Refugee Council response to quarterly asylum stats published

In response to the publication today of the asylum statistics for the first quarter of 2008, Donna Covey, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council said:

“Yet again the government takes pride in a fall in people seeking asylum in the UK – but this is not a numbers game. A drop in asylum applications should only be celebrated if the world has become a safer place – and with wars raging around the world and serious human rights abuses continuing in places like Zimbabwe, Darfur and Burma this is patently not the case.

“As the statistics show, asylum seekers do not come from peaceful countries. They come from countries where violence is commonplace, and where the government is either the perpetrator or helpless to do anything about it. Our role is to offer a place of safety for those desperate people fleeing for their lives – and it is something we should be proud of.”

UK Asylum Statistics: 1st Quarter Jan/Feb/March 2008

The Home Office have published  their quarterly bulletin on Asylum statistics for January, February and March 2008, in that period:

Removals: Principal asylum applicants removed in Q1 2008: 2,805;

Total persons removed in Q1 2008: 16,760; 12% higher than Q1 2007 (14,970)

* 970 persons were removed under Assisted Voluntary Return schemes in Q1 2008 (320 non-asylum cases, 575 principal asylum applicants and 75 asylum dependants).

Top Ten nationalities accounting for the highest number of asylum removals in Q1 2008 (principal applicants) were

Afghan (270),

Iraqi (205),

Turkish (190),

Chinese (185)

Pakistani (185)

Jamaica (105)

Iraq (95)

Iran (75)

Eritrea (65)

Sri Lanka( 55)

Church leaders call for ‘a more humane asylum system’

 

8 February 2008 To mark Ash Wednesday leaders of Christian faith traditions in West Yorkshire issued a statement of support for asylum seekers, calling for a more humane asylum system, for the right to work for asylum seekers and for better legal representation. The church leaders also praised the great work many people in West Yorkshire do supporting refugees and asylum seekers, noting that it demonstrates that “at a community level Britain shows a welcoming face to people fleeing persecution, in contrast to the Government’s approach which has become a cause for national shame.” The church leaders statement was reported in the Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire Evening Post, Huddersfield Examiner, BBC Radio Leeds, BBC Radio York, BBC Look North, ITV Calendar and Radio Aire.

See also

To see the full list of church leaders and their statement see http://www.wyec.co.uk/

Simplifying immigration law for the 21st century

6 December 2007A proposal to use a new Government Bill to simplify immigration law has received positive feedback, the Home Office revealed today.

Home Secretary today sets out plans to manage migration and protect British values

5 December 2007The countdown to the transformation of the immigration system began today when the Home Secretary announced new rules for highly skilled foreign workers applying to come to the UK.

Annual asylum applications at a fifteen year low: record number of foreign national prisoners removed

Quarterly asylum, accession monitoring and citizenship statistics published today Britain’s tougher border controls have led to the lowest level of asylum applications in 15 years, according to statistics published by the Home Office today.At the same time, the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) revealed it has removed a record 3,500 foreign national prisoners so far this year, and this quarter (July to September) has overseen a 15 per cent increase in all enforced removals and voluntary returns (to 6,330) compared to the same period last year.Altogether this year 45,000 people have been removed from the UK, as quarterly enforced returns matched the all time high of 2003.

Halt all deportations to Iraq, says Refugee Council

19 November 2007 Refugee Council calls on the UK government to halt all deportations to Iraq immediately and do more to address the growing refugee crisis.Two years to the day from the first forced removals flight to Iraq (20 November 2005), the Refugee Council today condemns this practice and urge the UK government to address the growing refugee crisis as a matter of urgency.

‘Darfuri survivors deserve our protection’

Refugee Action is dismayed that a court decision at the House of Lords on 14 November (see link below) has cleared the way for the forced return of Darfuri refugees to the Sudanese capital.

Destitution

Hand-to-mouth existence of Manchester’s destitute

asylum seekers

Independent Asylum Commission: Asylum Support and Destitution

12 October 2007

ASYLUM SEEKERS and refugees will tell an independent hearing how they have been forced into a desperate hand-to-mouth existence on the streets of Manchester after their claims were turned down.

A coalition of local agencies headed by Refugee Action has identified asylum seekers and refugees from global trouble spots including Darfur, Ethiopia and Somalia, who will tell the Independent Asylum Commission how they came to be destitute, why they fear returning to their country and how they have survived with no support and no right to work.

voluntary return

Voluntary returns programmes

A refugee or asylum seeker may decide to leave the UK and return to their country of origin. A host of reasons and factors may influence the decision to return but care needs to be taken before any decision is made to return. If a person returns to the country of origin, then s/he may lose permission to stay and a right of entry to the UK.

A person can choose to make their own arrangements to leave the UK independently. But there are also assisted return programmes which offer help to leave the UK and assistance back in the country of return. Each programme has its own rules about who is eligible for help and the type of assistance it provides.

The assisted voluntary return programmes described are not run by the Refugee Council.