South Wales CITIZENS for Sanctuary enjoy second successful negotiation

CITIZENS for Sanctuary in South Wales is a diverse alliance of churches, community groups, drop-in centres and refugee organisations. On Wednesday, a team of leaders from South Wales CITIZENS for Sanctuary held a meeting with Phillip Smith, UKBA Chief of Operations for Wales and South West England which was a great success.

Phillip Smith, who is also head of the Wales Local Immigration Teams, was met at Trinity Methodist Church in Cardiff by a team of seven including leaders from the church, the local Labour Party, the Tenavus charity and Displaced People in Action. The team of leaders had drawn up an agenda to follow-up on the first negotiation with Mr. Smith back in January but also to discuss some new concerns that have been raised and researched by members of the South Wales group.

South Wales CITIZENS for Sanctuary made real steps to changing the Azure card scheme on Wednesday when Mr. Smith was introduced to Alan Bagshaw, a volunteer with Tenavus the cancer charity based in Wales. Alan and Frances, a leader of CITIZENS for Sanctuary and a trustee of Cytun, have been working hard over the last few weeks to get Tenavus to sign up to the Azure card scheme. Signing up a charity shop to the Azure card was deemed a vitally needed change after the action CITIZENS for Sanctuary held in Cardiff which highlighted the poor quality and expensive items currently available at Azure card stores, especially in comparison to the good value for money available at charity shops. Because of the negotiation, the UKBA is now going into talks with Tenavus to make this a reality and, hopefully, to reduce some of the burdens people seeking sanctuary face on the Section 4 support system.

As well as signing up one of the first charity chains to the Azure card, the South Wales CITIZENS for Sanctuary team conducted research within their communities about the continued problems associated with the card. Synne Hathway from Cardiff University STAR compiled a report on the evidence she had gathered since our last meeting with Mr. Smith. Her work revealed a number of continually problematic stores in Cardiff, whose staff were inadequately trained to use the card and as a result had been causing embarrassment and humiliation to people attempting to use their card in the shops. At the meeting Mr. Smith was informed of these problems and is now going to personally submit the information to the contract provider to address the training issues.

Mr. Smith also agreed to investigate the lack of information amongst schools in South Wales, after Lina, a mother from Congo who is seeking sanctuary, told of the difficulties she has experienced trying to tell her son's school that she is without cash and therefore unable to contribute towards school trips or the fruit and veg scheme at school. The CITIZENS for Sanctuary team is simultaneously going to push the Local Education Authority to better educate school staff about the circumstances for those seeking sanctuary in Wales.

Finally, the negotiation team also raised concerns about the UKBA policy for providing emergency travel. Only one person asked in the survey by STAR knew that they were entitle to travel expenses from their Housing Provider for emergency travel and when we raised this with Mr. Smith he was shocked about the lack of knowledge amongst the communities and the Housing Providers of this contractual obligation. The team managed to convince Mr. Smith to write a statement on behalf of the UKBA about the rights and entitlements for people seeking sanctuary to claim travel expenses. South Wales CITIZENS for Sanctuary looks forward to publishing this on the blog and within the communities in Wales to ensure that people seeking sanctuary are able to access the help that has been promised.

The negotiation was a very productive meeting and has been a good building block for strengthening the relationship between the leaders and the UKBA in South Wales. The team was really pleased to capitalise on the promises made at the first negotiation and to see changes beginning to happen in Wales.

Sr. Ruth O'Neill, a leader with CITIZENS for Sanctuary and volunteer at Asylum Justice, said it was "great to speak to someone who has the power to improve things for us".

Frances Ballin, trustee of Cytun, said that she was really pleased by the outcome and, after the meeting, she concluded that "good team work really has begun to show results".

SUCCESS FOR GREATER MANCHESTER CITIZENS AS UK BORDER AGENCY PROMISES ACTION ON COCKROACH-INFESTED HOMES

An alliance of faith, citizen and refugee groups is celebrating success after the UK Border Agency’s Regional Director of Operations, Eddy Montgomery, agreed to take action on substandard housing conditions for people seeking sanctuary in Greater Manchester.

Greater Manchester CITIZENS for Sanctuary presented Mr Montgomery and the UKBA’s Head of Contracts, Mark Blackledge, with a report showing the shocking results of a citizen inspection exercise in January, when local people visited houses provided by private accommodation providers on behalf of the UKBA.

The Unhappy Homes report documents some of the horrifying conditions people seeking sanctuary in the North West are forced to endure, and the failure of private housing providers to fulfil their contracts and deal effectively with problems in the houses. In 70% of the houses visited, there was no access to either a washing machine or a laundrette. In 65% of the houses the residents had not been provided with the means to clean their home. Pest infestations were a particular problem in the twenty houses visited – rats were present in 2 houses, mice in 3 houses, ants in 2 houses and cockroaches in 3 houses. In one case featured in the report, a woman resorted to sleeping with the lights on to stop the cockroaches crawling onto her bed. Despite complaining to her housing provider nearly every day for the last four months, nothing has been done to eradicate the cockroach infestation.

In addition to promising swift action to resolve issues such as the cockroach infestation, Mr Montgomery agreed to work with Greater Manchester CITIZENS for Sanctuary to improve the induction process for people who have fled persecution and who move in to Manchester, and to explore the idea of a ‘Sanctuary Mark’ which would be awarded to housing providers who provide good quality housing and customer service.

Reverend John Simmons, a leader with Greater Manchester CITIZENS for Sanctuary, said:
“We were delighted that Mr Montgomery at the UK Border Agency is taking the Unhappy Homes report seriously. He has promised simple practical actions that will make life better for people who live in these homes - for example, ensuring that the housing providers know that they need to provide a lockable bedroom door or a lockable wardrobe so that people can protect their belongings. This is a great achievement for Greater Manchester CITIZENS for Sanctuary.”

Daniel Murphy, of the UNITE trade union and a leader with Greater Manchester CITIZENS Sanctuary, said:
“As a taxpayer, I want my money to be used effectively and at the moment the housing providers are breaking their contractual agreement with the UKBA. It’s a scandal that we’re paying these landlords to do provide such an appalling service. I’m glad the UKBA is now listening to our concerns and we are going to monitor the complaints system over the next few months to ensure housing defects, infestations and faulty appliances are being dealt with quickly and effectively.”

Eddy Montgomery, Director of Operations for the UK Border Agency in the North West, said:

"We are always keen to hear the views of our stakeholders and I am pleased with the constructive nature of discussions with CITIZENS for Sanctuary. The UK Border Agency treats asylum seekers with dignity and respect and as such we require accommodation providers to comply with a comprehensive statement of requirements for all accommodation which includes an obligation to comply with Local Authorities housing standards.”

Education is the way forward to safeguard our long term future of providing sanctuary

An alliance of 18 teachers, education consultants, ex immigration officers and migrant leaders came together last week in the first step to ensure that: No child is to leave education without an understanding of our past and present role of providing sanctuary and that they are given an opportunity to develop their own minds in the great migration debate.

"The Migration Conundrum" is an exciting new resource being produced by London CITIZENS, a partnership of CITIZENS for Sanctuary and the Schools Alliance. The resource aims to bring compelling, discursive and active teaching and learning around the issue to every classroom. We believe that every young person should be entitled to experience a high quality, evidence-based exploration of this issue.

The resource is designed in a flexible resource to teach this issue, but also associated issue to fit the curriculum. There are four key parts to draw from:
Real Lives - Case studies of some of our young leaders.
Activate - Ideas, activities and resources to bring the issue alive in the classroom.
You Can Tool Kit - A tool kit to help students make a difference and take action.
Evidence Bank - A bank of supporting facts, figures and evidence.

The team will bring a wealth of skills, experience and knowledge to the resource as well as painting a clear picture of the situation.

Jon, 27, fled Zimbabwe 2 year ago "It's a shame that the media tend to tell a negative story when it come to issues around sanctuary and immigration. This resource will help students understand what individuals really go through and who they can become whilst seeking sanctuary in the UK. It will encourage them to make up their own minds, and hopefully take some action."

The resource, is currently being trialled in 4 of our London schools and will be available for the start of the new year 2010/2011 however, if you would like to trial it in your school please contact carina.crawford-rolt@cof.org.uk

Cold, Confused and Cashless: South Wales Citizens celebrate successful negotiation with the UKBA to help bring the cashless out of the cold'

Before Christmas South Wales CITIZENS for Sanctuary, an alliance of faith, citizen and refugee groups, held an action in Cardiff to test out the new Azure card and to monitor the impact of the card on people seeking sanctuary. Local communities formed Citizen Monitoring Teams to assess the impact of the new Section 4 payment card on dignity, stigma, travel, access to food, clothing and healthcare, ease of use and value for money. The Citizen Monitoring Teams who braved sub-zero temperatures for the action found the card to be poor value for money, inadequate to meet the needs of families and unacceptably difficult to use.

The action was a media success and the inadequate provision for people seeking sanctuary on Section 4 was covered by the Western Mail, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and on BBC1 Wales 6 o’clock News.


The findings of that action have now been collated and published in the South Wales CITIZENS for Sanctuary report, ‘Cold, Confused and Cashless’. And, on Friday 29th January Mr. Philiip Smith, UKBA Regional Chief of Operations for Wales and the South West, met with a team of leaders from South Wales CITIZENS for Sanctuary to discuss possible solutions to the many problems they had been recording since the introduction of the Azure card to Wales in early December. The CITIZENS for Sanctuary team in South Wales presented Mr. Smith with the 'Cold, Confused and Cashless' report which outlined their requests to address some of the pressing concerns around the Azure card.

The South Wales CITIZENS for Sanctuary negotiation with Mr. Smith was a cause for celebration. The team was really pleased to hear that Mr. Smith would work with them to sign up local charities shops and businesses to the Azure card, providing they meet UKBA requirements. He also agreed to join CITIZENS for Sanctuary to meet with Cardiff Bus to discuss signing them up to the Azure card scheme in Wales. This would make an enormous difference to people like Constance and her family who have to survive on the Azure card. Constance said “trying to look after my two young boys with no access to the bus is so hard. I was forced to walk back in the driving rain over three miles with my young children and our shopping bags which left me and my family ill for several days. All because I couldn’t get on the bus. So now I am really pleased that Mr. Smith has now agreed to work with us on the issue.”

Sister Ruth O'Neil and Edie who is seeking sanctuary from Zimbabwe, both leaders from South Wales CITIZENS for Sanctuary, raised concerns about staff training. Edie’s powerful testimony about the loss of dignity she feels using the Azure card, especially when shop assistants don't recognise the card or she is unnecessarily forced to show ID, moved Mr. Smith to agree to work on reminding stores of their obligation to train staff. Mr. Smith even agreed to meet with Cardiff City Council to discuss children accessing school trips if their parents are on the Azure card. It was a very successful morning and gave citizens and people seeking sanctuary the chance to hold the UKBA to account and to look together at solutions for some of the problems associated with the Azure card.

However, the team was most impressed by Mr. Smith’s agreement to build a relationship with South Wales CITIZENS for Sanctuary. Reynette Roberts, who chaired the meeting, said:

"This is a really positive outcome and I am looking forward to working with the UKBA to address the concerns of local citizens and people seeking sanctuary in Wales".

SUCCESS FOR CITIZENS AS BORDER AGENCY & CITY COUNCIL AGREE TO EXPLORE ‘LOCAL REPORTING FOR LOCAL PEOPLE’

An alliance of faith, citizen and refugee groups is celebrating success after the UK Border Agency and Nottingham City Council responded positively to their campaign for local reporting for local people seeking sanctuary, at a meeting in the Council House on 22nd January.

Nottingham CITIZENS for Sanctuary gained a commitment from the UK Border Agency’s Regional Director, Gail Adams, and the Leader of Nottingham City Council, Jon Collins, to work with them to develop the prospect of a local reporting facility in Nottingham. A new facility in Nottingham would help the hundreds of people living in Nottingham who currently have to make the regular 32 mile round-trip to a reporting centre in Loughborough.

Nottingham CITIZENS for Sanctuary presented Gail Adams with a report entitled ‘Signing for Justice’, based on a sample of over 50 people who have to travel from Nottingham to Loughborough to report to the Border Agency. The report found that the journey caused serious difficulties for some vulnerable people and that the burden for assisting people to reach Loughborough often falls on local residents who provide lifts or expenses.

Also in attendance at the meeting were people seeking sanctuary for whom the regular trip to Loughborough is a reality. Christian, who fled persecution in the Democratic Republic of Congo and now lives in Nottingham, told Gail Adams that he had resorted to begging in order to raise the bus fare to Loughborough. Vera, from Malawi, explained that she had to pay for a childminder every month because her appointment in Loughborough requires her to leave the house before the children have gone to school.

The proposal for a local reporting facility in Nottingham had attracted high profile support from Alan Simpson MP, the Bishop of Sherwood, the Bishop of Nottingham, and the Leader of Nottingham City Council, and over 150 local people had demonstrated their support when a mock reporting centre had been set up in the Market Square in November 2009.

Gail Adams explained that the establishment of a local reporting facility in Nottingham would not be easy, but that she was prepared to explore the idea. In the meantime, she also committed the UK Border Agency to providing more flexibility to alter reporting times in order to minimise disruption to their family lives, and to consider piloting a voice recognition system in Nottingham as an alternative to travelling to Loughborough for vulnerable people.

Rev’d Karen Rooms, a Leader from Nottingham CITIZENS for Sanctuary, said:
“We were delighted that Gail Adams came to listen to what we had to say – and even more delighted that she has agreed to work with us to develop a local reporting facility in Nottingham so that people seeking sanctuary here do not have to travel to Loughborough.”

Cllr Jon Collins, Leader of Nottingham City Council, said:
“It makes sense for a city the size of Nottingham, that is proud to welcome those who have fled persecution and seek sanctuary in the UK, to have its own reporting facility. We will work with the UK Border Agency and Nottingham CITIZENS for Sanctuary to see what we can do to make this happen.”

Gail Adams, Regional Director of the UK Border Agency, said:
“I was pleased to be invited to meet with Nottingham CITIZENS for Sanctuary. Reporting is an essential part of our immigration system and offers an alternative to detention. Foreign nationals who are genuinely in need of our protection deserve a quick decision so that they can learn English, get a job and look forward to a safe, positive future. Equally, those who don’t need sanctuary in the UK are expected to leave the country as soon as possible.

“When we become aware of difficulties in reporting, we will work to overcome these problems. That’s why we are looking into alternatives for reporting in the Nottingham area. But it remains the responsibility of the individual to stay in contact with the UK Border Agency and reporting centres are an important part of this process.”

GREATER MANCHESTER CITIZENS FIND COCKROACH CLUSTERS, LEAKING ROOFS & POOR SERVICE IN UNHAPPY HOMES

An alliance of faith, citizen and refugee groups conducted an inspection of the homes allocated to people seeking sanctuary across Greater Manchester on Saturday 16th January to identify and highlight poor treatment at the hands of private housing providers with government contracts.

Local citizens from more than 20 organisations participated in the Greater Manchester CITIZENS for Sanctuary campaign which they hope will result in decent housing for people seeking sanctuary from the three private housing providers. Happy Homes, United Property Management and Priority Properties North West are contracted by the UK Border Agency to provide housing to people seeking sanctuary in the North West of England according to agreed standards and response times for repairs.

But a listening campaign run by Greater Manchester CITIZENS for Sanctuary has revealed that housing problems are consistently ignored. These have included a cockroach infestation, a raw sewage leak, overcrowding and broken heating and hot water systems in the middle of winter.

Eve, from war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, is living in a house swarming with cockroaches. They are present throughout the house, including in the kitchen and in her bedroom. She keeps all her belongings zipped up in plastic bags as they get into everything, and she is too afraid to use the kitchen for cooking. Eve and another resident have reported the problem repeatedly for 8 months but her housing provider has not done anything to deal with the cockroaches.

Frustrated at seeing vulnerable people in their community being treated unfairly, residents from across Greater Manchester joined together to form their own Citizen Housing Inspection Teams to assess the quality of housing against the UK Border Agency’s own guidelines. They have written to the UK Border Agency’s Regional Director, Jo Liddy, requesting a meeting to discuss the results of their Citizen Housing Inspections.

Father Peter Conniffe, priest at Our Lady of Dolours in Salford and a leader with Greater Manchester CITIZENS for Sanctuary, said:

“As local citizens, we want to make sure that our taxes are being spent wisely and that we are not giving lots of money to irresponsible landlords who force slum housing on people who have come to the UK seeking sanctuary. The three housing providers have a responsibility to meet the terms of their contracts. We hope that Jo Liddy, UKBA Regional Director, will meet with us to find ways that we can sort this problem out.”

Esther, a Zimbabwean doctor who fled the Mugabe regime, explained:

“We had a very old toilet in my house which was always breaking. They finally replaced it after two years but didn’t fit it properly. In October, sewage water started leaking through the ceiling into our living room. We kept on reporting the problem but we were left in this situation for an entire month. Eventually they came and fixed the pipe but did nothing about the soiled carpet. I don’t want any special favours – but nobody likes living in a house that smells of sewage.”

AZURE FAILS THE CONSUMER TEST

A new payment card – known as Azure – given by the Home Office to people seeking sanctuary in London failed a Which?-style consumer test run by an alliance of faith, citizen and refugee groups on Monday.

A twenty-five minute wait, participating stores declining the card and incorrect balance information were just some of the problems encountered on a ‘Shop for Justice’ organised by London Citizens as part of the CITIZENS for Sanctuary campaign. The card was launched without trial in late November and was rolled out to London on the 7th December, as an alternative to cash.

An Assumptionist Priest from Bethnal Green and a Catholic nun from Ealing were among the community leaders who took part in the ‘Shop for Justice’. They shared the experience with a person who has to live on the Azure card and provide for their family without cash, and tested the new card’s effectiveness.

Citizens around the country – who, as taxpayers, will pay for the new scheme – are alarmed that the card has not been properly piloted and has been introduced with minimal parliamentary scrutiny. The problems with the card worried Gillian Howarth, who lives in Westbourne Park. “We waited for 24 minutes in Tesco to try and buy some food with the card. It was outrageous – and in the end the card didn’t work. The staff hadn’t been informed about the system, so we had to call the head office. Even if the card did work, there wasn’t even any halal food available!”

Tom O’Brien, from Our Lady of the Assumption in Bethnal Green, explained some of the other difficulties: “We are concerned that the Azure card will condemn a very vulnerable group of people to a cashless existence, denying them access to public transport, haircuts and other essentials such a phone card to keep in touch with their families abroad.”

Even store mangers were sceptical about the card. Nisar, from a Tesco in West London explained, “I’m worried about security. Anyone could take the card and just swipe it to pay. Are we meant to ask for I.D.? We haven’t been told anything about the card”.

The UK Border Agency argues that the cards reduce the stigma of the previous voucher system. Yet in every Boots, Asda, Tesco and Peacocks the monitors visited an I.D. or a signature was demanded and in two shops they had to explain their status as people seeking sanctuary in the UK. “It makes me feel very ashamed”, said Alain, who fled persecution in the Democratic Republic of Congo and sought sanctuary in the UK. “I have to explain why I am carrying the card and sometimes I have to put back a full trolley of shopping when it doesn’t work. When I then have to walk one hour to the next nearest shop I feel very bad.”

Other issues such as travelling to the shops, saving and the price of products in supermarkets concerned the citizen monitoring teams.

The Azure card is now used for people seeking sanctuary in London who qualify for ‘Section 4’ support. Section 4 support is given to people who the Home Office recognise cannot currently return to their country of origin. The Azure card is a plastic payment card which can be used to buy items in a limited range of supermarkets. Azure users are topped up with £35 per week but will not be able to access cash, receive change, or use the card outside of the limited number of participating stores.

London is the third of nine cities across the UK where CITIZENS for Sanctuary teams have organized a ‘Shop for Justice’. They have written to the Home Secretary requesting a meeting to share the findings of their research and ensure that nobody is denied access to cash.