JRS UK News, December 2003

Yet Another Asylum Bill

As we go to press, the Queen’s speech announces another Bill to reform the asylum process.  This will be the fifth in 11 years and yet again tinkers around the edge of the asylum process without dealing with the fundamental flaw, the negative mindset within the Home Office which leads to hostile interviews and the poor quality of initial decisions made.  Increasing numbers of applications are being refused.  The latest figures (from July-September this year) show the refusal rate at 88%.  The result is around one in four cases being successful at appeal, often at the second or another further appeal.

Despite this, the new Bill is expected to introduce:

• A single tier of appeal

• More powers to regulate legal advice 

• Prison sentences for those who destroy or discard their documents and tougher assessments of claimants' credibility

• Fast return for those who have already claimed asylum in a safe third country

It is also expected to

• End support for families able, but unwilling, to return home

There has been no proper consultation over the proposed Bill.  No White Paper was published inviting comments. Instead a press release was issued inviting responses within a three week deadline.  

JRS is dismayed at the possibility of yet more deterrent legislation regulating the asylum process in the UK.  Instead of looking at the asylum process as being one based on protection needs the government continues in its short-sighted attempts to deter people from coming to the UK to claim asylum and to make things as difficult as possible for those seeking asylum in the UK.  It must be remembered that asylum is a human right and should therefore be administered on a rights-based/protection needs basis. 

In the press release, the Home Secretary declared the strategy to be “not anti-immigration”, stating that he has “greatly expanded the opportunities for hard-working immigrants to come to the UK through legal routes”.  

The implication is that asylum seekers should find another route to come to the UK, which is often impossible due to persecution, conflict, widespread human rights abuses, etc. 

In the opinion of JRS, the adoption of these measures, deterrent in character, will seriously undermine the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 1951, by which the UK is bound.   

We have heard that the government expects the Bill to be passed through parliament by Easter.  As usual we will be relying on you, our supporters, to help us in our lobbying against the Bill. 

What you can do

• Write to your MP at the House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA, soon.  Tel:  020-72193000. Send him/her a copy of our response to the consultation, raising our concerns.  The JRS response can be down-loaded in full here.
  

• JRS hopes to have more information early in the New Year, once the Bill has been published.  Please share this information with friends and colleagues, with your parish and your community once it is available.   Encourage them to write to their MPs as well.
  

• Organise a speaker meeting to raise awareness.
  

• Organise a liturgy in your parish or community for refugees and asylum seekers.

Louise Zanre

From Pope John Paul  II’s address to the 5th World Congress for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees

“I ... assure you of my spiritual closeness to the migrants, refugees, displaced persons and foreign students throughout the world whom you seek to assist…  The Church continues to seek to respond to the signs of the times; a challenge which always calls for renewed pastoral commitment.  Special attention needs to be given today to the ecumenical aspect of migration, with reference to Christians not in full communion with the Catholic Church, and likewise to the inter-religious dimension, with particular regard to the followers of Islam…  It is precisely in society and in culture that we must show respect for the dignity of man, of the migrant and of the refugee. In this regard, I once again urge States to adhere to the International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families which took effect on 1 July 2003. Similarly, I appeal to States to respect the International Treaties concerning refugees. Such protection of human persons must be guaranteed in every civil society and espoused by all Christians.”

20 November 2003 

Government urged not to charge failed asylum seekers for health services

JRS UK has called on the British Government to withdraw a clause in proposed amendments to legislation regarding NHS charges. It claims that by expecting asylum seekers to pay for medical treatment, their physical and mental health could be seriously damaged, and it might even lead to the health of the wider public being put at risk of infectious or contagious diseases. 

JRS’s remarks come in the charity’s response to the Consultation over the 1989 Regulations concerning NHS charges to overseas visitors. One amendment to them would prevent failed asylum seekers being exempt from NHS charges. Their response asserts it would be impossible to claim payment from individuals in these circumstances, saying it would be “costly, time consuming and in the end unsuccessful”. 

The point is reiterated in relation to NHS staff who, the JRS says, should not be expected to determine the status of someone’s claim for asylum, nor become a “second-tier immigration service”. Hospital staff who suspect that a person may be staying in the UK without authorisation should not be expected to inform immigration officers, asserts the JRS, claiming that such actions could prevent sick people from seeking treatment. 

“It is … our opinion that the proposed exclusion from the 12–month residency exemption of any person identified as being in the UK without proper authorisation be withdrawn from the new Regulation 4(b),” the JRS’s submission concludes. 

The full statement can be downloaded here.