The annual appeal for festive season gifts for asylum seeker children is more urgent than ever. This year the campaigning against the evictions and absolute destitution of refused refugees continues and we have seen off the ‘Go home’ vans and posters, but there are still some 2000 refugees in Glasgow waiting resolution of their cases living in legally enforced penury. One small way we can help allay their distress and affirm our sympathy and support is by giving a festive season gift to an asylum seeker child. Gifts will be distributed to seasonal parties organised by local community bodies supporting asylum seekers. Please leave presents unwrapped though donations of wrapping paper, gift tags etc. are welcome. Details from glascamref@gmail.com Margaret 07870 286 632 or Jock 07896 877 315
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Detention Q3: At the 30th September, 4,094 people were detained under immigration laws, 3,115 in Immigration Removal Centres and 979 persons detained in prisons. In the third quarter of 2013, 65 children entered detention. Of the 63 children leaving detention in the third quarter of 2013, 28 were removed from the UK and the remaining 35 were granted temporary admission or release.
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Six actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and two improved in November 2013, according to CrisisWatch N°121. Deteriorated Situations: Bangladesh, Central African Republic, China/Japan, Lebanon, Thailand, Yemen
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Contact Virgin Atlantic
STOP PRESS 28 November: Lawyers were engaged in a frantic behind-the-scenes battle to save a Nigerian asylum seeker today, after a last-minute reprieve won him another two days in the UK. Isa Muazu has not eaten in 90 days and now weighs just 50 kilograms. He is no longer able to see or stand. He was due to be deported yesterday evening on a Virgin Atlantic flight to Nigeria but the removal was delayed until Friday. A man who is "close to death" after being on hunger strike in immigration detention for three months could be sent back to Nigeria on Wednesday after his case failed in the Court of Appeal. Isa Muazu says he is willing to die rather than return home. His case that he was being held unlawfully was rejected in the Court of Appeal today after a High Court bid for his release from Harmondsworth immigration removal centre failed last week. . (The Independent Tuesday 26 November 2013)
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STOP PRESS Isa is back in the UK! The plane carrying him was prevented from entering Nigerian airspace and had to return to the UK. He's back in Harmondsworth.
Teresa May under fire
Lawyers for a failed asylum seeker who was on hunger strike have said the Home Office has confirmed his removal from the UK
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Sunday 24 November, 1 pm. Meet outside the gates
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Read about the Immigration Bill's second reading in Parliament, MPs' response (or lack of) and how you can have your say before 19 November. On 22 October, the new Immigration Bill had its second reading in the House of Commons. At this stage of a new bill, MPs are given the opportunity to debate the general principles and, afterwards to oppose it if they wish. Of great concern was the Labour Party’s stance on the Bill: most Labour MPs abstained from voting on the Bill, which passed by a massive 303 votes to 18. Just six Labour MPs voted against the bill. (NCADC blog)
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3 actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and none improved in October 2013, according to the new issue of Crisis Watch. Deteriorated Situations: Bangladesh, Kashmir, Mozambique
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Asylum seekers with strong cases are being pushed to the back of the Home Office queue so that officials can reject at least 60% of applications, according to lawyers. Those with clients at the appeal stage say that it has become common Home Office practice to withdraw powerful cases at the last minute to protect the 60% target, described internally as the "win rate". They say the alleged tactic is adding to a backlog of half a million unresolved cases and causing suffering to those who have a right to be here but who are stranded in limbo, sometimes for years. (The Observer, 26 October 13)
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Described variously as “ugly, divisive politics” (Sarah Teather MP), a “valuable tool for racist landlords” (Maurice Mcleod), “meandering popularism” (John Harris) and “immigration policy that has lost even any semblance of correlation with reality” (Dave Stamp of ASIRT), there’s a lot to digest (or spit out, disgusted) in the new Immigration Bill. NCADC’s legal volunteer analyses the major policy changes, and the responses they have provoked.
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Advertising watchdog rules that campaign was unlikely to cause widespread offence but used misleading arrest statistics
A government advertising campaign that used billboards on vans to tell illegal immigrants to "go home" has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for using misleading statistics. The campaign, which saw the vans drive around six London boroughs in July this year, drew 224 complaints to the ASA, including some from groups representing migrants in the UK. 'Go home' vans banned because the figures used were misleading, not because they were offensive. But at least they're banned . . . ' Scottish Detainee Visitors.
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A system of identity checks for all, including British citizens, would have to be introduced to enforce the government's moves to curb access for illegal migrants to privately rented housing and to tackle alleged health tourists, leading immigration lawyers have told the home Secretary. Lawyers say plans for checks before access to housing and health would be 'intrusive, bullying, ineffective and expensive' Read full article the Guardian 10 Oct Explanatory notes to the Immigration Bill. These explanatory notes relate to the Immigration Bill as introduced in the House of Commons on 10th October 2013. They have been prepared by the Home Office in order to assist the reader of the Bill and to help inform debate on it.
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In a society where inequalities are increasing the struggle over scarce resources, the arrival of new groups of poor economic migrants or destitute refugees can put increased pressure on the poorest communities. One way media coverage could respond to this might be to focus on the struggle faced by new arrivals and pressure policymakers to target appropriate resources to meet their needs and reduce tensions in local areas. But coverage can also exploit the potential tensions created by these movements for a boost in sales. This negative coverage often forces asylum seekers to join a long list of convenient scapegoats including the unemployed, those claiming benefits and those registered as disabled, and can be very damaging indeed. Emma Briant, New Statesman, 28/09/13
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Seventeen countries agreed to help Syrian refugees by providing a safe haven to some of the most vulnerable fleeing the violence. But the UK is not one of them.
Only 0.1% of the 2 million people who have fled Syria have found safety in the UK. The vast majority - 97% - are surviving in harsh conditions in the neighbouring countries. With temperatures plummeting as winter approaches and more than half a million Syrian children living in temporary shelters and camps, we’re deeply concerned about how they and others will cope. Please send an urgent email to your MP now? (Refugee Council)
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Decisions concerning migrant children must always be based on their best interests
Migrant children are particularly vulnerable - especially if they are unaccompanied, travelling without parents or relatives. Many have been traumatised and abused before arriving in Europe. They must be met with care and with respect for their rights. Yet, there are many accounts of harsh treatment.
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Asylum seekers and refugees - men, women and even children - are increasingly detained and interned around the world, as are numbers of other migrants. Sometimes detained indefinitely and often in appalling conditions, they may suffer not only deprivation of their liberty but other abuses of their human rights too. Detention may appear to be a convenient solution to states' political quest to manage migration (often as a precursor to deportation) but it is an expensive option and has lasting effects on those detained. In the search for a more humane - and cheaper - approach, agencies and government authorities have trialled a variety of alternatives to detention. (Forced Migration Review)
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4 actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and none improved in September 2013, according to the new issue of Crisis Watch. Deteriorated Situations: Central African Republic, Kenya, Philippines, Sudan
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Lord Hylton to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the effectiveness of detaining pregnant women, and (2) the views on that matter of the organisations which signed Asylum Aid's Charter of Rights of Women Seeking Asylum.[HL2191] The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Taylor of Holbeach): Detention is a vital and effective tool in supporting the enforced return of persons with no lawful basis of stay in the UK who choose not to leave voluntarily. This applies equally to pregnant women.
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That this House deplores the recent Home Office poster campaign running in UK Border Agency offices in Glasgow and London advising people seeking advice to 'go home'; believes that this poster campaign is an insensitive and ineffective way of dealing with illegal immigration and is unlikely to encourage voluntary returns; notes that this is not the only instance of this type of campaign following the heavily criticised vans carrying similar messages; further notes that charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have expressed their concerns about the campaign; further believes that this scheme is likely to undermine its stated aims whilst creating an environment of fear; and urges the Government to halt immediately this pilot scheme and to work with local authorities, community groups and NGOs to encourage voluntary returns in a more effective, liberal, sympathetic and humane manner.
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Motion S4M-07552: James Dornan, Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 30/08/2013 Condemning the Home Office's Go Home Poster Pilot. Motion S4M-07587: Jackie Baillie, Dumbarton, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 04/09/2013 Condemning the Home Office's Go Home Campaign.... read the motions in full
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The process of seeking asylum in Europe amounts to little more than playing the lottery, a group of refugee charities said on Friday. Twelve years after committing to unify asylum policies, the European Union (EU) remains far from achieving its goal and, as a result, the chances of being granted refugee status vary wildly from country to country, the European Council on Refugees and Exile (ECRE) said in a report. The report highlights big differences in the decisions, procedures and rules relating to asylum seekers in 14 different EU countries - from access to accommodation, legal aid and jobs to the use of detention. (Thomson Reuters Foundation, 06/09/13)
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10 actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and nine improved in August 2013, according to CrisisWatch N°121. Deteriorated Situations: Central African Republic, DR Congo, Egypt, Iraq, Kashmir, Lebanon, Libya, Rwanda, Syria, Yemen
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Positive Action in Housing has been made aware of a new poster campaign begun by the UK Borders Agency in Glasgow’s Brand Street. Giant posters depict a destitute refugee in the UKBA Brand Street offices in Glasgow. It says “Is life here hard? Going home is simple”. On every single chair in the large waiting room, there are large stickers saying “Ask about going home” to reinforce the hostile message to asylum seekers reporting daily or weekly there. A similar London based poster campaign is being investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority. (Robina Qureshi PAIH)
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Children/Adults Entering/Leaving Detention Q2 - In the second quarter of 2013, 38 children entered detention. Removals and Voluntary Departures Q2 - In the year ending June 2013, there were 4,948 enforced removals who had sought asylum at some stage, down 9% from the previous 12-month period
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Richard Fuller MP has secured an adjournment debate on pregnant women in immigration detention for 5th September 2013. Could you please ask an MP to participate. You can download the Briefing for MPs together with text for a cover-letter. The Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Psychiatrists Working Group on Mental Health of Asylum Seekers and Refugees, together with Medical Justice, are recommending the end of the immigration detention of pregnant women.
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Switzerland's local authorities have introduced draconian restrictions which ban asylum-seekers from frequenting public places such as school playgrounds, swimming pools and libraries in a move angrily denounced by human rights groups as intolerable and racist. In the town of Bremgarten west of Zurich, where a new centre for asylum-seekers opened last month, officials said refugees would not be allowed to "loiter" in school playgrounds and would be banned from visiting public swimming pools, playing fields and a church. A total of 32 "exclusion zones" have been drawn up. Mario Gattiker, the head of Switzerland's Federal Office of Immigration which endorsed the apartheid-style restrictions, justified the move to journalists saying: 'We need rules to ensure a peaceful and orderly coexistence of residents and asylum-seekers.' (Indpendent, 07/08/13)
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6 actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and none improved in July 2013, according to the new issue of Crisis Watch 120. Deteriorated Situations: Bangladesh, DR Congo, Egypt, Iraq, South Sudan, Tunisia
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Claims that vulnerable asylum seekers have been evicted from their homes after failures by contractors working for G4S, the world's biggest private security firm, are to be investigated by a parliamentary watchdog. At least three women are alleged to have been expelled from properties because of rent arrears that had arisen because G4S subcontractors had not paid landlords. A letter from Margaret Hodge, chair of the public accounts committee, seen by the Observer, admits that the Home Office "is aware of general concerns around the contracts in operation" and that a review into asylum accommodation by the NAO will form part of a wider look at the delivery of public services by private sector contractors, including G4S. (M ark Townsend, The Observer, 21 July 2013)
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8 actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and none improved in June 2012, according to the new issue of Crisis Watch. Deteriorated Situations: Egypt, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijan), Somalia, Syria
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After five years of negotiations, on June 12, the European Parliament has voted on the remaining legislative pieces of the 'asylum package', which encompasses the recast Asylum Procedures and Reception directives, and the Dublin and Eurodac Regulations, as well as the recast Qualification Directive already adopted in 2011. Improvements introduced through the asylum package include among others, mandatory personal interviews for all asylum seekers; better representation for unaccompanied children; allowing asylum seekers in an accelerated procedure to request in court to stay in the territory while they appeal against a negative decision on their case; and further approximation of the content of rights granted to beneficiaries of subsidiary protection and refugees in areas such as access to employment and to health care. European Council of Refugees and Exiles
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Jimmy Mubenga, a 46 year old Angolan father, died onboard a British Airways plane at Heathrow airport. The inquest heard that Mubenga had been calling out for help as three G4S guards heavily restrained him for more than half an hour. Several passengers said they heard him shouting that he could not breathe and that he was crying out: "They're going to kill me."
Full background including a comprehensive briefing on the death of Jimmy Mubenga from Inquest.
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Lord Roberts of Llandudno to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to introduce (1) a time limit on the separation of families within immigration detention, and (2) procedures for carrying out best interests assessments on children as recommended by the Bail for Immigrant Detainees' Fractured Childhoods report.[HL663]. Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Where a parent is detained under immigration powers pending removal and thereby separated from their family, the Home Office aims to ensure that detention is kept to a minimum and that removal takes place promptly. There are no plans to introduce a time limit on such separations. Neither are there are any plans to introduce best interest assessments as recommended in the Bail for Immigration Detainees' report. However, the Home Office already considers children's best interests at relevant stages whenever immigration functions are carried out. House of Lords/13 Jun 2013: Column WA261
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On the occasion of the World Refugee Day, Caritas Europa calls on the EU and its Member States to fully ensure access to family reunification for all refugees. To Caritas Europa, the right to family life is one of the pillars of human rights. Access to family reunification is an essential element in ensuring the protection and integration of refugees. To improve access to family reunification for refugees, Caritas Europa calls for better implementation of EU rules. The purpose of these rules is to assist families to enjoy family life in one country, but some EU Member States have repeatedly failed to apply accordingly.
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17 - 23 June
This week-long festival – with over 100 arts & cultural events, including music, comedy, theatre, literature, community celebrations events in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Perth and as far afield as Mull and New Galloway - will celebrate the contributions refugees have made to Scotland and the communities that have welcomed them. Download the programme and find out more
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Pope Francis has spoken about World Refugee Day , which falls Thursday June 20th, making an impassioned appeal for people and institutions around the world to come to the aid of the countless families forced to flee their homelands because of violence and persecution. (Vatican Radio)
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The Minister for Immigration (Mr Mark Harper): The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 enables the Home Office to support asylum seekers while their application to remain in the UK is determined, and some failed asylum seekers who temporarily are unable to return home. Under these arrangements we provide the claimant and any family members with free fully furnished and equipped housing with no bills to pay, as well as modest rates of financial support to meet their essential day to day living needs. I have carefully considered whether those rates of financial support are adequate for the purpose set by Parliament, which is to meet the essential living needs of those asylum seekers and their dependants who would otherwise be destitute. I have concluded that they are, and so I am announcing today that the rates will be frozen for the current year. House of Commons / 6 Jun 2013 : Column 119WS
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UN Committee against Torture report May 2013. Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of the United Kingdom, adopted by the Committee at its fiftieth session (6-31 May 2013). UK practice highlighted; Amending the 2010 UKBA EIG allowing detention of people with mental illness unless it cannot be managed in detention; Conducting an immediate independent review of the application of Rule 35; Reviewing the screening process for administrative detention of asylum-seekers upon entry; Lowering the evidential threshold for torture survivors; Deportations to Sri Lanka; Restraint of children.
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Children In and Out of Detention: Q1 2013. In the first quarter of 2013, 37 children entered detention, a decrease of 16 on the first quarter of 2012, this fall coinciding with the closure of Tinsley House from 18 January to 20 March 2013 to new entrants due to an infectious illness. Adults In and Out of detention: Q1 2013. As of the end of March 2013, 2,853 people were in detention, 6% fewer than the number recorded at the end of March 2012.
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In Glasgow Sheriff Court (17/05/13) the Sheriff ruled in favour of the YMCA in their eviction proceedings against one of the refused refugees. There were two grounds: 1 The YMCA's advocate argued that the consequence of eviction in this case was not destitution as the defendant still had recourse to Section 4 Hard Case Support. This appears technically to be true in this case but as all those who have experience of Section 4 applications knows it is a brutal and humiliating experience resulting in most cases in failure.
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There is no justification for the new immigration bill - and it's a move guaranteed to harm unpopular minorities. In the Queen's Speech the Government announced plans to limit the use of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The changes are likely to be popular, thanks to longstanding campaigns by some newspapers to restrict the rights of foreigners who have committed crimes here. But there are reasons why we should be very wary about this proposal, as it could greatly alter the balance of power between judges and the Executive.
(Adam Wagner, New Statesman, 08/05/13)
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7 actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and two improved in April 2013, according to CrisisWatch. Deteriorated Situations: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Central African Republic, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Venezuela
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Children are being placed at risk of serious harm by the detention of parents on immigration grounds, a charity BID has claimed. Two hundred children were separated from their parents between 2009 and 2012 by the UK Border Agency. The charity's report found that these children suffered adverse effects including weight loss, nightmares, insomnia and "extreme isolation". Most of the children stayed with another family member or guardian, but 85 were taken into care when a single parent was detained. The report found that children endured emotional distress in both scenarios and some of those put into care were 'moved between unstable care arrangements, neglected, and placed at risk of serious harm'. The 111 parents involved were detained for an average of 270 days, but in 92 cases the parents were eventually released. In 15 cases, parents were deported or removed from the UK without their children (Neil Puffett, Children Young People Now, 19/04/13)
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37 Children Entered Detention January/February/March 2013, at the following centres
Cedars - 28, Tinsley House - 6, Other IRCS - 3
Source: UKBA Statistical data set
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The number of decisions overturned on appeal is testament to on-going problems with the asylum decision-making process, Amnesty International and the Still Human Still Here coalition said as they published a new report. The report 'A question of credibility: Why so many initial asylum decisions are overturned on appeal in the UK' examines why so many initial decisions to refuse asylum are being overturned by Immigration Judges. Home Office statistics show 25% of initial decisions to refuse asylum are being overturned on appeal. Read the report
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Adjourned till 17 May
Just after 2.00pm, on 16 April in Glasgow Sheriff Court, the case defending refused refugees from eviction into destitution began. YMCA Glasgow's advocate made the case – very briefly that the Y are not a public body and therefore human rights conventions don't apply, that responsibility lies with the Secretary of State and not the Y and that it is legally incorrect that they will suffer destitution if evicted because they can apply for Section 4 support. Time ran out and the case was adjourned till Fri 17 May when we expect to hear the refugees' advocate make their case. Further information from Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees,
c/o Fire Brigades Union,
52 St Enoch's Square,
Glasgow
G1 4AA
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7 actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and two improved in March 2013, according to CrisisWatch. Deteriorated Situations: Central African Republic, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Myanmar, North Korea, Syria
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They have been described as "invisible people" - asylum seekers who have been refused refugee status, but who have not returned home. The Home Office says it wants them "to experience an increasingly uncomfortable environment" so they will leave, but critics say that they are just being forced into destitution. Glasgow is the first city in the UK to criticise this policy officially. (Catrin Nye, BBC)
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David Walker, Bishop of Dudley, in an interview with the Observer said: "Public fears around immigration are like fears around crime. They bear little relationship to the actual reality. "The tone of the current debate suggests that it is better for 10 people with a legitimate reason for coming to this country to be refused entry than for one person to get in who has no good cause. It is wholly disproportionate as a response. "Studies show that the vast majority of new arrivals to the UK enhance and enrich our society, both economically and culturally. The true threats to our national wellbeing lie not with those who come to visit or make their lives here but with the increasing gap between the rich and poor among us." Toby Helm, The Observer, 23 March 2013
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There are an estimated six million stateless children around the world - children without a nationality who don't belong to any country - whose lives are insecure and futures uncertain. Many stateless children are denied access to education and health care. They are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, including being trafficked, forced into hazardous labour and sexual exploitation, locked up alongside adults and deported. Addressing statelessness is a vital step towards ensuring that millions of children can escape the cycle of marginalization and claim their rights to build better futures. Yet, despite these dangers and the risks that stateless children face, few international or national child protection systems include stateless children in their programming. This needs to change. There is an urgent need to address Stateless Children's Rights.
Refworld 21/03/13
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Children Entering/Leaving Detention January Through December 2012. Altogether 226 children entered and left detention January through December 2012. Removals and Voluntary Departures January through December 2012. In 2012, the number of enforced removals from the UK decreased by 4% to 14,435 from 15,063 in 2011.
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After years of challenging charter flights deporting Tamil people to Sri Lanka, the High Court finally ordered a suspension of removals for all Tamil failed asylum seekers. The success came about due to the hard work of barristers and solicitors, as pressure and evidence grew from charities and the media. They successfully argued that that Tamil failed asylum seekers are at threat of torture or ill treatment from the Sri Lankan authorities when they are returned by the UK. (guardian.co.uk/uk)
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In 2012, 28,909 people entered detention, an increase of 7% compared with the previous year (27,089). Over the same period there was an increase of 5% in those leaving detention (from 27,181 to 28,538). Of those leaving detention, 60% were removed from the UK. 40% were returned to the community.
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A Nigerian Family were dawn raided in Glasgow. UKBA immigration officials burst into their home in Whiteinch, Glasgow yesterday (27 Feb) and detained the husband in front of his three young children and pregnant wife. The Unity Centre in Glasgow have issued a statement.
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A report published on Monday 25th February by the Maternity Action and the Refugee Council says that the immigration authorities are endangering the health of pregnant asylum seeking women and their babies by moving them to accommodation around the country and so removing them from essential healthcare and leaving them isolated. It also outlines cases of women who have been separated from the father of their child and left to give birth alone in a new area with no access to interpreters and others who have been moved several times during their pregnancies. The report also says that midwives are not always informed when their patients were moved and spent time searching for them. Scans and tests also had to be repeated in the new areas.
(Alan Travis, guardian.co.uk, 25/02/13)
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That this House believes that Britain can rightly be proud of its history of welcoming those fleeing persecution and war; welcomes the cross-party parliamentary report on asylum support for children and families; notes with concern the finding of that report that current asylum support levels are leaving up to 10,000 children destitute or in severe poverty; further believes that section 4 support rates are especially austere and that cash less payments impose damaging restrictions on how families buy essential items........
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7 actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and 2 improved in January 2013, according to the new issue of CrisisWatch. Deteriorated Situations: Egypt, Iraq, Kashmir, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, North Korea, Sri Lanka
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The number of women suspected of being trafficked to perform housework in embassies and private houses in Britain has increased amid warnings that vulnerable workers have been denied an escape route from domestic servitude by new immigration rules. The rise in domestic servitude comes amid a 25 per cent increase in the number of trafficking victims reported in 2012 to the national referral mechanism. The authorities say the increase to nearly 1,200 people could be attributable to both better detection of trafficking rings and an increase in the crime.
(Paul Peachey, Indpendent, Sunday 03 February 2013)
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Thousands of children and their families who have sought refuge in the UK have been pushed into severe poverty by the low levels of asylum support, a parliamentary inquiry has revealed, concluding that the support system for asylum seekers is in urgent need of reform. The inquiry found evidence of children being left destitute and homeless, without state support, and forced to rely on food parcels. (Amelia Gentleman, The Guardian, 30/01/13)
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More than 2,000 immigrants, including many who want to join husbands or wives already in Britain, have been waiting up to 10 years to learn whether they will be allowed to stay in this country because of a bureaucratic blunder. John Vine, the Independent Chief Inspector for Borders and Immigration, raised further doubts over the UK Border Agency's ability to cope in a report published today. (Nigel Morris,Indpendent, Thursday 24 January 2013)
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Government document outlines recommendations by prison inspectors as one detainee claims she was 'dragged like a dog. The UK Border Agency has rejected a call by prison inspectors to stop using force on pregnant women and children it is trying to remove from the UK, according to an internal government document seen by the Guardian. The document contains UKBA's response to recommendations for improvement at the government's new child detention facility, Cedars, near Gatwick airport, by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons. (The Guardian, Friday 11 January 2013)
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This report discusses the ongoing human rights abuses and persecution taking place in five countries from which a high number of asylum seekers in the UK come from,
and fear returning to when they are refused asylum here. The report also highlights the situation for those who remain in the UK because the situation that caused them to flee their country remains a reality. The UK government
expects people who are refused asylum here to return voluntarily, or be returned forcibly - but this often does not happen. Instead, those who stay are often forced into destitution
and risk, as they are left unsupported and unprotected by the UK government.
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People living legally in the UK have been incorrectly told to leave the country by a firm working for the government. Capita were contracted by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) in September to track down 174,000 illegal immigrants. Among those contacted by text and email were a woman with a UK passport, and a man with a valid visa who had invested £1m in a UK business. Capita said some of the information provided by the UKBA may be inaccurate. (Angus Crawford BBC News, 03/01/13)
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4 actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and none improved in December 2012, according to the new issue of CrisisWatch. Deteriorated Situations: Central African Republic, China/Japan, North Korea, Syria
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