Asylum policy in the UK remains a torture test for would be refugees
A year has passed since the triple suicide of the Sehryk family from the Red Road high rises in Glasgow, there has still been no investigation into the circumstances of their deaths, and to what extent, if any, the UK Borders Agency was culpable.
Positive Action in Housing (PAIH) has written again to the Lord Advocate to request a fatal accident inquiry. PAIH believe there should be a full investigation into the Sehryk suicides and UK asylum policy for the part it played in pushing this vulnerable family to the brink. Further that an investigation is needed to expose the most barbaric aspects of UK asylum policy, for example the constant threat of deportation and destitution throughout the asylum process.
In poverty you may still preserve the nobility of your inborn feelings, but in destitution no one ever does. For destitution, one does not even get driven out of human company with a stick; one is swept out with the broom.
Fyodor Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment
Asylum policy in the UK remains a torture test for would be refugees. Their most basic human rights and dignity are violated. They are forbidden to work and forced to rely on benefits; they are singled out when using the "Azure card" or vouchers in shops; they are unable to save up for basics like school uniforms. Throughout their asylum claim they face the threat of destitution, detention or deportation. They can languish in such a system for many years without reprieve. Their mental health is often severely affected as a result – something that rarely happened before they arrived in this country.
Many people seeking asylum escaped and survived torture, multiple rape or seeing their loved ones killed, and endured the pain of separation from their young children. The mental torture is the realisation that they risked their lives and left behind their family home and country, only to find themselves vilified for coming to the UK in the first place.
Call for Fatal Accident Inquiry into Red Road Deaths Online Petition here . . . .
We urge everyone who supports this campaign to please keep up the pressure for a full investigation into the Sehryk suicides.
From: Positive Action in Housing <home@paih.org>
Attached: PAIH-letter to Lord Advocate.pdf
Stateless People in the UK
In order to highlight issues of concern and seek changes in government policy that will better protect individuals' rights. Asylum Aid are working with the UN Refugee Agency to carry out research on the issue of statelessness in the UK.
Our research aims to find out the number, situation and profile of stateless persons in the UK and analyze UK law, policy and practice relating to stateless persons in light of the UK's international treaty obligations. Findings will be published in a report next year identifying recommendations to ensure better protection of stateless persons in the UK.
What does being stateless mean?
A stateless person is someone who does not enjoy citizenship - the legal bond between a state and an individual - with any country. They find themselves marginalized, often unable to obtain identity documents, to travel, access health or education or even marry. There are at least 12 million stateless persons worldwide, including over 600,000 living in Europe. It is currently not known how many stateless persons are in the UK.
Asylum Aid need your help to identify stateless persons who are willing to be interviewed for our research.
Download explanation sheet referral form: http://tinyurl.com/252vkgj
Detained forever? Foreign prisoners and indefinite detention
Hundreds of foreign national prisoners are being held indefinitely, sometimes for years, when they can't be removed from the country. With no time limit on immigration detention powers, judges and the Home Office are operating within what one lawyer described to me as 'a culture of indeterminate detention.'
Read the full article: Harriet Grant 7th March 2011 |