Status Now 4 All - Page 2 of 4 - #healthandsafetyforall

June 26, 2020June 28, 2020

Please ask your MP to support EDM #658.

We have an urgent request: the call for Status Now for All is being carried into Parliament in an Early Day Motion – EDM #658 as follows:

EDM #658 – LEAVE TO REMAIN STATUS

That this House notes that there are currently an unknown number of persons in the UK who are not citizens of the UK and who do not at present have leave to remain in this country, who lack any entitlement to support from the state and are therefore entirely without funds to feed, clothe and house themselves and their families and who are unable to comply with government guidance on self-isolation and social distancing; and considers it essential that the government takes immediate action to ensure that leave to remain in the United Kingdom is granted to all such persons who are within the UK but are not citizens, irrespective of their nationality or immigration status, so that they can access healthcare, food and housing to enable them to adhere to government advice on social distancing, and to ensure the health of themselves and their families as well as helping protect the health of all of us.

We are grateful to Claudia Webbe MP, Leicester East for agreeing to table the motion with support from a group of MPs:

https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/57173/leave-to-remain-status

Please will you contact your own MP, and to inform your networks about this EDM, asking them to bring it to their MP’s attention and inviting them to sign it, or if they are not able to sign by virtue of their position in Parliament, then to verbally support it in conversation with their colleagues.

You can find your MP’s contact details here using your postcode: https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP

A suggested letter that could be sent to MPs is attached and here:

June 24, 2020June 26, 2020

Coronavirus: Undocumented workers an ‘invisible public health risk’

24 June 2020: BBC: Danny Vincent Coronavirus: Undocumented workers an ‘invisible public health risk’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-52919418 There are an estimated one million undocumented workers in the UK. The coronavirus pandemic has presented them with a new set of challenges and fears over how to maintain an income, remain healthy or even stay alive. …

June 24, 2020June 26, 2020

Homelessness returning: SNN restates our call for housing, healthcare and food for all:

Housing: As the Government announces further lockdown relaxation measures, SNN is receiving reports from the length and breadth of the UK which are indicating that the State intends – it may have already begun – to evict people previously homeless, or in short term NASS accommodation, back into destitution. SNN condemns any such intention or action and restates our call for housing healthcare and food for all: only collective action, based in reality rather than ideology, may enable rational planning for effective pandemic management in the future.

June 24, 2020July 13, 2020

What, if Any, Legal Liability Does the UK Government Have For Deaths Caused by Covid-19?

Henry Blaxland Q.C, Garden Court Chambers: What, if Any, Legal Liability Does the UK Government Have For Deaths Caused by Covid-19?
‘The government has faced sustained criticism of many aspects of its handling of the pandemic. Central to that criticism has been the question of whether the government’s decision making has made the requirement to protect life secondary to economic considerations. What has to be faced is the shockingly high fatality rate in the United Kingdom among care home residents and those working on the front-line, including transport workers. That in itself establishes a prima facie case against those responsible for making critical decisions as the pandemic has engulfed us. All the indications are, however, that any question of legal liability at a governmental level will be firmly resisted’

June 24, 2020July 13, 2020

A chance to feel safe: Precarious Filipino migrants amid the UK’s coronavirus outbreak

Kanlungan Filipino Consortium: We have officially launched our report on precarious Filipino migrants amid the UK’s coronavirus outbreak. Our report focuses on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak and associated ‘lockdown’ in the UK on Filipino precarious migrants (a majority undocumented). The report finds that the systematic disenfranchisement of migrants through the “hostile environment” agenda has exacerbated the negative effects of the pandemic and lockdown on this group. The coronavirus pandemic has intensified and highlighted the deadly effects of the hostile environment. But it also reveals the life threatening inequalities that already existed before the outbreak.

Executive Summary: “Give a chance for all [those] without papers, like me, to feel safe” –Shane’s message to policy-makers

This report documents the impact of the coronavirus outbreak and associated ‘lockdown’ in the UK on Filipino precarious migrants (a majority undocumented). It is based on research conducted in May and June 2020, including an online survey with 78 respondents, and 15 follow-up interviews.

June 21, 2020June 22, 2020

Congo’s Activist in Exile: The Relentless Struggle of Jenny Dakosta Van Mputu

19 June 2020: Blue Shoes Productions: In November 2018, we had the pleasure of meeting Jenny Dakosta Van Mputu. At the time, we didn’t know that we would be meeting someone with a story as incredible as his, one that is as inspiring as it is heartrending.

Throughout his life, Jenny has been an activist for human rights, and a protester against the abuses of the dictatorships in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). As an activist, Jenny founded an organisation, No Impunity for the Congolese State (NICS), to help combat the human rights abuses in the DRC.

June 21, 2020June 26, 2020

Imagine my reality: God I Love My Son

This years’ national Refugee Week theme is IMAGINE. Below is a taste of reality for one of our network members, Loraine Mponela through poetry ‘God I Love My Son’ and a video as an element of the We Are Maokwo ‘Imagine, my reality‘ project.

LAURA NYAHUYE who made the video below says: I listened to several audios and watched several videos from the content that we collated. We collated information in various languages. The audios that kept coming back to me was Loraine Masiya Mponelas audio. Loraine shared about her role as a leader/chairperson with Coventry Asylum and Refugee Action Group – CARAG https://www.carag.co.uk during COVID 19. The need to adjust and interact via zoom, searching for funding and supporting the A to Z needs of others. For example, phone credit, internet, housing, mental health, wellbeing, food to mention a few. Amid all this Loraine was/is worried about her health. While worrying for her health she is worried about her son whom she has been separated from for 9 years.

June 19, 2020June 19, 2020

MASI: Statement on the Programme for Government

MASI: Statement on the Programme for Government, 19 June 2020:

The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland welcomes the inclusion of ending the abhorrent system of Direct Provision in the negotiated programme for government. For the first time since the system of Direct Provision was introduced 20 years ago, there is acceptance that it cannot go on any longer. MASI commends the Green Party for their insistence that ending Direct Provision must be included in the programme for government. The recognition that capital investment will be required in order to move to a more humane asylum reception process and an end to the profiteering racket that is Direct Provision is welcomed as a point of departure.