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On the front line
31 January 2003 - published in the Observer
Mel Pickett is deputy manager of Refugee Action’s asylum advice team in Southampton. Here Mel describes what life is really like on the front line of advice work with vulnerable asylum seekers in the city, especially those affected by new measures contained in the latest National, Immigration and Asylum Act.
“Who would choose to be an asylum seeker in Britain today? Policy changes introduced on 8 January require all asylum applicants to claim “as soon as is reasonably practicable” after their arrival here or be denied all state support. There are many compelling reasons why asylum seekers do not apply at a port of entry and most claims are made ‘in-country’. Yet increasingly we are seeing too many vulnerable and distressed people being denied food and shelter, with no option but to sleep rough on the streets in sub-zero temperatures, because of these new measures. The effects are devastating and traumatic.
“The process for newly-arrived asylum seekers is bewildering. People are often told by police or local immigration offices to go asylum-screening units at Croydon, Birmingham or Liverpool to apply for asylum and support. But it may take a couple of days (with no food or shelter) to get an appointment with an immigration officer before ultimately receiving a refusal letter which denies welfare support, leaving the person destitute. Increasingly it seems that people who have only been in the country for a few hours are being unfairly penalised.
“Since we learnt of these changes, which were introduced at the last minute as part of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, it has been a race against time for staff in Refugee Action’s advice offices to discuss the changes with other agencies, organise emergency provisions, like blankets and hot meals, and approach other organisations for any support they are able to offer destitute asylum seekers.
“Many asylum seekers we see are fleeing unimaginable terror and may have suffered torture, persecution and rape; they may have seen some or all of their family murdered before their eyes – they are literally fleeing for their lives. They may have left behind children, loved ones, a career, their home: their life. To tell someone who is so traumatised and confused, so far away from everything that is familiar to them, that we cannot lawfully provide them with a bed for the night, is heartbreaking.
“This morning a 24-year-old Iranian man came to our office. He had slept in a telephone booth last night. After being dropped off by a lorry, he walked for four hours to reach the police station where he was fingerprinted and told to go to Croydon to claim asylum. After sleeping outside the police station that night, he left for Croydon the next morning. The National Asylum and Support Service (NASS) told him to come back the following day, and he spent another night sleeping rough. After finally being assessed the next day, he left the NASS offices at 8pm. He slept in a phone box that night: (Name) had nowhere to go, NASS had refused him any support whatsoever on the ground that he had not applied soon enough.
“The impact of Section 55 on the ground has left Refugee Action staff feeling upset and frustrated, as they are limited in what they are lawfully allowed to do to help asylum seekers who go to them for help and advice.
“In another incident in Southampton, an Iraqi, already severely traumatised by what happened to him in his home country, was attacked and left blinded in one eye in a mugging incident. It’s a stark reminder of just how much hostility there can be towards asylum seekers, which is why recent reporting by some sections of the tabloid press is so disturbing: it demonises and dehumanises refugees.
“We often see women and men break down in tears in front of us, they haven’t eaten for days, and they are bewildered and confused. They have nowhere to sleep and find themselves sleeping rough on the streets. We have to tell them that recent policy changes mean we are prevented by law from providing them with any support. Although we’ve been really encouraged by offers of help and support, both financial and practical, from the community and other agencies, the real solution lies in the government rethinking this appalling policy”.
“But despite this awful policy, and regardless of what the tabloid press would have us believe, there are many compassionate, caring and humane people in our communities who genuinely care about the way we welcome asylum seekers. Most who arrive here are fleeing unimaginable terror and persecution to find haven in a country they perceive as safe, democratic and compassionate. They are values we must live up to and ones that help inspire us when things are really tough.”
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