Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Refugees forced into homelessness and destitution

m | 08.01.2004 12:40

"Section 55 is legally and morally wrong. Through this law, the government has attacked the most marginalised section of our society, many of whom are already traumatised due to strife and war; and has relegated them to sleeping under dustbins and begging for food." Habib Rahman, Chief Executive JCWI Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants

"Section 55 is legally and morally wrong"

Coalition Against the Destitution of Asylum Seekers Press Release
Thursday 8th January 2004

First anniversary of Section 55 asylum law: thousands of asylum seekers destitute

On This Day last year (8th January 2003) Section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 came into effect, with devastating consequences for thousands of asylum seekers around the country.

Left without food or shelter, many are now facing a bleak winter on our streets, simply because they have made an asylum application in-country unless they can satisfy the Home Office that they applied 'as soon as reasonably practicable'.

Karen Chouhan of CADAS (who is also director of The 1990 Trust) said: "On this anniversary, we have to remember destitution of asylum seekers runs against the letter and the spirit of international conventions and standards on refugees. It is an utter disgrace that the forth economy in the world chooses to treat this very vulnerable group of people in this way.

"In the last year, refugee groups have had a massive task feeding, clothing and providing shelter to unprecedented numbers of asylum seekers made destitute by this inhumane measure.

"Taking away all support could force women into prostitution and crime, and others into the hands of unscrupulous black-market industries.

"Starving asylum seekers out of the country is not the way forward. The government must abandon this policy, rather than potentially extend it to families with children, as proposed in the new Bill".


Adam Sampson, Director of Shelter, said: "Shelter has repeatedly warned that denying support to destitute people will cause homelessness and force applicants onto the streets, undermining the Government's policies to tackle rough sleeping and reduce social exclusion. Others may be forced to stay with friends and relatives, causing overcrowding and placing increased demands on communities who may already be struggling. If the Government fail to rethink this brutal legislation some very vulnerable people will continue to face a harsh and desperate winter."

Habib Rahman, Chief Executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said: "Section 55 is legally and morally wrong. Through this law, the government has attacked the most marginalised section of our society, many of whom are already traumatised due to strife and war; and has relegated them to sleeping under dustbins and begging for food."

Fazil Kawani, of the Refugee Council, said: "It is intolerable that this is happening in a country which has a proud tradition of providing sanctuary to victims of human rights abuses. We, and other charities, warned the government when they introduced this policy that we would not be able to provide support for the hundreds of people who will be left destitute.

"We are now starting to see the real impact that this is having on human beings. We call on the government to reconsider this policy and to show some humanity to people who have come here seeking protection."

Joint Statement by Coalition Against the Destitution of Asylum Seekers:

We the undersigned express our opposition to the inhumane measures already in place, and those proposed, which effectively leave asylum seekers destitute, without state support for food and shelter. The measures are an affront to the Human Rights Act. We are particularly calling for:

*The repeal of Section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. This inhumane measure has left thousands of asylum seekers effectively destitute because of the timing of their application. Asylum seekers should have the right to pursue their claim whether having applied at port of entry or in country. They are prevented from working to support themselves and without any recourse to help they suffer mental and physical deterioration.

*The withdrawal of clause 7 of the new bill - which proposes to deny support to families at the end of the asylum process and, if necessary, remove their children into care if they do not 'take reasonable steps to leave the UK voluntarily'. We are opposed to this extension of s.54/Schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and these provisions should be repealed.

Signed and supported by:

The Refugee Council; Shelter; Liberty; Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants; The Salvation Army; Jesuit Refugee Service; Refugee Arrivals Project; The 1990 Trust; National Assembly Against Racism; Black Londoners Forum; Baptist Union; Eritrean Women's Group; French Speaking African Global Congress; Crossroads Coalition for Justice for Asylum Seekers; North Kensington Law Centre; Women of Colour in the Global Women's Strike; Operation Black Vote; National Black Alliance; Society of Black Lawyers; The Peepul Centre; Birmingham Racial Attacks Monitoring Unit; Liverpool 8 Law Centre; National Black Students Alliance

NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. Views expressed in the press release do not necessarily reflect the positions of every organisation which has supported the CADAS statement.


Coalition Against the Destitution of Asylum Seekers
CADAS c/o The 1990 Trust Suite 12 Winchester House
9 Cranmer Road London SW9 6EJ
Tel: (020) 7582 1990 Email:  lholloway@blink.org.uk

m

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech