From Iona ‘Thought for the Day’:

For our treatment of asylum-seekers,
for all who have been ignored,
humiliated, degraded by the system;
for the loss of our humanity,
we express our shame and ask forgiveness.
We commit ourselves to work for a fair and just immigration policy.

Stanley Hope, from Gathered and Scattered

Home Affairs Sub-committee: deadline 3 February 2025

The Home Office has a duty to provide housing and subsistence to asylum seekers who are awaiting a decision on their claim and are destitute.

Asylum accommodation is primarily delivered by private providers through the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC). Home Office spending on asylum accommodation and support has increased significantly in recent years, from £739 million in 2019-20 to £4.7 billion in 2023-4.

The Home Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry into asylum accommodation. The inquiry will focus on how asylum accommodation is currently delivered, how the Home Office has managed the AAS contracts, and what lessons can be learned and applied to delivery of asylum accommodation in the future. The inquiry will also look at the impact that the current approach to delivering asylum accommodation has on local areas, and how the Home Office works with local partners, particularly local authorities.

Continue reading “Asylum accommodation – call for evidence”

8 January 2025: Guardian: Life and death on the Bibby Stockholm: ‘No one wanted to go inside – but we had no choice’

From the moment it was announced that asylum seekers would be accommodated on this hulking, prison-like barge, the scheme was steeped in controversy. As it leaves British waters, here is the inside story

The asylum seekers sent to live on the Bibby Stockholm complained of the same recurring dream. As they slept in narrow bunk beds on the barge, they dreamed they were disappeared from the UK in the dead of night, the boat slipped from its moorings by the Home Office, drifting into the open sea towards Rwanda.

Continue reading “Life and death on the Bibby Stockholm”

29 December 2024: Guardian: ‘They thought they were going to die’: the asylum seekers who survived rioters trying to burn down their accommodation

Four months on from the far-right violence that shocked the UK, what happened to the men living in a hotel that was targeted?

The Holiday Inn Express on Manvers Way, just outside Rotherham, stands quiet and empty. There are hints that something has happened here: cracks in some of the windows, and round the back, if you know where to look, remnants of police tape. But there are no obvious signs of the violence that took place in August, nor of the danger faced by the hotel’s former residents, who, many say, were lucky to escape with their lives when the hotel was set alight during a far-right riot.

Continue reading “‘They thought they were going to die’”

20 November 2024: Seeds for change: Staying Alive – self-organising for survival

This is a strong interview with Loraine, Olivia and Maryam who are all very busy in various groups and their daily lives supporting people and working for change:

https://seedsforchange.podbean.com/e/staying-alive-self-organising-for-survival

We know them through StatusNow4All but that is just a small part of their reaching out. They are amazing people with a lot of insight having come through or still living in the asylum system.

They make some very pertinent comments which you may find helpful.

19 Nov 2024: NACCCOM: Annual data briefing 2023-2024

Bridget Young, Director of NACCOM, said;

“Our research shows that thousands of people each year are needlessly pushed into destitution and homelessness as they go through the asylum and immigration system. No one should have to experience trauma, hardship and injustice simply because of their immigration status, but this is the reality for so many.  

 “Every member of our communities should be able to thrive, not just survive, but that’s impossible when you don’t have a safe or stable home, or enough to eat. Urgent change is needed to ensure that the asylum and immigration system doesn’t keep driving up levels of destitution and homelessness, and fuelling injustice in refugee and migrant communities.”

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NACCOM’s latest Annual Survey data reveals that destitution and homelessness in migrant and refugee communities are on the rise in the UK, with thousands of people in the asylum and wider immigration system routinely experiencing trauma and hardship.

Our annual data briefing, Understanding destitution and homelessness in the asylum and immigration system, paints a comprehensive – and shocking – picture of the extent, impact and root causes of migrant destitution and homelessness in 2023/2024, and shines a spotlight on the increasing complexity of service provision in the sector, as voluntary organisations adapt to a turbulent policy landscape.

A hostile and failing asylum and immigration system, coupled with a chronic lack of social and affordable housing, and a general increase in demand for emergency homelessness assistance, are driving up levels of destitution and homelessness in migrant communities. NACCOM’s inspiring and dedicated frontline members continue to provide a vital safety net, but local capacity often can’t meet soaring demand, and unsustainable pressure is being placed on the voluntary sector – a bold programme of action is needed. 

The briefing also lays out a set of recommendations for policy reform to ensure that the asylum and immigration system doesn’t actively drive up levels of destitution and homelessness, as it is currently doing.

Read more here: https://naccom.org.uk/launching-our-new-data-briefing-2024-understanding-destitution-and-homelessness-in-the-asylum-and-immigration-system/

Continue reading “UK charity declares ‘refugee homelessness emergency’ as numbers hit record high”

19 November 2024: Memorandum of Understanding between the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration and His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons

This is good news – the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration and HP Chief Inspector of Prisons have previously worked on inquiries, for example in relation to Penally and Napier camps, but this new document make transparent the ways in which they intend to collaborate –

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/memorandum-of-understanding-between-the-the-independent-chief-inspector-of-borders-and-immigration-and-his-majestys-chief-inspector-of-prisons