Refugee Week, 18th – 25th June, and our Supported Charities, Freedom from Torture (FfT) and the London Churches Refugee Fund (LCRF).
Another year, another Refugee Week, and the need as great, perhaps greater, than ever. Man’s cruelty and inhumanity to others continues to drive people to flee persecution, torture and risk of death, some of whom seek asylum in this country and need help and treatment when they arrive. This may be a need for medical and/or psychiatric treatment; it may be help in convincing the home office that they are entitled to asylum or at least to leave to remain on humanitarian grounds; it may be the relief of sheer destitution, with nowhere to stay and no money; it may be release from detention, even of children; often it is more than one of these.
FfT, LCRF and other charities such as the Refugee Council do their best, but they are constrained by lack of funding, partly caused by cuts in Government grants. The Refugee Council, for example, has lost over £6 million in Government funding and has had to send out ever more urgent appeals to its supporters.
Of those which we directly support, LCRF is a very small church charity, founded in 2007 to provide funding grants to churches and other groups helping destitute asylum seekers in ways varying from drop-in centres to help with food parcels, clothing, transport or advice and counselling. LCRF funds are restricted to those who are destitute. Their own funds are entirely dependent on donations from churches and individuals They are trying to increase the number of “foundation donors”, i.e. individuals who donate at least £10 per month (or £120 per year) plus gift aid by standing order in order to have a more assured minimum income.
Complete destitution occurs because once a claim to asylum has been rejected, all eligibility for support ends, even when it is impossible for the asylum seeker to return to his original country. The claimant is not allowed to work, so has no means of support except from charity or any friends who may be able to help. Even before then, state help is extremely limited and may not cover all needs, including the cost of transport to get to centres providing food or other support, or legal and medical appointments. LCRF say that hygiene packs and babies’ nappies and milk show that mothers, infants and children are among those in absolute poverty.
Another reason why help is needed for transport costs from LCRF (and other charities) is a new system introduced by the UK Borders Agency in January 2010, whereby asylum seekers have to travel to Liverpool to lodge fresh claims in person. They are not interviewed and their claim is not looked at while they are there – they simply have to hand in their sealed envelope and leave. They are not allowed to post their claim. Travel by train, especially before 9.30 am, is prohibitively expensive. Claimants often have to go by coach the night before to avoid sleeping outside in Liverpool, and travel back by the night coach the next day.
The financial situation facing FfT is of even more concern. This is the only organisation in the UK dedicated exclusively to providing care and treatment for survivors of torture. Many victims of torture are so traumatised by their experiences that they cannot speak of them or properly recount their experience until after weeks or months of patient listening and counselling by trained practitioners. Treatment is lengthy and expensive. Even when physical scars have healed, the mental agony may continue, with difficulty sleeping, nightmares, flashbacks or other instances of trauma.
Another important service provided by FfT is the provision of medico-legal reports and expert medical evidence and legal support for appeals against an initial rejection of a claim for asylum and refugee status. The difficulty in giving an immediate and full account of their experience to immigration officers, as well as difficulty in providing papers and supporting evidence often inherent for people who have had to flee their country, frequently leads to genuine asylum seekers, even victims of torture, being disbelieved and having their claims rejected. Evidence and help from FfT is essential for appeals and not uncommonly leads to the original decision being overturned.
In April this year Keith Best, the chief executive of FfT, was forced to issue an emergency appeal. He said that vital services are under serious threat. FfT is facing an unprecedented financial crisis and without emergency funds by the end of May costs will have to be reduced and result in cuts to desperately needed services. FfT will be forced to turn away survivors of torture who need specialist help. They already have lengthy waiting lists. At the same time political turmoil in countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Iran means more people facing persecution, imprisonment and torture.
I could fill several pages of this magazine with case summaries of people helped by the Refugee charities. But there are other concerns too, which merit consideration in Refugee Week. First, detention and treatment of children seeking asylum. Despite the Government’s promise to end child detention, statistics published in December, 2011, showed that 17 children were held in detention. At the end of January this year a report published by the Children’s Commissioner for England found that separated children, including victims of trafficking, arriving in Dover, were being sent back to France with complete disregard for their welfare. As a result of this report, this practice has been stopped. The report also referred to the procedures for children arriving in the UK, including being detained and interviewed at length as soon as they arrive. This may be unjust, because children need time and support to recover, and legal support, before they make their claim for asylum. Another concern is the cuts in legal aid. Following the closure of legal charities Refugee Migrant Justice and the Immigration Advisory Service in the last 18 months, many asylum seekers have been left with nowhere to turn for legal advice.
Many people in this country are suffering poverty, hardship or distress and many charities are in need of additional funds at the present time. But few can be in worse case than those who have had to leave home and country, family and friends, persecuted or tortured in body and mind, and arrive in a strange land destitute and suffering. Refugee Week should draw these to our attention. How should we, both as individuals and as a country, treat them? With help and comfort, or hostility and rejection?
John Willmer
Forthcoming events:
Tuesday, 12th June, from 6.30 pm, at 111 Isledon Road, N7 7JW, in aid of Freedom from Torture, an evening of poetry and prose with Sir Andrew Motion and Alan Hollinghurst. See poster and flyers at the back of the church.
Wednesday, 20th June, at 1.00 pm in church, Literary Hour with readings for Refugee Week. “Persecution, Suffering, Asylum, Hope”