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Asylum Profiteers 'The Angel Group' sponsor Celebrating Sanctuary in Brum

Make Borders History! | 17.06.2005 14:47 | Migration | Social Struggles | Birmingham

The euphemistically titled 'Celebrating Sanctuary' event during Refugee Week in Birmingham is mostly funded by The Angel Group. The Angel Group is a corporate housing provider contracted by the Home Office's National Asylum Support Service (NASS) to house refugees. The Angel Group fund the week-long event in Birmingham's City centre to the tune of £50,000.

The Angel Groups tent at Celebrating Sanctuary
The Angel Groups tent at Celebrating Sanctuary

Burst The Angel Group's bubble and expose the Asylum Profiteers
Burst The Angel Group's bubble and expose the Asylum Profiteers

The Angel Group's far from angelic logo
The Angel Group's far from angelic logo


The corporate service provider euphemistically called 'The Angel Group' are well known amongst refugees, especially those housed and forcibly evicted by them, for housing them in squalid over-crowded conditions, reportedly without gas and electricity. The Angel Group not only house refugees but they also play a pivotal role in the inhumane dispersal of refugees across this country. Their dispersal appears to be dependent upon the cheapest accomodation deals The Angel Group can exploit in Britain.

 http://www.newstartmag.co.uk/refugees.html

The Angel Group, according to a local newspaper in Leeds, has recently been investigated by the Home Office because it has housed Refugees in 'squalid conditions...without gas or electricity'.

Here are some sources that give a brief summary of an article in the local Yorkshire press - unfortunately the link to the Yorkshire Evening Post no-longer works.

Willis, P. (2004) ‘Asylum seekers’ ‘squalid’ housing to be investigated’, Yorkshire Evening Post, 2/08/04 available at  http://www.leedstoday.net/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=39&Article!D=832262

 http://tinyurl.com/9ryuy

> Leeds Evening Post 3 August 2004
>
> Asylum Seekers Living in Squalid Conditions
>
> The Home Office has begun an investigation into claims that housing
> provider, Angel Group, is letting homes to asylums seekers in Leeds
> without gas or hot water.

There have also been reports of The Angel Group evicting refugees and sub-contracting landlords who have appalling track records with refugees. Sub-letting sub-standard accommodation like this to refugees is a very lucrative business.

The Angel Groups funding of Celebrating Sanctuary is a crude and relatively cheap public relations stunt to absolve them from their role in profiteering from the plight of refugees in this country.

The plethora of 'Angel' branded balloons and t-shirts at the event make it clear that The Angel Group want as much exposure as possible. One could also argue that their sponsorship of the event effectively muzzles any dissent from refugees and ngos about their track record in terms of housing refugees.

Why are The Angel Group being allowed to sponsor this event and can the Celebrating Sanctuary organisers source funding from other groups that don't profit from asylum?

Make Borders History!
- Homepage: http://www.celebrating-sanctuary.org.uk


Additions

Do The Angel Group contradict Celebrating Sanctuary's aims?

18.06.2005 10:20

Here's some more information gleaned from the Charity Commissions website about the aims and background of Celebrating Sanctuary.

Are the aims of the event outlined below consistent with the profiteering by The Angel Group of destitute Asylum Seekers?

1) THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION; 2) THE BENEFIT OF THE COMMUNITY IN THE PROMOTION OF RACIAL HARMONY BETWEEN RESIDENTS IN THE WEST MIDLANDS AND REFUGEES LIVING IN THE WEST MIDLANDS AREA. IN PARTICULAR, BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY, BY: A) FACILITATING CULTURAL EVENTS B) ENCOURAGING AND SUPPORTING THE CELEBRATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN PARTICULAR A PERSON'S RIGHT TO SEEK SANCTUARY FROM PERSECUTION.

 http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/showcharity.asp?remchar=&chyno=1099536

Expose the Asylum Profiteers!
- Homepage: http://www.makebordershistory.org/


The Angel Group profits from housing asylum seekers in squalid conditions

19.06.2005 09:19

Angel certainly do make money out of refugees fleeing persecution.

We have learnt from figures in 2000 that the company gets £120 a week per asylum seeker from the government.

Back in 2000 it was supposed to give £10 of that money a week to asylum seekers, to spend on everything beyond the meagre lodgings and food the Angel Group gives them. Angel was only passing on £7 to the refugees in this period, and wanted to cut that money back to £5!

What's the situation now, can anyone give us an update on how much The Angel Group receives from The Home Office's National Asylum Support Service (NASS) and how much it passes on to asylum seekers?

Celebrating Skanktuary


Whois The Angel Group?!

19.06.2005 11:01

Just done a quick whois lookup  http://whois.com of The Angel Group

 http://www.theangelgroup.com

Registrant:
The Angel Group plc

Address:
Suite 4, Lion Court
435 The Highway
Wapping, London E1 9HT
UK

First Registered:
January 07, 2002

Last Updated:
November 25, 2004

Administrative Contact:
Group, Angel  darren.may@theangelgroup.com
Suite 4, Lion Court
435 The Highway
Wapping, London E1 9HT
UK
0207 790 0111

Technical Contact:
Group, Angel  darren.may@theangelgroup.com
Suite 4, Lion Court
435 The Highway
Wapping, London E1 9HT
UK
0207 790 0111

Name Servers:
NS.HOSTEUROPE.COM 212.67.202.2
NS2.HOSTEUROPE.COM 212.67.203.246

Information Source:
OpenSRS
__________________________________________________

The following businesses also operate from the same address:

Dalarest Ltd:  http://planning.northumberland-national-park.org.uk/application.asp?NNPA_ref=03%20NP%2043

ANGEL POLAND CONSTRUCTION LIMITED:  http://www.angelpoland.com/pages/contactus.html

'Angel Poland is a joint venture of the Angel Group, a highly successful English Property Group, and Israeli Investors Ron Ben Shahar and Shachar Samuel, two very well regarded property and finance professionals. The venture has been undertaken to invest in, develop and manage properties, residential, retail, commercial, industrial and hotels in Poland.'

Angel Heights Development Ltd.

Student halls in Leeds:  http://www.accommodationforstudents.com/largerprivatestudenthousing/lphs.asp?id=117

ANGEL GROUP

Leeds: 0113 262 9997
Bradford: 01274 724 700
South Yorkshire: 0114 244 9411
Head office: 0207 790 0000
Out of hours: (Leeds only) 07944 535873 or 07880 968974

More to follow...

Stop Corporations profiteering from Asylum Seekers!


The Angel Group's asylum profiteering is an 'Official Secret'!

19.06.2005 16:41

Celebrating Skanktuary asks:

> What's the situation now, can anyone give us an update on how much The Angel Group receives from The
> Home Office's National Asylum Support Service (NASS) and how much it passes on to asylum seekers?

Well it seems that the financial details of The Angel Groups dealings with The Home Office's NASS are secret - gagged by the Offical Secrets Act.

(i) 'Details about the contracts that NASS has signed with various agencies which provide accommodation for asylum seekers is hard to access as agreements are covered by the Official Secrets Act.'

Peter Dwyer (2004) "Welfare Rights, governance and forced migration"

 http://www.apsoc.ox.ac.uk/Espanet/espanetconference/papers/ppr.15B.PD.pdf

(ii) From The House Of Commons Hansard Written Answers 30th April 2001 (pt25)

 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200001/cmhansrd/vo010430/text/10430w25.htm

'Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what payments per capita are made to private sector accommodation agents for each asylum seeker dispersed from the south-east; and if these payments vary by region. [158913]

Mrs. Roche: I am afraid that I am unable to give this information since it is commercial in confidence.'

@


Updated details on the Angel Group

17.07.2005 11:34

The Angel Group are now at 225 Marsh Rd (near South Quay DHL) - it was called the Innovation Centre and Julie (also calls herself Julia) Davey the owner of the company told everyone not to tell anyone the new address.

Darren May has since resigned due to Julia's attitude.

I was told by one of her accountants that when an asylum seeker leaves, if the council doesn't update their own records and stops payment, she takes their money even though she knows the person or family has left her premises.

Someone should tell Leeds/Birmingham Council.

Whistleblower


Response from the West Midlands Consortium for Asylum and Refugee Support

14.12.2005 11:32

To the authors of this website,

I wish to express my concern regarding the article entitled, ‘Asylum Profiteers 'The Angel Group' sponsor Celebrating Sanctuary in Brum’. As Regional Director of the West Midlands Consortium for Asylum and Refugee Support, I have overall responsibility for asylum seeker dispersal in the West Midlands and the development of integration/resettlement programmes for refugees. The executive group of the Consortium includes representatives from statutory, private and voluntary sector organisations alongside refugees themselves. As Director, I work in close partnership with the private sector, including The Angel Group. Your comments and criticisms are both misleading and unfounded. Angel Group's contribution to the effective and sensitive asylum seeker dispersal programme within this region, and in the raising of the awareness of host communities to the particular needs of vulnerable people such as asylum seekers and refugees through major events such as Refugee Week, has greatly assisted in the process of empowering refugee groups and in progressing wider issues of social cohesion.

Without the generosity of The Angel Group, Refugee Week in particular would not have been so effective and might not have been staged at all.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it was only recently that The Angel Group agreed to publicise their company during Refugee Week, their reluctance I believe, reflective of their genuine and sincere generosity and commitment to meeting the wide and varied needs of refugees.

Yours sincerely,

David Barnes,
Regional Director,
West Midlands Consortium for Asylum and Refugee Support

David Barnes
mail e-mail: d.barnes@wmlga.gov.uk


Comments

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  1. Mainstream media reports — repost
  2. The Angel Group Successes — Paul Dollochin

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