1. Forced Migration in the UK
National policy, CURRENT TRENDS and Local Activism
QUARN 4th February 2017

2. National Policy – Asylum and Immigration
Separate systems of law and moral separation
Refugee Convention 1951 and Common European Asylum System
Immigration Act 1971 and subsequent legislation
EU free movement rights

3. Law…..reality Forced Migration
E.g. Lone Eritrean woman brought up in Ethiopia as orphan, isolated, discriminated against, goes on false passport to Gulf state, travels with employer, is abused, is released by family while in UK.
Refugee Crisis/Migrant Crisis/Crisis of inequality?/political crisis?

4. Home office business plan
Asylum decisions taken in UK Visas and Immigration - immigration department Business plan – cut immigration, +++ enforcement objectives – cut appeal rights, mandatory tagging of offenders, illegal working Syrian VPRP

5. Welcome refugees
Syrian Vulnerable Persons Protection Programme, January settled up to September 2015
September 2015 – Europe is shocked by refugee crisis
The UK is one of the largest bilateral donors to the Syria Humanitarian Response Plan (food, clean water, medical consultations, etc)
20,000 Syrian refugees to resettle in the UK by May 2020
4,414 Syrian refugees resettled in the UK to end September 2016 across 175 local authorities
49% under 18
National Audit Office September 2016 HC 626

6. Operation of the Syrian VPRP
Syrians registered in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt and Turkey, not Syrians claiming at the UK border or in the EU
UNHCR vetting
Immediate status: humanitarian protection for five years
Local authority provides housing, school places (both blocks to participation in some areas), questions about mental health and effect of trauma
Central gov’t pays a diminishing amount each year over five years (year 1 ODA, years 2 to 5, departmental budgets)
Community sponsorship added in autumn Application process

7. UK Border
No legal route to travel and enter (though a person is not an illegal entrant if they claim asylum on arrival)
Calais – exported border
Not a refugee camp?

8. Applying for asylum on arrival
Screening – fingerprinting, checking route of travel, reason for claim
Dispersal to accommodation if no means. No right to work/ benefits, but asylum support of £36 per week
Interview
Decision
Appeal
Refugee status – 5 years leave to remain, most rights of citizen
Refusal – destitution, maybe detention and removal

9. Problems with Asylum process
Asylum seekers do not realise that the asylum interview is their only chance to put their claim to the Home Office
Mistrust, fear, gender, shame, mean people miss important things out, or elaborate points that they think the Home Office will find more credible
Friends and contacts give bad advice
Little access to quality legal advice at the beginning of the process
Home Office decision makers are based in immigration department
Culture of denial

10. ACCESS TO THE PROCESS: Legal representation
No right to be represented
Legal aid – limited, no right to legal rep in asylum interview
Quality of advice: Solicitors Regulation Authority study
Advice deserts
Unscrupulous advisers -> unqualified advice = criminal offence

11. Result of asylum refusal: destitution – the hostile environment
Theresa May policy
To ensure that people without leave to remain do not share the benefits of UK society
This includes refused asylum seekers who are still afraid to return
Offence to work, no right to benefits, limited access to health care, offence to use UK driving licence, no right to open a bank account, nor rent property
Royal College of Psychiatrists

12. Citizen action and solidarity
City of Sanctuary
Anti-destitution: NACCOM
Right to remain
Calais +++

13. ASSIST Sheffield Accommodation – local donors, lessors and partners
Weekly money – donors, mainly local
Accompanying to appointments
Interpreters
Advocacy and help with e.g. solicitors, medical treatment, Home Office reporting requirements
Events – local supporters and free activities
Opportunities to volunteer