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The Independent September 16, 2002
Two thousand racial attacks have been inflicted on asylum-seekers who have been dispersed around Britain under a government programme that began two years ago. The figure, disclosed by the Home Office, calls into question the assumption that Britain has been more welcoming to asylum-seekers than other European states, including Germany and France.
It also raises doubts about the validity of the dispersal programme, which was introduced by the Government to take pressure off local authorities in London and the South-east, and led to asylum-seekers being sent to Hull, Sunderland, Glasgow and other cities. Nearly 100 of the "racial incidents" have been reported in Sunderland and the Home Office said it had stopped dispersing asylum-seekers to there.
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NERS Response:
NERS would like to state that it does not dispute the number of racial harassment cases against asylum seekers in Sunderland disclosed by the Home Office. However, NERS would like to draw attention to the fact that this high number of recorded incidents is directly related to a local initiative by local organisations working directly and indirectly with asylum seekers to encourage asylum seekers to report all forms racial harassment. NERS believes that this scheme is a major influence on the number of reported cases in Sunderland.
Despite this high number of reported racial incidents, NERS is keen to stress that it does not consider Sunderland to be a racist city or a no-go area for asylum seekers and refugees. The tragic murder of Peyman Bahmani last month in Sunderland should remind us all of the vulnerability of asylum seekers throughout the United Kingdom. It should also be noted however, that it is only a minority of right-wing extremists in the city that are opposed to the presence of asylum seekers and it is this minority which taints the entire city of Sunderland as a potential racist city.
As of writing, NERS has not received any official notification from the Home Office that dispersals to Sunderland have been terminated. NERS would also like to stress that it has not received any indication by the Home Office that this move is either likely to be imminent. Chief Executive of The North of England Refugee Service, Daoud Zaaroura says, “to cease dispersals to any region let alone Sunderland would send out completely the wrong message and play into the hands of right wing extreme groups not only in Sunderland but also throughout the country.”
Whilst the shortcomings of the dispersal scheme have been well documented throughout the media, and are primarily linked to a lack of resources, NERS believes that the introduction of the dispersal programme in the North East has on the whole been successful. At its conception in 1999, the North East’s ethnic diversity was relatively limited in comparison with the rest of the country. However since then, asylum seekers and refugees throughout the North East have served to enrich the cultural fabric of the region and are a key ingredient of Newcastle and Gateshead’s bid to capture the European city of culture prize for 2008.
Daoud Zaaroura, CEO adds “there are many projects running throughout the North-East that bring together all aspects of society, including asylum seekers, other black and ethnic minorities and also the local population. These projects provide a vital link in bridging the differences between various sections of society and their work should not go unnoticed or be undervalued”. It is now well established that the vast majority of refugees who settle in this country contribute positively to their local regional economies, and in the North- East the story is no different.
NERS acknowledges that there are problems in the North East in relation to dispersal, though urges people to see the glass as half full, rather than half empty. In light of the tragic and senseless murder of Peyman Bahmani, NERS recommends that all agencies already working directly or indirectly with local asylum seekers and refugees re-double their efforts to provide protection and promote integration and that all the local authorities housing asylum seekers take the lead in this process.
REFUGEE KILLING TREATED AS RACIST
The Guardian August 30, 2002
Police are questioning two men and a woman about the stabbing to death of an Iranian asylum-seeker. The attack in Sunderland is being treated as racist by Northumbria police, whose task force in the troubled Hendon area has been criticised for failing to stamp out violence.
The dead man was named by friends as Tayman Bahmani, 28, from Sheraz in Iran, which he fled two and-a-half years ago after threats from local authorities. He shared a house with another asylum-seeker in a dilapidated part of Hendon used by the refugee/asylum dispersal programme.
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NERS Response:
The North of England Refugee Service strongly denounces this harrowing crime against an innocent asylum seeker.
Tayman Bahmani was a quiet likeable person, who was no threat to anybody.
This was a racially motivated attack and those responsible, or those behind it, should look at the real level of community support in Sunderland. Their actions are not going to blur the real picture of Sunderland with its strong support towards the principle of providing protection to vulnerable asylum seekers. We are confident that the Police will deal with this horrible crime and catch the perpetrators quickly.
NERS extends its heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Tayman and the local Iranian community.
ASYLUM SEEKERS FACE CURB ON WORK
The Guardian July 23, 2002
The Home Office is poised to scrap a concession which allows asylum seekers to work in Britain if their claim for refugee status is not decided within six months. A Home Office spokeswoman last night would not confirm the decision but added that the rule was one that was always kept under review. "It dates from the late 1980s when delays in the system were widespread," she said.
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NERS Response:
The North of England Refugee Service is extremely disappointed by the government’s move to prevent asylum seekers working whilst awaiting their asylum application.
Asylum seekers already have to live on support levels lower than the rest of the population. The government’s decision will push asylum seekers further into poverty, frustration and despair. The asylum decision making process is still not as efficient as the government has promised- with the average claim still taking over a year to process.
In the meantime, the skills shortage in the UK labour force remains as acute as ever. Home Office research shows that the average asylum seeker/refugee arriving in this country is highly skilled with many years of work experience. It is hard not to view this decision as none other than the government’s desire to drive down numbers.
FRENCH TO CLOSE 'LAST' WAY FOR REFUGEES TO USE TUNNEL
The Guardian, June 26, 2002
Britain and France last night agreed a new package of security measures designed to close the "last loophole" in access for migrants to the channel tunnel, but reached no deal on closure of the Sangatte refugee camp near Calais.
The French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, told the home secretary, David Blunkett, that he hoped a timetable for the camp's closure could be agreed at the next meeting in Paris on July 12 after being assured that Britain was introducing new measures to curb illegal working, including a national identity card scheme.
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NERS Response:
NERS is disappointed by the over emphasis once again on the Sangatte refugee camp. It is important to note that Sangatte should not be viewed as the root cause of the refugee problem facing the UK. NERS is also disappointed by the Home Secretary's apparent refusal to rule out using Royal Navy warships in the Mediterranean seas to turn away boatloads of people. This is not the way to deal with desperate people and serves only to enforce the fortress Europe image.
SANGATTE TO CLOSE BUT 'NO DEAL' WITH BRITAIN. 'POLITICS OF THE MAD HOUSE' JIBE
The Journal, May 24, 2002
The Home Office last night welcomed plans by France's Interior Ministry to close the Sangatte refugee camp. Nicolas Sarkozy said it was an objective of the French Government to close the Red Cross camp but no date had been set.
Britain has called for the closure of the camp, which is used by illegal immigrants as a staging post to smuggle themselves across the Channel.
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NERS Response:
The North of England Refugee Service would like to reiterate its view that Sangatte should be seen as part of a larger problem inherent throughout the asylum processes of the EU, rather than the root cause of the whole asylum issue, as some in the UK would have us believe.
By closing it, the British government will not be able to stop refugees entering our country. More action must be taken throughout EU member nations to minimise the inconsistencies of European asylum policies, whilst at the same time, honouring its commitment to the right of asylum tradition.
TERROR TRIAL REFUGEE MAY COME TO NORTH
The Evening Chronicle, May 23, 2002
A refugee cleared of being a terrorist could end up setting up home in the North East. Adnan Abdelah's trial collapsed in farce after a judge ruled there was no case to answer. Newcastle Crown Court had heard claims that Mr. Abdelah, 22, a Palestinian, of Bavington Drive, Fenham, Newcastle was a member of terror network Hamas.
But the case was thrown out after Judge David Hodson directed the jury to clear him of charges that he was a Hamas member and that he had been professing membership of the fanatical organisation, He said, Abdelah was "more Billy Liar than fanatical terrorist".
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NERS Response:
The case of Mr. Abdelah is a very difficult situation, because his court case is not directly related to his application for asylum. If someone is an asylum seeker, then The North of England Refugee Service has a contractual obligation to assist this person.
However if someone is a member of a terrorist network, then that is not our responsibility. It is a matter for the Home Office to decide what happens to him, and we will be approaching the Home Office in due course.
CHILDREN TO BE DISPERSED IN PLAN TO CUT ASYLUM SEEKERS
The Guardian, May 23, 2002
Thousands of asylum-seeking children under the age of 18 are to be bussed from London and the south-east to places throughout Britain as part of the secret "action plan" by Downing Street and the Home Office to achieve a "radical reduction" in the number of asylum seekers.
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NERS Response:
The North of England Refugee Service is concerned about proposals to disperse children who are asylum seekers and its implications on not only children who are asylum seekers, but also the local community, and the government’s apparent willingness to consider such a policy without engaging with refugee welfare groups and local services.
The North of England Refugee Service acknowledges that in the North East, dispersal has on the whole been working successfully. However, the government must maintain their commitment to protecting children’s interests and their well being. The mental and physical development of a child is a specialized area and in the case of asylum children, should not be seen as just an accommodation issue.
The North of England Refugee Service is also concerned that the proposed dispersal could create difficulties in areas with smaller capacities to provide acceptable levels of support for un-accompanied children. If the government is thinking of dispersing children out of the South East, then it should first be looking at the specialist facilities currently available in the regions and the funding needed to either put these facilities in place, or maintain them. Ultimately, children should be protected by the government, whether they are asylum seekers or not is irrelevant.
END ASYLUM SOFT TOUCH, SAYS HAIN
Minister calls for common EU policy
The Guardian, May 13 2002
Peter Hain, the Europe minister, yesterday called for a Europe-wide asylum policy to tackle the "soft touch" of southern Mediterranean countries in the most hardline reaction from a Labour minister to the rise of the far right across Europe. He also attacked "very isolationist" Muslim extremists in the UK.
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NERS reponse:
Firstly, NERS welcomes Mr. Hain's comments on ending people trafficking. This is a diabolical practice, which regularly claims vulnerable people's lives. However, it is difficult to sympathise with Mr. Hain over his frustration at the slow progress towards a harmonization of EU asylum policy. The Treaty of Amsterdam came into effect in 1999. Its stated aim is to develop a common EU immigration and asylum policy within 5 years. NERS has maintained from the outset that this timetable was too optimistic. The EU is continuing to debate the expansion of its organization, with Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic all vying to be on the first wave of new members. Until its expansion plans are settled, it is difficult to see how the EU can agree on a common asylum policy.
Mr. Hain also speaks of his desire for more honesty regarding asylum and immigration. NERS welcomes this, but believes this can only be achieved by the government itself opening up and discussing the future of asylum in the UK.
Isolationist behaviour by immigrants is a result of a lack of opportunities available to them and the lack of a strong and open integration policy within local government authorities and central government policy. Such behaviour should not only be linked to 'extreme fundamentalists'. NERS wonders if Mr. Hain believes that barring children of asylum seekers attending local schools and educating separately them in reception centres, promotes integration or isolationism?
BLUNKETT DEFENDS 'SWAMPING' REMARK
The Guardian, April 25 2002
David Blunkett last night defended his use of the emotive word "swamping" to justify the placement of asylum seekers' children at special schools as he sought to rally MPs behind a cross-party consensus to "give a comeuppance" to the racist politics of the British National party.
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NERS Response
David Blunkett's use of the word 'swamping' when referring to asylum seekers, whether by accident or not, is a real concern for all those working to protect the rights of asylum seekers and refugees in the UK. NERS would like to give the benefit of the doubt to the Home Secretary's later explanation that the remark was a "slip of the tongue", but would remind the Home Secretary that the use of such emotive and dangerous language is normally the preserve of the far-right extreme parties.
NERS is opposed to the segregation of the children of asylum seekers being taught separately to the general population. The government's latest explanation that this scheme is intended as a trial does not convince. If the government is serious about creating a viable multicultural society, then it should promote integration at every opportunity.
NERS believes that investing in what is working and building on the positive initiatives already in place, is what the government should be concentrating on, rather than segregating asylum seekers in accommodation centres. Asylum seekers should be given opportunities to contribute to local communities as soon as they arrive to encourage genuine integration, rather than being kept away in isolated places.
NERS is concerned that isolated accommodation centres is not the answer to the asylum system. We believe the government should look at the positive contributions that refugees have already made in our society, and improve the processing of asylum applications, though not at the expense of integration.
HALL SOLD TO REFUGEE HOUSING COMPANY
The Journal, Newcastle, March 26 2002
Villagers received the news they had been dreading yesterday when a firm which houses asylum seekers confirmed it had purchased a remote hotel and conference centre. The people of Otterburn have been living with the prospect of London-based accommodation provider the Angel Group buying Otterbrun Hall for the past two months. They say a possible influx of 250 asylum seekers to live in the hall would be too large for a village of just 500 people to cope with.
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NERS Response
NERS shares the concerns of the residents of Otterburn. NERS is also worried about the prospect of building the new reception centres in areas which on the surface seem ill-equipped to deal with such large numbers and isolated from main services and communities.
NERS believes that the dispersal system is operating in a positive way throughout the North East, and is already sufficiently supported by various organizations, including local authorities, the private sector and local voluntary groups for this pattern to continue.
REFUGEE DIED IN BRIDGE FALL. OPEN VERDICT AFTER INQUEST TOLD AFRICAN WAS DEPRESSED
The Evening Chronicle 10 January 2002
A depressed asylum seeker fighting to stay in the country plunged to his death from a Tyneside bridge. As reported in our later editions yesterday, Souleyman Diallo, 28, was facing deportation back to Guinea, West Africa. The inquest into his death heard how he had fled from torture, but his case had never been properly presented to the Home Office.
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NERS Response
The case of Diallo Souleiman is a tragedy. This incident highlights once again, that refugees and asylum seekers are a vulnerable group within our society and their plight can often go unnoticed. Refugees and asylum seekers are an asset to our country and every effort should be made to facilitate their successful integration into mainstream society.
NERS regrets this incident and extends its heartfelt condolences to Diallo's family, friends and the African Community in the North East.
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