Page 4 – Unmasking and Unmaking the Hostile Environment

January 23, 2024January 23, 2024

Age assessments of children

23 January 2024: Written jointly by the Refugee Council, the Helen Bamber Foundation and Humans for Rights Network ‘Forced Adulthood -The Home Office’s incorrect determination of age and how this leaves child refugees at risk.’

It was written jointly by the Refugee Council, the Helen Bamber Foundation and Humans for Rights Network. It found that at least 1,300 refugee children were placed in unsupervised adult accommodation and detention in an 18-month period (January 2022 to June 2023), after being wrongly age-assessed on arrival in the UK. We think that real numbers are likely to be much higher as data was not received from all local authorities.

This data paints a bleak picture of separated children‘s experiences on arrival in the UK. Behind each case there is a child who has been failed by the system, experienced abuse, exploitation, distress, or harm. All of these traumas are entirely preventable, children are subjected to these harms as a direct result of being wrongly placed in adult accommodation due to the Home Office age assessment policy at the point of entry.

This is a safeguarding crisis on an unprecedented scale which we like to bring to your attention in the hope it will be possible for us to work together to address system failures and ensure that all children are protected from the moment they arrive in the UK.

Additional findings reveal that:

January 19, 2024January 19, 2024

Ending Immigration Detention

Updated 19 January 2024: Detention Forum: The changes we want to see

We want to end immigration detention because it is unjust and inhumane, and as the steps on that journey, here are the key changes that we want to see happen.

All of these issues are supported by our policy papers that have been endorsed by our membership – they reflect the changes that we want to see.

And this is the over-arching narrative of the changes that we want to see on immigration detention.

January 19, 2024January 19, 2024

X-rays for children

Updated 19 January 2024: Thank you Freemovement: Scientific Age Testing of Children Becomes Law

The Immigration (Age Assessments) Regulations 2024 providing for the use of scientific age testing of children have come into force on 10 January 2024. A reminder of the response from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health to these proposals:

Evidence shows that using x-rays to determine age can be widely inaccurate and the practice is ultimately unethical. It is appalling to see that the Government is persisting with these plans, which hinge life-changing decisions for some of the most vulnerable young people in our society on unspecific scientific outcomes and includes exposing them to radiation.

We have covered these regulations extensively, from when the drafts were first published, to when the relevant section of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 was brought into force, when the House of Lords’ Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee raised concerns and when the regulations were voted on by Parliament.

January 19, 2024January 19, 2024

Migrant Help financial report March 2023

Migrant Help: Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) Annual Report and Financial Statements 31 March 2023, p. 34

In 2022-23, £29,950,000 of Migrant Help’s income came from the AIRE contract in ‘unrestricted funds’.

‘The charity’s main source of income from charitable activities is government grants and contracts. The total income from the Home Office was £30,028,027 (2022: £24,055,358)’

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) Annual Report and Financial Statements 31 March 2023, p. 34 https://www.migranthelpuk.org/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=a8b328b3-0d41-4815-858c-e9d1290ef9be

January 11, 2024

Home Office starts X-raying migrants’ bones and teeth to determine their age

10 January 2024: iNews: Home Office starts X-raying migrants’ bones and teeth to determine their age

Those who refuse to have X-rays to determine their age may be penalised, according to the Home Office

The Home Office will begin using teeth and bone X-rays to determine the age of asylum seekers arriving in the UK.

New legislation, that came into force on Wednesday, means the Home Office will now be able to use “scientific methods” to assess age, including radiographs of molars, hands and wrists, and MRI scans of the thigh bone and collarbone.

The British Dental Association (BDA) has described the X-rays as “pseudoscience” which fail “basic tests on ethics and accuracy”.

January 4, 2024

Now I Sing

3 January 2024: ‘Now I Sing: 50 poems to celebrate 50 years’ by Loraine Masiya Mponela

In the next of our serious of posts about how we can open hearts through the arts, we join Loraine Masiya Mponela in celebrating the publication of her second book of poems: ‘Now I Sing: 50 poems to celebrate 50 years’

The book is available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CRDW5SJZ

Painful pitfalls and pinnacle triumphs.Now I Sing by Loraine Masiya Mponela is both a lamentation and a celebration, offering 50 poems for the 50 years she has lived. This collection honours her people’s ancient wisdom while imagining her future. Reflecting on individual and collective journeys, it is a book about courage, fear, desperation and excellence.

January 1, 2024January 1, 2024

Faith leaders call on Home Office to re-examine seven-day evictions practice

11 December 2023: Diocese of London: Faith leaders call on Home Office to re-examine seven-day evictions practice

Leaders from faith and belief institutions across London have come together to jointly call on the Home Office to re-examine a recent change in practice which has meant that, since August, refugees are having much less notice that their asylum support will end than the stated policy of 28 days. Some are given seven days or less to leave their accommodation.

Many have been in asylum accommodation for months or even years, with no opportunity to work or build networks. They are now being given only days to navigate the various systems and authorities necessary to plan their next steps.

Many faith and belief organisations work together with those of all faiths, beliefs and none to support refugees and asylum seekers in a number of ways. Across London, churches, mosques, gurdwaras, synagogues and temples open their doors to receive asylum seekers and refugees. They are seeing demand for this support grow, overwhelmingly with the need to help those with new refugee status find accommodation.

The letter to the Immigration Minister, coordinated by the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd & Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE, calls on the Home Office to:

December 20, 2023

Migration is a fact of life and a ‘force for good’

UN: Migration is a fact of life and a ‘force for good’

Migration is a “fact of life” and a “force for good”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, calling for safer options for the millions seeking opportunities to improve their lives in the face of danger and despair.

In a message marking International Migrants Day, the UN chief emphasized that migration promotes the exchange of knowledge and contributes to economic growth, but at the same time, “poorly governed migration is a cause of great suffering.”

“It forces people into the cruel realm of traffickers, where they face exploitation, abuse, and even death. It undermines trust in governance and institutions, inflames social tensions, and corrodes our common humanity,” he added.

December 15, 2023January 9, 2024

We utterly dissociate ourselves from the Rwanda Bill

7 December 2023: QARN: We utterly dissociate ourselves from the Rwanda Bill

Asylum Seekers come to our country because they believe they will receive the protection of a regime which upholds democracy freedoms and human rights. We deeply deplore the fact that our country proposes to disapply these freedoms and these rights from those our Christian faith and practice most calls on us to support and cherish. As has been said, “refugees are human rights made visible”; they have “the right to have rights”. We believe that human rights are defined as universal, inalienable, indivisible and Interdependent; withholding them from anybody is an attack on everybody.

For this reason alone we utterly dissociate ourselves from the Rwanda Bill. But the survival of our democracy depends not only on respect for all human beings but also on respect for the constitutional separation of powers. It is alarming to see that our executive now proposes to defy the Rule of Law both nationally and internationally in order to place narrow nationalistic loyalties above the things that bind us together in our Global Village .

December 1, 2023

Migrants organise to beat ‘hostile environment’

East Anglia Bylines: Migrants organise to beat ‘hostile environment’

The ‘hostile environment’ immigration policy has empowered one woman to volunteer for 15 years to promote justice and foster inclusion

I’ve been involved with a number of charities and grassroots community groups since 2009 – all of them working to soften the impact of the ‘hostile environment’ immigration policy. And to put a fairer system in place.

I’m also working for initiatives to educate asylum seekers on their human rights and provide them the platform to speak out. With women’s groups in particular, this is about creating communities where compassion, respect, inclusion and empowerment will enable women to reach their potential and have a say in what happens to them.

Supporting asylum seekers means amplifying their voices and campaigning on the issues that affect people seeking protection. We all work in solidarity to end the hostile environment. It is important to help asylum seekers to access advice and support, and develop their skills and confidence.