Any Thoughts On This?

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/asylum/rights/

Rights and responsibilities

This page explains the rights and responsibilities you have while you are in the United Kingdom as an asylum applicant.

Your rights

As an asylum applicant in the United Kingdom, you have the right to:

• be treated fairly and lawfully regardless of your race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation or any disability;
• practise your own religion, and you are expected to show respect for people of other faiths;
• have your application considered fairly and accurately;
• have access to support and accommodation if you meet the requirements for it;
• have access to free health care from the National Health Service (NHS); and
• have legal representation. Free legal help may be available, depending on your income and your case. Your case owner can tell you more about this.

Various types of support may be available to you, depending on your circumstances. For more information, see Asylum support and Help and advice. You will not normally be allowed to work while we are considering your asylum application. For more information, see Employment.

Your responsibilities

As an asylum applicant in the United Kingdom, it is your responsibility to:

• co-operate with the UK Border Agency and tell us the truth. It is a crime to make an asylum application that involves trying to deceive us. If you do this and are found guilty of it in a court, you may be put in prison, after which you may be deported;
• stay in regular contact with your case owner, including keeping all your appointments;
• obey the law (for examples, see Obeying the law);
• care for your children (for example, an adult must always supervise children under the age of 16, and if they are aged between five and 16 they must have full-time education, usually at school);and
• leave the United Kingdom if we refuse your application for asylum and any appeal you make is unsuccessful. But until we have made a decision on your application, we will not take any action to remove you or your dependants from the United Kingdom.

DID YOU SEE US???

Last Tuesday, 15th November, we had a flashmob in aid of the STILL HUMAN, STILL HERE campaign. This is a campaign to end the destitution of asylum seekers. In most cases these people have been refused asylum but they cannot return home i.e. for safety reasons - they may be killed, arrested, tortured if they return (you may ask the question: well if this is the case why haven't they been granted asylum then?????)
 - they may not have the right documents
 - they may not have the money to return
 - they may have family in the UK.

These refused asylum seekers then end up homeless, many live on the streets. We believe this is WRONG. Because they have not been granted asylum they cannot work; many are forced to work illegally, or to beg.
What civilized country would do this to someone who is feeling persecution? All they are seeking is protection. They don't come here to claim benefits, or to use the health care system, they come here because something has seriously provoked them to leave their home country and their family.

The flashmob therefore was a way of raising your attention to this issue and to demonstrate that there are people living like this in OUR society. We want to make this change. The more people who are aware, the better chance we have of making ourselves heard.

If you want to become more involved in campaigning with STAR Manchester, email me annieostorey@hotmail.com and we can come together with ideas and make something happen!

Another Film Night!

After the success of the last film night, we're having another one, this time alongside the Francophone society.

‘Welcome’ (2009) by Philippe Loriet

24th November

Khalid Said Room, Student Union

19:30-22:30

This film centres on the friendship between a swimming instructor at the Calais municipal bathsand a 17-year-old Iraqi Kurd bent on swimming the channel to be reunited with his girlfriend in London. The film's chief revelation is the way French officialdom treats both the illegal immigrants and French citizens who assist them.

Winner of numerous awards at events such as the Berlin Film Festival, César Awards and Warsaw International Film Festival. 

Check out the trailer (below)and then come down for a chilled evening showing that its not always 'la vie est belle' in France...

Refugee Action Responds to Child Detention Reports

From Refugee Action. Have a browse around their website:

In response to today’s reports that almost 700 children have been detained at ports and airports between May and August this year, Dave Garratt, Chief Executive at Refugee Action, said:

“We are shocked by the high numbers of children that have been detained, with more than a quarter of those children travelling alone.

“We welcomed the government’s announcement that it was committed to ending child detention for immigration purposes by May this year, which makes this figure all the more shocking. Their publication also follows the Independent Monitoring Board’s recent description of some of the detention facilities at Heathrow Airport as ‘degrading’.

“We agree with the Children’s Society, which obtained the figures through the Freedom of Information Act, that the Home Office should launch an enquiry into the reasons why so many children have been detained on entry to the UK and the length of that detention.”

Experiences of Child Detention

The UK has declared child detention to be over; but there is still work to be done. It is true that child detention at Yarls Wood is over but there are still children being detained at border entry points to the country.

Even short term detention has been shown to have detrimental effects on the health of children.

‘Sarah Campbell, research and policy manager at Bail for Immigration Detainees said: "Children can experience extreme distress in detention even when only detained for short periods and the prison's inspector has already outlined sometimes appalling conditions in short-term holding facilities which are not suitable for children."
Source: Alexandra Topping, 'UKBA accused of breaking pledge to end child detention'. The Guardian, 16/10/2011.

In September 2010 the charity Medical Justice looked into the effects of detention on children and found some chilling results.  Information here.

For a look at some quotes and a video expressing the feelings of some children in detention please go here.