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JRS United Kingdom -
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Political Developments
In July 2006, the Home
Secretary announced that all outstanding asylum
cases (the back-log) outside the New Asylum Model
would be resolved by July 2011. These cases are
known as Case Resolution Cases and it was originally
estimated that there were 450,000 such cases.
The Home Office reported to the Parliamentary Home
Affairs Committee in May 2008. They reported that
they had concluded 90,000 of those cases by that
time. This figure includes dependents. There have
been 20,000 removals; 39,000 decisions to grant some
form of leave to remain in the UK; and in 32,000
cases the files were closed because it was an error
or a duplicate.
To give some sort of idea of how long people have
been waiting in the back-log the following
statistics provided by the Home Office are useful:
— Of the 20,000 removals, 21% (4,200) had been
waiting for under three years; 54% (10,800) for
between 3 and 7 years; and 25% (5,000) for more than
7 years.
— Of the 39,000 grants of leave to remain, 41%
(16,000) had waited under 3 years; 51% (19,900)
between 3 and 7 years; and 8% (3,100) over 7 years. |
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The
longer someone has been in the country, the more likely they
are to have been left with no status, no permission to work
and no recourse to public funds. The Home Office provided no
statistics on how many people were destitute, nor a
breakdown comparison from the whole of the Case Resolution
Cases of how many people had been waiting in total for up to
three years, between 3 and 7 years or for more than 7 years.
There are growing concerns that all of the Case Resolution
Cases will not be concluded by July 2011.
During 2008, two prospective new Bills were announced: a
Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Bill and an Immigration
Simplification Bill. Both are due to be considered during
the current parliament. The details of neither Bill have
been fully announced yet, nor has full consultation taken
place yet. However, there are concerns that the new Bills
will continue with the drive to create tougher border
controls and more difficult conditions for asylum seekers in
the UK.
JRS Activities
Detention
During 2008 JRS continued the programme of detention visits
by staff members and a small volunteer team. Each volunteer
visitor made a commitment to visit one or two people each
week on JRS’ behalf over a six month period, and to liaise
with solicitors, health care professionals, etc. as required
on behalf of the detainee they visit.
The detention outreach worker provided training, support,
visited detainees and was also responsible for advocacy work
on this issue. In addition, a member of the JRS team acts as
a Catholic chaplain at
Colnbrook and at Harmondsworth detention centres (near
Heathrow). In this way, JRS was able to give more support to
especially vulnerable detainees through follow-ups with
health professionals and legal advisors.
We have access to between 40 and 60 detainees a week on
average, mainly because Harry is able to visit the centres
as a Chaplain.
Destitution
Increasing numbers of asylum seekers, who received final
refusals in their claims, came to JRS in our new office
premises in central London for support and help. The office
received visits from around 130 people a week seeking
transport grants; help with grant applications for emergency
relief grants to other small charities; hygiene packs;
solicitors; the JRS hardship support (max of £200 per
person) for daily living needs; and clothing when available.
In total about 600 people at any one time were getting help
from JRS.
Many migrants in the UK received a weekly £35 voucher if
they were able to reopen their asylum claim, were seriously
unwell or had agreed to leave the country. Some people
received vouchers for two years or more. JRS started an
exchange scheme to allow for greater choice for individuals
and families to purchase cheaper food from street markets.
The supermarket voucher exchange scheme gained much
popularity, exchanging over £7,000 worth of vouchers every
month. Because of the increased demand, JRS ran two day
centres in London: on Tuesdays at Forest Gate in East London
and on Thursdays in Stamford Hill in North London.
In September 2008 a small legal charity, Asylum Aid, started
offering legal advice at the JRS Office at London Bridge on
a Tuesday (on an appointment only basis) for those who had
problems getting good legal representation and were
destitute. Besides the practical assistance offered, JRS
used the quantitative and qualitative data to lobby for
better legal representation and more public funding to
increase access to good legal representation.
Outreach work
The JRS
UK staff and volunteers continued to give talks and lead
workshops for church and secular groups in order to raise
awareness about the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers
in the UK. Requests for JRS guest speakers have increased
steadily over the year, with JRS looking to organise more
events each year.
Advocacy work
JRS worked very well in coalitions, undertaking lobbying
work and campaigning work on destitution and detention
issues.
JRS helped set up the Independent Asylum Commission (a
people’s inquiry into the asylum process in the UK). The
Commissioners included human rights experts, members of the
House of Lords, a theologian and a refugee. Over the course
of 2007, public hearings were held across the UK and written
evidence was requested. The findings were published in 2008
in one large report; conclusions and recommendations were
published separately. The reports were well received and
provide a good basis of information to help lobbying for the
new Immigration Bills being considered in this parliament.
JRS was involved with the asylum working party of the Centre
for Social Justice (a think tank in the UK) which published
a report in December 2008 on destitution of asylum seekers;
making recommendations for the improvement of the asylum
process and the asylum support system in the UK.
JRS UK also started its Speak Out project in the autumn of
2008. This project provided training in presentation skills,
radio interview techniques and writing articles for
newsletters, websites and other publications. The project
was aimed at asylum seekers and refugees wanting to help JRS
with advocacy work, but who felt they needed some training
and support to help their confidence and to be effective in
doing such things for JRS. The first small group of six
refugees just completed the course at the end of the year.
They were from Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Eritrea and Cote d’Ivoire.
Volunteer
programme
Apart
from the team of volunteer detention visitors, JRS had a
small team of volunteers who help with administrative tasks,
reception and welcoming duties, producing publications and
event organisation in the office.
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Contact Details
Ms Louise Zanré,
Country Director
6 Melior Street, London SE1 3QP
Tel: +44 -20-7357 0974 - Fax: +44-20-7378 1985
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uk(a)jrs.net
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