JRS UK News, October 2004

Latest Developments

The Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004 received Royal Assent on 22^nd July.  Most of the Act will not come into force immediately, but will be implemented by ministerial order, known as a commencement order.   So what is in force so far?

 New criminal offences
Sections 2 and 35 of the Act create new offences of not having documents demonstrating identity without good reason and of failure to co-operate with the removal process.  Both offences will carry a maximum of 2 years’ imprisonment.  Both these sections came into force on 22^nd September.  

Electronic monitoring
Section 36 of the Act, which came into force on 1^st October, allows for electronic monitoring of individuals who could otherwise be subject to detention or reporting restrictions.  Starting this month the Immigration and Nationality Department are running a pilot project to test three types of technology:

• Voice recognition – 200 people will have to phone in regularly from a specified landline

• Tagging – 50 people will have to wear a tagging bracelet and will have to be near a receiver at specified times (e.g. in accommodation every night at 9p.m.)

• Global satellite positioning software – 50 people can be located wherever they are at any time.

These numbers are approximate and the IND is unsure for how long the pilot project will run.   

Safe countries of origin
Sections 27 and 33 came into force on 1^st October.  They give the Secretary of State the power to decide that asylum claims from particular areas of countries or from particular groups of people from a country are unfounded.  Although these claims will be examined on an individual basis, it is likely they will be refused as the presumption is that they are unfounded.  No appeal will be allowed from within the UK.  In addition the Secretary of State can decide that certain areas of a country are safe or are safe for specific groups of people.  The Secretary of State may then remove people to these designated safe areas, even if the country as a whole is not deemed safe for removal purposes.  At present the only countries to which this applies to are the European Economic Area countries.  However, the Secretary of State has reserved the right to add to these.   

It is likely that there will be one more Commencement Order this year.  It is thought that this will include several of the sections, which affect entitlement to asylum support, including section 9 (withdrawal of support from families with children under 18 who have exhausted their appeal rights). 

We will let you have more news as we get it.
Louise Zanre

National Justice and Peace Network Conference

This year, Felix, Abdul and Simiso attended the conference.  Thank you to everyone who made donations to help us take them there!  They thoroughly enjoyed the experience and we were able to put them in touch with people living near them.  We have already heard how much they appreciate having friends and mentors locally!  

Simiso and Felix made short and very moving presentations of their experiences in detention as part of the workshop on detention and destitution run by the Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group and the Jesuit Refugee Service.   

National Catholic Refugee Forum

The NCRF is a freely accessible network of people concerned for asylum seekers and refugees.  It seeks to raise awareness and to lessen the sense of isolation felt both by asylum seekers and refugees and all those who work with them.  In June of this year, the NCRF held ‘an afternoon of restoring hope’ in Manchester on the theme of ‘Helping the Helpers’.  This event, which included a speaker from the Red Cross and a series of workshops, saw people share their experiences and their knowledge.  Bishop Terence Brain attended part of the afternoon, lending his support to all those who work in this field.  

The NCRF also provides ongoing assistance, writing regular briefings for its network of supporters, sharing information and responding to requests for help.  Recent concerns have included the NHS proposals, destitution and sanctuary.  With people continually forced to flee their homes as a result of global conflicts, the next NCRF forum day on November 27^th in London (run in conjunction with the JRS, Pax Christi and CARJ) is on the theme of ‘Refugees and Conflict’.     

For more information or to link up with the network contact Mary Horbury, co-ordinator, NCRF, PO Box 3365, Chester, CH2 3WR; Tel: 07789 014819; Email: mary.horbury@refugee-forum.org.uk  

REFUGEE HEALTH PROPOSAL “CRUEL” AND “UNFAIR”, says JRS

 The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) has branded UK Government proposals to make overseas visitors ineligible for free NHS primary medical services as “cruel” and warns that they could worsen community and race relations. 

Responding to a Department of Health consultation document, JRS-UK says that the proposals may compound an already bad situation:

“Given that so many asylum seekers and ‘failed’ asylum seekers are homeless, their health problems will be compounded by stress over their living situations … and possibly rough sleeping. To give the added stress of worrying about being charged for primary health care is to our mind cruel.” 

The proposal to make refugees and asylum seekers provide proof of eligibility for free NHS primary medical services is also criticised by JRS-UK.

“In our experience, many people experience delays in getting the official documents from the Home Office detailing their new status,” the JRS response says. “This already causes significant problems in accessing benefits, accommodation and the labour market. It is not inconceivable that similar problems could arise in accessing free NHS primary medical services.” 

While welcoming the proposal to waive charges where primary health services are needed “on humanitarian grounds”, JRS-UK says it is “unfair” that the needs should be “exceptional”. “This proposal recognises the importance of access to primary medical care. It would surely be more humanitarian to allow everyone in need to have this access as is currently the case.” 

A further reason NHS primary health services should remain free for asylum seekers, according to JRS-UK, is the affect upon local communities. “In our opinion, these proposals will worsen local community and race relations. Local communities will be fragmented if people are turned away from GP surgeries because they do not have the correct papers.” 

The full version of the JRS-UK response is available on www.jrsuk.net.  Copies can also be obtained from the office. 

Letter recently received from a detainee  

My name is xxxxx, I am from a West African country, and I am an asylum seeker. I have been detained for the past 14 months, and I am detained in prison with criminals when I did not commit a crime. 

I am writing this letter seeking for help for myself and for other people in the same situation as me. You can help us by sending our letter to other people and MPs. We suffer a lot in the UK when we are not supposed to. The Immigration does not care about our human rights and it’s abusing it.  

The bad experience we have in this country makes us feel like we are not living in the UK. All human beings are the same and should be treated equally, but the racist immigration shift people out of this country when they are entitled to stay here.  

Things are going too far; if people like you do not help us it will get worse.