Glasgow CITIZENS for Sanctuary celebrate a positive first meeting with UKBA Regional Director for Scotland

An alliance of faith, community, trade union and refugee groups in Glasgow celebrated a milestone on Monday in their campaign to make the UK Border Agency in Scotland more accountable.

Glasgow Citizens for Sanctuary, which includes members from Church of Scotland, Justice and Peace Scotland, Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, Action of Churches Together in Scotland and Quaker Meeting House Glasgow, met for the first time with the Regional Director of the UK Border Agency in Scotland and Northern Ireland, Phil Taylor to set up a series of meetings to review their concerns with the asylum system.

Citizens for Sanctuary aims to build a fair, effective, humane and transparent system for those who seek sanctuary in the UK, based on the recommendations of Independent Asylum Commission, a comprehensive review of the whole asylum system that concluded in summer 2008.

In their first meeting, delegates from Glasgow Citizens for Sanctuary won a commitment from Mr Taylor to attend a meeting to discuss their practical proposals for reform and heard his interest in finding constructive solutions to existing concerns. “I’m the man responsible if anything goes wrong in Scotland”, Mr Taylor explained. “If there’s something we can do, we’re very happy to do it”.

The next meeting will be held outside the UK Border Agency offices to ensure that those who are going through the asylum system can attend and share their stories.“This has been a sticking point,” explained Pol Yates, who has been coordinating the group. “We were originally meant to meet in March last year, but the meeting was cancelled. Since then we’ve been trying to get Phil Taylor to a meeting outside of Brand Street. We’re glad he’s now said he’s very happy to meet us outside”.

Glasgow Citizens for Sanctuary first wrote to Phil Taylor at the end of 2009, following their Which?-style monitoring of a new payment card (‘Azure’), which was introduced for those on Section 4 support. From their findings the team produced a report with several recommendations to improve the system. Monday’s meeting was set up in December 2010 after the intervention of high-profile supporters, including the Archbishop of Glasgow, Bishop-President of the Justice and Peace Commission, the Convenor of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council, the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Refugees and MP Ian Murray.

Glasgow Citizens for Sanctuary will meet again with Mr Taylor in the next couple of weeks to discuss the group’s practical proposals for improving the Azure card. This includes broadening the card so it can be used in charity shops so that people can buy big items like winter coats on a budget of £5 a day.”That’s something I’d be very happy to work on”, said Mr Taylor, “and I know there are other issues you have raised.”

“I’m feeling positive”, Rev David McLachlan, Minster of Langside Church and member of Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council, who chaired the meeting said. “We made a good start.” A member of the group, who fled violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, agreed, “I’m happy after that meeting because I now believe Mr Taylor will give us what we want. I didn’t expect such a welcome or such a positive meeting.”

CITIZENS for Sanctuary take on cowboy legal advisors.

CITIZENS for Sanctuary made the headlines before Christmas with our citizen action to root out the cowboy lawyers who are exploiting people seeking sanctuary. The piece, featuring Barbara Nalumu, a leader in the Ugandan community and with South London CITIZENS, went out on ITV London News and you can watch it here: http://www.itv.com/london/immigration-scam55229/

The issue of poor legal advice was raised repeatedly during the Independent Asylum Commission and came up at several our immigration workshops where CITIZENS worked with local trusted lawyers to provide a workshop for good advice and training. We want to identify the cowboy lawyers and, with the power of citizen action, we want to root out the lawyers and advisors taking advantage of people trapped in the immigration. Already, we have heard some horrifying stories about fake visas, incorrect advice and advisors charging extortionate sums of money to the most vulnerable members of our community.

So, at the South London CITIZENS Assembly, we launched our response to the testimonies of leaders who had suffered at the hands of cowboy immigration advisors. We are working name and shame poor legal advisors and work to build a positive relationship with those providing a good service. Not only do we want to take these unscrupulous advisors head on, we also want to train our leaders to be better at spotting issues and sign-posting people through the complicated immigration system.

Every good organizing action is judged on the reaction and we are seeing this campaign start to cause ripples through the sector. We are developing a relationship with the Office for Immigration Services and met last week with the Commissioner, Suzanne McCarthy. But we have also had the backing of Immigration Minister, Damian Green, who said "I am glad that London Citizens are going to play a part on driving the con artists out of the system." You can see the full interview here: http://www.itv.com/london/fullprogramme/

Nick Clegg's message to CITIZENS UK

Over the past year, you have all been working extremely hard to end the detention of children and families for immigration purposes. Many of you were with us at the historic event of May 3rd, when the party leaders pledged to us to end this cruel practice. The Coalition Government then announced its commitment to end the detention of children.

In July, Immigration Minister Damian Green MP confirmed their commitment to us, by stating that there would be no child in detention by Christmas.

Ending this practice not only needed a change in policy, but also a massive shift in culture. Something that needed time, and patience!

You will also be aware that back in August, CITIZENS UK established a Taskforce that would look at safe, sustainable and humane alternatives to Child Detention. Although originally set up to look at the most difficult of cases, those families who refused to comply, the Taskforce put forward recommendations for the whole ensured return route. Please click here to download a copy of the report.

Last week, the recommendations of the Taskforce were submitted to the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office.

The Deputy Prime Minster Nick Clegg was due at our South London CITIZENS Assembly on December 2nd at Queen Elizabeth Hall. Unfortunately, at the last minute he was called out of the Country. Luckily, he was able to send us a video message which stated that they would be making an announcement before Christmas as to how and when Child Detention would end for good. Please see here for the video message… http://www.citizensuk.org/2010/12/nick-cleggs-message-to-citizens-uk-on-ending-child-detention/

There was also massive recognition for CITIZEN UK and all those who had been involved in the Sanctuary Pledge. We were also blessed with the presence of Sarah Teather MP Minister for Children, who confirmed that there will be an announcement before Christmas.

Last Thursday’s Guardian carried an article which gives more background to the process: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/dec/01/nick-clegg-announce-timetable-ending-child-detentions

The next step is for the Deputy Prime Minister to announce how and when they will end Child Detention. We are expecting this to happen next week, and will keep you informed as to how and when.

CITIZENS for Sanctuary Away Day

Dear all,

On Saturday, CITIZENS for Sanctuary held an away day for leaders to help decide the priorities for the next 12 months and to start conversations about how CITIZENS for Sanctuary will function after the initial funding runs out at the end of 2011.

It was a productive afternoon and we are grateful for the leaders who joined us from the Tees Valley, West Midlands, Solent, Tyne and Wear, Plymouth, Greater Manchester and Nottingham Regional Campaign Action Teams as well as members from across London CITIZENS and the New Citizen Academy. However, we are aware that not everyone could be there and so this email briefly outlines some of the decisions and strategies that came out of Saturday’s event.

As with all Community Organising, we started with a discussion of power. How can CITIZENS for Sanctuary build its power to make us more effective at bringing about the change that we want? Each RCAT and chapter of London CITIZENS needs to consider this at a local level – whether the team needs to be more diverse, build relationships with the local media, recruit more volunteers or have their organizer run more training with them.

We also considered what issues we should be prioritised over the next 12 months. Each RCAT and team should be setting its own agenda but it was agreed that pooling our power makes us more effective and that having a joined up strategy around the problem of legal advice should be a top priority going forward this year. Leaders also considered issues around the transition period for people once they have been granted status and how the cuts will impact us locally, for instance in West Midlands the Council have decided to withdraw its provision of housing for people seeking sanctuary.

Finally, looking ahead to the next two years, the group considered the future of CITIZENS for Sanctuary. It was overwhelming felt that CITIZENS for Sanctuary should not fold at the end of this current funding stream (end of 2011) because of the effective work we have done so far, from a new reporting centre in Tees Valley to housing action in Manchester and of course ending the detention of children and families at the national level. However, leaders recognised the need for CITIZENS for Sanctuary to be learning and evolving. So, the plans for the future will consider the need to be more regionalised, to expand RCATS (some teams want to develop sponsoring committees for future broad-based organisations like London CITIZENS), to build more relationships between RCATS and chapters of CITIZENS UK and to find more nationalised action that has an over-arching target but that can be carried out at the local level.

We hope this is a helpful update. If you have any additional thoughts please email us. We have interesting times ahead so it’s important that teams are looking to develop their own unique plans for the work of CITIZENS for Sanctuary in each region. We need to build on the many successes of last 18 months and make sure we continue to develop new leaders and take on more action.

Best wishes,

Sophie

Damian Green: As of 19th July there were no children in detention

CITIZENS UK, the nation's largest civil society alliance which hosts the CITIZENS for Sanctuary campaign, welcomes the statement by the Immigration Minister in the Home Affairs Select Committee Meeting on Tuesday 20th July of progress towards ending the detention of children for immigration purposes.The issue was raised by Dr Julian Huppert MP and Alun Michael MP, who both signed the Sanctuary Pledge under pressure from local CITIZENS for Sanctuary teams.

Damian Green, Minister for Immigration explained to the Home Affairs Select Committee,

“[CITIZENS UK] said that last year they had sent Father Christmas to parade outside Yarl’s Wood to make the point that there were children in there. I made the possibly rash commitment that if anyone had to do it this year I would dress up as Father Christmas... I am confident that we will have this sorted well before Christmas.”

He added,

“We have already stopped overnight detention of children at one of the two places where it happened...Dungavel in Scotland. The numbers at Yarl’s Wood are markedly down. I believe that...as of yesterday there were no children in detention.”

On 22nd July Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced that the family unit at Yarl's Wood Detention Centre would close, confirming Damian Green's commitment that there would be no children in detention by Christmas.

Nick Clegg and David Cameron committed to ending the detention of children at the CITIZENS UK Assembly on May 3rd.

Since the election, CITIZENS UK has played a key role in the working group coordinated by The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund to help implement the commitment in the coalition agreement to "end the detention of children for immigration purposes" and advise on alternatives to child detention.

The statements conclude the review that was set up by the government to make good on its May 3rd commitment.

Neil Jameson, Executive Director of CITIZENS UK said:

“This is a victory for civil society and democracy – proving that ordinary citizens working together can persuade the government to make its policies more decent and humane at a national level. We are one step closer to ending the shame of locking up innocent children."We recognise that the government needs to be able to find safe and sustainable ways of removing families who have had a fair hearing and do not have protection needs. There are no easy answers here, and we need to draw on expertise and experience from civil society help solve this problem. That is why we are putting together a Taskforce to advise the government on appropriate alternatives to the detention of families that ensure that the welfare of children is paramount.”

Note: Neither witnesses nor Members have had the opportunity to correct the record of the Home Affairs Select Committee Meeting. The transcript is not yet an approved formal record of these proceedings.

Transport for London on board for CITIZENS for Sanctuary campaign

Two years ago, the Independent Asylum Commission recommended that people seeking sanctuary who are required to report regularly to the UK Border Agency should be provided with cash or a travel card to pay for public transport. At present, there are 322 people in London whose claims have been refused but who are unable to return home, and who live on £35 a week on an ‘Azure’ card – a form of payment currently unrecognized by London’s transport providers. Some are forced to walk for miles across the capital to report.

Last week, a diverse delegation of CITIZENS for Sanctuary leaders - including faith leaders from the Jewish and Roman Catholic community, a trustee of CITIZENS UK, the director of the Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum and leaders from the refugee community who are issued the Azure card - met Mr Shashi Verma, representative of Transport for London. The negotiation brought the IAC’s recommendation a step closer to reality. Not only did Mr Verma agree to look at the possibilities of allowing those who currently live without cash to use London transport – either by signing TfL up to the Azure scheme, or by initiating a ‘Freedom Pass’-style system – he also agreed to accompany CITIZENS for Sanctuary to their next meeting with the UKBA.

One member of the negotiating team, Father Thomas O’Brien, remarked that ‘It was encouraging to come to a meeting in which the person with whom we sought to make a relationship... was both open and excellently prepared’, and that Mr Verma will be a ‘valuable ally’ in fighting this cause. Rabbi Jeremy Gordon, who chaired the meeting, explained, “he was willing to listen to us and share the benefits of his experience and insight – I look forward to being able to continue to work together”.

CITIZENS for Sanctuary are delighted to have begun building a relationship with TfL, and believe that together they can help ensure that London transport is for all Londoners – including those forced to live without cash.

UPDATE: four leaders from different refugee communities who use the Azure card ran a successful negotiation with Jenny Jones, London Assembly Member yesterday. The women shared powerful stories of how their experiences of persecution, sex trafficking and violence led them to the UK, before outlining the many difficulties of living without cash: such as being unable to buy phone cards to call family members in danger back home or to use the bus.

The testimony had a great affect on Jenny Jones, “We need to get your voice out there”, she said. “As a Green Party member I care about not just the environment but people and social justice. I’ve been in a position where I haven’t been able to afford the bus, so I understand a fraction of what you are going through – but I can’t imagine how you cope”.

Polly, who chaired the meeting, explained, “We had a very successful meeting – Jenny Jones needed to hear those issues and will be a powerful ally. She agreed to ask the Mayor, Boris Johnson, what he has done to fulfill his commitments to providing travel expenses for people seeking sanctuary in London and will put pressure on Transport for London. She invited us to City Hall to hear Boris Johnson’s reaction”.

'Local reporting for local people'

A Campaign which started with a Walk of Justice in July 2009 has achieved an important milestone in the campaign to promote justice for vulnerable people seeking sanctuary in our local area.

It is now a year since Tees Valley Citizens for Sanctuary – an alliance of faith, refugee and citizen groups - met with UKBA North East Director, Jeremy Oppenheim to call on him to put an end to people having to walk up to 12 miles to Stockton Police Station in order to comply with UK Border Agency reporting requirements. Following that meeting, travel expenses were provided for those receiving asylum support, and a pledge given that an alternative venue in Middlesbrough would be secured. During the year various venues had been explored but none was forthcoming.

Following a constructive meeting with Katherine Hierons, UKBA Assistant Director for Teesside on Tuesday, an assurance was given that the system for reporting in Middlesbrough aims to be up and running for the week beginning Oct. 4th.
Katherine Hierons also agreed that she would continue to work with Tees Valley Citizens for Sanctuary to resolve this and other issues. During the meeting, issues were raised concerning the process of detention and removal of vulnerable families.

Barbara Hungin, a Leader from Tees Valley Citizens for Sanctuary, said:
We are encouraged by our recent meeting with Katherine Hierons, and delighted that a year's campaigning has had a positive result. We look forward to future meetings so that we may continue to campaign on behalf of some of the most vulnerable in our community.