Knowsley hotel update
Yesterday we went back to the hotel to visit the asylum seekers and see if they were okay. The mood was muted. People were naturally disturbed. The most common things we heard were “We just want to be safe” “we haven’t done anything wrong” and “Please, can you help us move to another town?” The saddest thing I heard was a man from Afganistan who said “I wasn’t safe in my country and I’m not safe here.” We didn’t have much time but we took what we could to cheer them up. Boxes of fresh fruit, chocolate, lots of cakes, …
Second pregnant refugee threatened with Rwanda
Shockingly, the Home Office told a second pregnant refugee that she was at risk of deportation to Rwanda. The news came just three months after the Home Office caused a scandal by serving a similar notice of intent to a pregnant rape victim. Our intervention helped to persuade the Home Office to withdraw the notice, but it is deeply troubling that they made this egregious error in the first place. After receiving the Rwanda letter, the mother-to-be was hospitalised with what she described as ‘stress induced’ symptoms; it was an unimaginably painful conclusion to a journey beset …
Ramin’s Story
This is Ramin, one of the most brave and inspiring people I’ve ever met. He’s an artist and musician, and in the 18 months since he’s been in the UK, he’s set up a small painting studio, played music in concerts around London, posed in an award-winning photograph, and starred in a theatrical show that has just won a national award. And, as a refugee from Iran, he’s done all this while living in a hotel in London, waiting for his asylum claim to be processed. His latest achievement came when the show “There and Here” won Community Project of …
The dangers children refugees can face
Late one night not long ago, I noticed a short, distressed message in Care4Calais Instagram messages. “Please help me. Please.” I immediately replied, asking if the sender could tell us what they needed, and where they were. After a few more exchanges he explained he was in a hotel in north London, a Kurdish refugee, alone and afraid in a room with other guys he didn’t know. And then he explained, “I am young. They are too big.” The boy was called Amez, and he had been deemed to be an adult, but he said he …
Home Affairs Select Committee visits Calais
Yesterday we were delighted to host members of the Home Affairs Select Committee in Calais. Diana Johnson James Daly MP Lee Anderson MP Simon Fell MP and Tim Loughton MP came to a site in Calais where we distributed power banks, provided phone charging and hot drinks and other services, and introduced the members to the refugees. As you can see, Diana even sat down to a game of Connect 4. We very much welcomed the MPs taking the trouble to come out and see the situation for themselves. They each listened as the refugees here told their stories …
Why refugees are fleeing: our survey
Today, many of this Government’s claims about its shameful Rwanda deal were discredited by an analysis of a sample of refugees* threatened with deportation to Rwanda, carried out by Care4Calais. And to make sure ministers knew it dozens of campaigners, including Care4Calais, boarded an open-topped London bus and drove to the Houses of Parliament to deliver the message. The analysis found that nearly half of asylum-seekers threatened with deportation to Rwanda are either married or engaged, and a fifth have children. It was also shown that three quarters have fled countries where 82 per cent or more are granted …
Hiba’s story
When I was young I went, like all children in my home country, to our local school to begin my religious education. I was told to sit down, and I sat with the girls. For this, the teacher threw a heavy wooden bookstand at me, then dragged me across the floor by my hair. Then he saw I had on my hand a henna tattoo, which only women were allowed to have. For this, he beat me. I didn’t understand what I had done. But this would be my first taste of the persecution and abuse that would destroy my …
#StopRwanda Court Update
Rwanda Court Update In December, the High Court ruled that the Governments Rwanda policy is lawful. Today we went back to court to ask permission to appeal that decision. We are pleased that permission to appeal has been granted to the individuals who are claimants in the case on a number of grounds and that the case will go forward. However we are disappointed that the court has not recognised our standing to represent the people we support and we will be discussing appealling this decision with our lawyers. We remain committed to ensuring that no person who has …
Refugees crossing the Channel have no other choice
When I was in Dunkirk last week, I talked to a Kurdish guy called Destan. He was hoping to cross by boat to the UK. He had tried to cross a few weeks ago, but the boat had got into trouble just off the French coast and he had been rescued. Naively, I asked if he wasn’t now afraid to try. “Yes of course,” he said. “I am scared. We are all scared. But what else can we do?” He indicated a friend a few metres away and told me that he had been in three boats that had …
Meet Faisal, refugee and aspiring journalist
When he lived in Afghanistan, Faisal dreamed of becoming a journalist, but boys his age were being forcibly recruited by the Taliban and similar outfits. Although he held out, keeping his head down and hanging onto his ambition as long as he could, he knew thart if he didn’t leave, he would eventually be forced to join “them”. And so he packed his dreams and a few possessions, and set off to make the long journey to Europe, where he believed he would be able to lead the life he wished for. I met him in Calais when …