who were taken for the plane would not have had chance to take their case to Court.

Update 25 July 2021: Update on the 14 people deported to Zimbabwe and other deportations planned by the Home Office: ZITA HOLBOURNE LONDON, ENG, United Kingdom

Dear Supporters

It has been 3 days since sadly 14 people were deported to Zimbabwe.

The majority of those targeted were not deported and we thank you for joining our campaign and taking action.

Our thoughts are with the 14 people who were deported and their families and loved ones.

We know that the flight was operated by HiFly and that it departed from Stansted airport on Wednesday evening , arriving in Harare on Thursday morning.

July 23, 2021July 23, 2021

ICIBI inspection of the use of hotels and barracks as contingency asylum accommodation

Updated 23 July 2021: An inspection of contingency asylum accommodation:
HMIP report on Penally Camp and Napier Barracks (November 2020 – March 2021)

Details

The inspectors conducted visits to both sites, Penally Camp on 16 and 17 February and Napier Barracks on 17 and 18 February. The ICIBI also returned for a further visit to Napier Barracks on 4 March.

On 8 March 2021 the then Chief Inspector, David Bolt, published interim high-level findings. This report is the fuller final report that was sent to the Home Office. It reflects the department’s factual accuracy checks, and includes forewords from David Bolt, the previous Chief Inspector, and David Neal, the current Chief Inspector.

There is also a copy of a letter sent in March from David Bolt to the Director General of Asylum and Protection.

This link contains

a foreword from the new ICIBI Dave Neal
letter from the previous ICIBI David Bolt to the Home Office, dated 21 March 2021
and the report from the Inspector of Prisons
The Home Office’s response to the report

Summary of findings for Napier Barracks and Penally Camp

July 22, 2021July 22, 2021

ENABLING NURSE DAISY

Updated 22 July 2021: “The home office actions taken leading up to the forced removal of 14 people last night demonstrate the depth of contempt and indifference of it’s parliamentarily elected leaders towards both the concept and the practice of equal human rights. By the same token the solidarity and resilience that underpinned the actions taken to defend those rights offers hope. We will never give up until equal human rights are enjoyed by all.” Rhetta Moran, RAPAR

“Thank you Rhetta for all the support you have given and that you will continue to render, the past couple of weeks have been was a very sad and stressful day. The pain still remains of all the guys that went last night, I pray and hope that this will not happen to any family again. I can imagine how I would have coped without the support that I received, this has been an eye opener, I want thank you all for your unwavering support. This status will continue to be the driving force to help others out there. Your prayers that you gave relentlessly will continue to inspire and put a smile on others life as it has done to me. The battle is not over. People are still living in fear and we as a family here we have the responsibility. Prayer worriers continue to spread the love of God, your faith has made me stronger over this process. Surely God does miracles. Let’s keep firing the cylinders. Thank you all.

Enabling nurse Daisy will continue to remain open, working as a source of support for others” Daisy

STOP PRESS:– WE ARE WORKING WITH DAISY TO HELP HER TO STOP MOSES’ DEPORTATION – if you can help us ENABLING NURSE DAISY please email info@statusnow4all.org OR TEXT a message to +44 7466 428635

Please also see our post here: https://statusnow4all.org/secret-deal-to-remove-zimbabweans-from-uk/

July 20, 2021July 20, 2021

Invisible Kids: Childhood statelessness in the UK

20 July 2021: European Network on Statelessness: Childhood statelessness in the UK is not currently adequately understood by government officials, legal practitioners, judges, politicians, policy advocates, frontline service providers, local authority staff, and others.

The European Network on Statelessness has been working with its UK members to better understand the causes of childhood statelessness, the children affected, the consequences for them and their families, and what action could be taken to help prevent and reduce childhood statelessness in the UK.

July 19, 2021July 20, 2021

Regularisation of undocumented migrants will save lives and livelihoods – 19 July 2021 protest

Updated 19 July 2021: On 19 July 2021 the following petition https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/567681 calling for people without settled status to be granted citizenship came to Parliament. The petition gathered more than 100,000 signatures and so will be debated. See below for a link to the Youtube video of the debate, and transcript of the debate itself.

Demonstrations have been held around the country in support of the essence of this petition . StatusNow4All is live-streamed here on our Facebook page : https://fb.watch/v/aq9tSGxAj/, and see photos below.

On 19^th July the Status Now Network and Partner Organisations are Planning National Protest Actions to Coincide with the Amnesty Debate at Westminster Hall in London

***Below you will find details of the concern, events where you can protest in London and Coventry + a suggested letter to send to your MP + two leaflets to print off, a googledoc of social media suggestions, and an appeal for stewards.***

Status Now Network will join other organisations in a nationwide protest action while Westminster debates about providing ‘amnesty’ to undocumented migrants.

Status Now Network calls for Indefinite Leave to Remain for all undocumented migrants and those in the legal process living in Britain today. While SNN does not use the word ‘amnesty’ – because of its implication of wrongdoing – we nevertheless support all protest actions which aim to raise awareness of all the debates about routes to regularisation.

July 19, 2021July 21, 2021

MPs call for Status Now for Migrants: Simultaneous Rallies throughout England

See StatusNow4All press release below.

Updated 19 July 2021: Claudia Webbe, Member of Parliament for Leicester East, will today call for Status Now for all undocumented migrants.

On the evening of 19^th July 2021 Parliament’s Westminster Hall will debate a petition of 103,440 signatures that calls for the urgent regularisation of undocumented migrants with a safe pathway to citizenship after five years. A demonstration is planned outside of Downing Street to coincide with the debate and amplify the calls for justice for all undocumented migrants.

Ms Webbe has been leading a parliamentary campaign for a secure immigration status for all undocumented migrants. The Member of Parliament for Leicester East tabled the ground-breaking EDM 658 that called for Indefinite Leave to Remain for the first time in the history of the British Parliament. This was followed in February 2021 with EDM 1442 to reinforce this need.

July 19, 2021July 20, 2021

WEBINAR: TUES 20 July, 12 – 1.30pm: UP FROM DESTITUTION

Women and our children escaping persecution, war and ecological devastation, have a right to asylum and support.

LAUNCH OF: Up from Destitution, a survey of women seeking asylum and making immigration applications in the UK. Nearly half of the women surveyed had no income at all and 60% are living on an income so low that they are officially destitute.

PANEL INCLUDES:
All African Women’s Group (AAWG) – a self-help group of women seeking asylum
Refuge from Rape and Destitution – an initiative of Women Against Rape to end injustices in the asylum system and destitution imposed by government.

PANELLISTS WILL ADDRESS:

July 19, 2021July 20, 2021

Rising Calls for Health and Safety 4 ALL

19th July 2021: PRESS RELEASE: Rising Calls for Health and Safety 4 ALL
Debate in Parliament today coincides with simultaneous demonstrations

“As a health worker, I must be enabled to do my job to the best of my ability, not be confronted with this abuse and distress and trauma and expected to keep on working, keep on raising my children safety, while my man is threatened with this great danger”. Front Line Nurse, Daisy Motlogwa

“It is incredible that we let unknown numbers of people languish without documentation, forced into the “unofficial” economy or worse. People who can work, want to work and pay taxes should be brought into the mainstream.” Tony Lloyd MP for Rochdale

July 19, 2021July 20, 2021

Reckless ‘New Plan for Immigration’

We will collate reports of the Nationality & Borders Bill which has come out of the recent ‘New Plan for Immigration’; and reports related to Home Office practice.

Updated 20 July 2021: This lays out Priti Patel’s view of what should come, as the debate on the Bill begins in Parliament: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretary-opening-speech-for-nationality-borders-bill

This was the debate in Parliament: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2021-07-19/debates/FC19E458-F75D-480D-A20D-CD1E7ADC937E/NationalityAndBordersBill

You can follow the passage of this Bill here: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3023

Updated 19 July 2021: Migrant Voice/Amnesty: Shutting down the UK asylum system: the new immigration bill

Migrant Voice and Amnesty International have released a joint briefing for MPs for the second reading of the government’s Nationality and Borders Bill on 19 July.

The vast majority of this Bill seems to have the purpose of shutting down the asylum system. We therefore strongly oppose most of this Bill, which will undermine the human rights of people affected by our immigration laws. The only element of the Bill we support is Part 1, which seeks to dismantle historical inequalities which have deprived some people of the British nationality that ought to be theirs.

If the Bill is passed in its present form, it will have a devastating impact on people seeking asylum. It will renege on this country’s international law commitments and significantly reduce the already modest contribution made by the UK to provide a place of safety to people forced to flee conflict and persecution.

July 19, 2021July 19, 2021

Care4Calais: We are heartbroken to report the death of a young man from Sudan who was living in a London hotel visited by our volunteers

19 July 2021: Poem by Loraine Masiya Mponela:

Do not let Bukhariri be forgotten for in the system there are many Bukhariris

July 11, 2021July 16, 2021

Manchester Protest Against Immigration Bail Reporting on 15 July 2021

Manchester Protest Against Immigration Bail Reporting on July 15^th from 1-3pm, the Home Office Reporting Centre, Dallas Court, Salford, M50 2GF

***Click here on our events category for more events coming up***

Video from the event, and photos below:

Mariam SNN North West working group leader profiling Status Now outside Dallas Court Salford today

July 9, 2021July 9, 2021

Aspen cards and surveillance of people in the asylum system

Reports coming in from around the country about serious delays in the changeover of ‘Aspen’ card provider on 21 May 2021, leaving people destitute; see the Home Office ‘fix’ as an attachment below … but people are still without money for food two weeks later.

Update from signatory organisation PositiveAction in Housing: The Aspen Card Crisis

More than six weeks on, the Home Office admits that 7% of asylum seekers have still not received their debit card (Aspen). The Home Office would not give the actual figure, but we believe this translates to roughly 4,500 asylum seeking men, women and children across the U.K. still affected by the Aspen card crisis.

Complaints are coming in to our office at the rate of 25 to 30 cases per week and we expect this to continue. This is on top of the current caseload of 83 asylum-seeking families (including 16 children and babies) left without money for food. Contrary to what Home Office ministers imply, those who live in private accommodation or hotels do not receive Emergency Crisis Payments. And many people report that they have received random amounts without back payments.

To increase capacity, we have teamed up with Latta & Co Solicitors in Glasgow and Duncan Lewis in London to take up some of the most urgent cases that are not getting sorted. This means using Pre Action Protocols and Judicial Review, if necessary. To minimise unnecessary delays we are liaising directly with the Home Office, instead of going through MigrantHelp. This approach means we get a quicker response.

July 5, 2021July 12, 2021

Start with Hope, Change will follow

***Click here on our events category for more events coming up***

Walk with Amal is inspirational: Amal is coming to UK 19 October to 3 November 2021, stopping at Folkestone, Canterbury, London, Oxford, Coventry, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester.

Updated 5 July 2021: There will be a public launch event in Manchester on 18 July 2021: ‘A Sleeping Child‘ in Manchester:

A young girl won’t go to sleep. She is anxious. She plays with her puppet, trying to distract herself, but the memories of the old land keep her awake.

A lullaby is heard. It spreads through the city. She falls asleep. The puppet slips from her hand and all the way into her past…

The Walk is officially launched in Manchester, United Kingdom with this prelude to Little Amal’s epic journey in partnership with MIF.

https://www.walkwithamal.org/events/a-sleeping-child/

July 2, 2021July 2, 2021

Asylum queue nine times longer than 10 years ago

2 July 2021: BBC: The number of migrants waiting in the UK for their asylum claims to be processed was nine times higher by the end of last year than it was in 2010.

One is Patricia, 19, who fled war and abuse in Liberia and says her mental health has suffered during the two years she has waited for a decision.

There are currently 65,000 people in the queue, official figures obtained by the Refugee Council suggest. [Read the report here: https://media.refugeecouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/01191305/Living-in-Limbo-A-decade-of-delays-in-the-UK-Asylum-system-July-2021.pdf]

The Home Office said it had a plan to “fix the broken asylum system”.

July 1, 2021July 1, 2021

Asylum seekers being subjected to dangerous and life threatening housing conditions by The Mears Group

22 June 2021: Chronicle Live: Refugees living in fear over the state of their Newcastle home speak out

The three asylum seekers have raised their concerns over what has been described as the dilapidated and dangerous state of their home in Newcastle. Asylum seekers in Newcastle have spoken out about what they describe as the dilapidated and potentially dangerous conditions they are living in.

They live in Benwell Grove, Fenham, in housing provided by the Mears Group which has a £1bn Government contract to provide accommodation and support for asylum seekers.

[…]

Robina Qureshi, director of Positive Action in Housing, wrote: “This young man, along with two other asylum seekers, is being subjected to dangerous and life threatening housing conditions by The Mears Group, asylum housing contractor who began major electrical rewiring and repairs without any notice while the three asylum seekers are living there.