The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

Two of the charities supported by the parish

Refugee week is once more upon us, this year from 20th to 26th June, so it is time to look again at the work done by these two charities, which this church is continuing to support in the triennium 2016-2018.  The news about thousands of people attempting to make dangerous crossings of the Mediterranean and gain access to Europe, and the opposition which this arouses, make refugee issues particularly sensitive at the present time.

Urgent and difficult are the issues to which this situation gives rise.  But, for us, they must not be allowed to obscure the plight of asylum seekers and refugees already here and the need for the work of the charities which we have committed to support.  Indeed as war and oppression in Syria and other countries in the Middle East continue people will continue to flee, seeking refuge and asylum and a future which has some hope.  Numbers in 2015 appear to confirm this.  After being around 20-25,000 each year in the previous decade, the number of asylum applications in Britain rose to 32,000 in 2015, with more than 20,000 of them in the second half of the year.  All too often the issue of those seeking refuge from countries like Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Eritrea is deliberately confused with the issue of migration in the EU.

As I wrote last year, few people can be in greater need than those who have been forced to leave their country of origin by war, persecution, torture, rape, violence or threats of death or serious harm and arrive in a foreign country suffering, often traumatized, and destitute.  When they arrive in the UK they are in limbo – it will often be many months, sometimes years, before their claim for asylum will be determined.  In the meantime they are not allowed to work or earn a living and will only be given £5 per day on which to live.  (Compare this with the minimum wage of £7.20 per hour, let alone the greater living wage which bodies like Citizens UK regard as necessary.)

This is the situation which LCRF was set up to help to alleviate.  It was established in 2007 by the ecumenical London Churches Refugee Network to raise funds to assist Christian projects and other organisations working to relieve the needs of destitute asylum seekers, particularly in relation to travel, food and accommodation, and to raise awareness of their needs amongst churches and the wider community in London.  Quite apart from ordinary travel in London to Home Office interviews, or to seek treatment or advice, there is one particular travel expense which asylum seekers have to incur.  They are required to travel to Liverpool simply to hand in their application for asylum in person.  Without charitable assistance, they may have no means of doing so.

LCRF is a small charity, with no paid staff.  All its activities are carried out by the trustees and other volunteers.  Meetings are held at St. Martin’s, Gospel Oak or the London Interfaith Centre.  Their biggest fund-raising activity is their annual carol singing, held in 2015 at Oxford Circus tube station and raising £2,600.  The bulk of their income is dependent on donations from individuals and churches.  Those from individuals remained much the same in 2015 as in 2014 but there was a significant increase in income received from churches and other organisations.  The Trustees consider applications for grants twice a year, in May and December.  In 2015 they were able to make grants totalling £22,056 to 23 organisations, a significant increase on 2014.

LCRF’s annual report for 2015 has just been published.  It is quite short and worth reading and can be downloaded from www.help4refugees.co.uk.  By the time you read this article there should be some paper copies in church.  Amongst other things this report contains case studies of individuals helped, illustrative of the continuing need for help.

FfT is the only human rights organization in the UK solely dedicated to the care of torture survivors.  They provide medical and social care, practical assistance, and psychological and physical therapy, and also medico-legal reports to assist clients with their asylum claims.  (Some of the case studies and photographs in their appeals and reports make it hard to understand why such asylum seekers have not been accepted as genuine in the first place.)  FfT operates as a centre of learning and knowledge in the care, treatment and protection of torture survivors,

FfT also document evidence which contributes to individual states being held to account for torture.  Their report “Tainted Peace:  Torture in Sri Lanka Since May, 2009”, published in August 2015, was based on a study of 148 Sri Lankan torture cases forensically documented by expert doctors in their Medico-Legal Report Service.  All involved torture perpetrated since the end of the Sri Lankan civil war in May 2009.

The need for FfT’s services seems overwhelming.  Their 2014/15 annual review shows that in 2014 FfT received 1,313 referrals of torture survivors in the UK. They shared 78 countries of origin, though most only had a handful of cases.  Much the largest number were from Sri Lanka, followed by Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Democratic Republic of Congo.  The Spring 2016 issue of “The Survivor”, FfT’s newsletter for supporters, contains an urgent message from the Chief Executive, Susan Monroe:  “ Right now, we can only help one out of three survivors of torture who desperately need care and support.  And that’s not even including the additional Syrian torture survivors being resettled in the UK.”  Elsewhere in the newsletter it is estimated that at least 10% of the 20.000 refugees which the Government has agreed to take over the next five years will be survivors of torture.

Finally, I end with just a couple of quotations from people helped by FfT.

Kim, from the Ivory Coast:  “Coming to this centre has changed my life.  Now I feel I am flying like a butterfly.”
Hadi, from Iran:  “No one can understand how I feel apart from the people at Freedom from Torture.. . . . . I have found support and friends here and that helps me every week. . . . . .Freedom from Torture helps me have hope for the future.”