Month: February 2016

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Template letter for MPs on 28 day rule

https://www.qarn.org.uk/homepage/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IMG_67011.pngLetter on detention for MPs

House of Commons

London
SW1A 0AA

Dear

Re: Call for a time limit on detention

As a Quaker and as one of your constituents, I wish to express my grave concern about the use of detention for immigration purposes.  The decision to detain is not ordered by a judge and is not part of a criminal sentence.   It is arbitrary, and the length of detention is indefinite.  Britain has a long tradition of legal protection for civil liberties. This tradition is undermined every day that migrants are detained without time limit. Continue reading “Template letter for MPs on 28 day rule”

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Immigration Bill at Report Stage 9 March 2016

The current version of the Immigration Bill is here – please write to your MP and any Lords you know – see below

 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/2015-2016/0096/lbill_2015-20160096_en_1.htm

It is currently going through the House of Lords. Here are some of the sections that criminalise people who are without status here,  and makes vulnerable those who could be caught renting rooms to them or employing them:

32.Offence of illegal working: Continue reading “Immigration Bill at Report Stage 9 March 2016”

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Europe’s Response to the Refuge Crisis

20 January 2016: From Origin to Transit, Reception and Refuge, A Call for Shared Responsibility and Coordinated Action:

This document is also available in Arabic (pdf), French, German and Spanish.

On 18-19 January 2016 representatives of governments, UN agencies and civil society organizations, including churches and faith-based organizations, met at a high-level conference on the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe, hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland, and co-sponsored by UNICEF, UNFPA and UNHCR. The conference aimed to promote principled, human rights-based and coordinated responses to refugees and migrants in Europe and to the root causes of their displacement. The conference provided an opportunity for participating faith-based organizations to apply faith principles (especially the belief that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God) in putting at the centre of the responses the human dignity and rights of all those affected. Continue reading “Europe’s Response to the Refuge Crisis”

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Asylum in the UK: ‘room for improvement’ is putting it mildly

RtR: At Right to Remain, we’re always out and about across the UK, meeting with and running workshops for the groups in our network.  This means a lot of train journeys.  Luckily it provides some time to catch up on reading, like the report by the Independent Chief Inspector on the Home Office’s Asylum Casework released last week.

We get a very stark insight into how the asylum process operates from the members of the community groups we work with, and it’s not pretty.  This first-hand experience is invaluable, and as a collective of individuals, they provide irrefutable evidence of a system that routinely fails people, that is operated in an intentionally hostile way, and all too often is instrumentalised to deny people their rights. Continue reading “Asylum in the UK: ‘room for improvement’ is putting it mildly”

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The Immigration Bill will be in the House of Lords for the Report Stage on 9 March.

The final day of Committee took place on 9 February and included discussion of the Lord Dubs amendment for the resettlement of 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children (which was supported by the Labour frontbench). The full debate is available at:http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201516/ldhansrd/text/160209-gc0001.htm#1602102000577

The Bill with all the Lords amendments added is here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/2015-2016/0096/16096.pdf

The Bill as it was before is here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/2015-2016/0079/15079.pdf

The entirely new parts are all these below:

Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority

8 Renaming of Gangmasters Licensing Authority

9 Functions in relation to labour market Continue reading “The Immigration Bill will be in the House of Lords for the Report Stage on 9 March.”

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Revealed: The thousands of former child refugees deported to Afghanistan and Iraq

Thousands of young people who sought refuge in Britain as unaccompanied child asylum seekers have since been deported to war torn countries that are in part controlled by Islamic State, the Taliban or other repressive regimes, a Home Office minister has admitted.

James Brokenshire said that over the past nine years 2,748 young people – many of whom had spent formative years in the UK, forging friendships and going to school – had been returned to the likes of Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Syria. Continue reading “Revealed: The thousands of former child refugees deported to Afghanistan and Iraq”

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Alternatives to detention

Alternatives to detention in the UK: from enforcement to engagement? Jerome Phelps

The UK detains migrants on a large scale, and has had limited success in developing alternatives. The British experience highlights the need for a cultural shift towards engagement with migrants in place of reliance on enforcement.

The development of alternatives to detention has become a significant global counter-trend to the normalisation of detaining migrants. Where alternatives have worked, they have relied on the engagement and participation of migrants themselves in immigration processes. Yet they have not worked everywhere, and the failures of states like the UK highlight important lessons. Continue reading “Alternatives to detention”

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There Are Alternatives: Revised Edition

5 Feb 2016: There Are Alternatives: Revised Edition: sign up here for information

Here is a map of countries using alternatives: http://idcoalition.org/interactive-map-alternatives-to-detention/?location=uk

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Brighton and Hove: Sanctury by the Sea

With this newsletter we hope to provide you with up to date information on the activities of  Sanctuary on Sea and other City of Sanctuary Groups, sharing exciting events and activities in your community through which you can show your solidarity with refugees and asylum seekers at the regional and national level.
 
For more up to date information follow us on  Facebook and Twitter. https://brighton-and-hove.cityofsanctuary.org
 
We would also like to invite all Brighton and Hove based groups to forward us events that you would like us to share in the next newsletter.
 
We are looking forward to seeing you at the upcoming events. Continue reading “Brighton and Hove: Sanctury by the Sea”