Community Campaign Group

This campaign group is made up of people from the WERS community who have lived experience of the Asylum system.

Over the past couple of months, the group have been working together with Asylum Matters, exploring how we can bring out about change in the asylum system and have our voices heard.  This work continues and the group continues to meet and develop plans.

Read more below

Joint statement on the Illegal Migration Bill

Asylum seekers are not illegal and, nor are they a problem to be swept aside in breach of well-established international law. Seeking asylum is a right under Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Refugee Convention of 1951.  

Supporters, volunteers, and members of WERS are united in their view, asylum seekers and refugees are human beings fleeing persecution and seeking sanctuary, and we welcome them with open arms. Newcastle is a City of Sanctuary and Newcastle City Council supports sanctuary seekers.  

We strongly believe the #IllegalMigrationBill is not only immoral and illegal, but ultimately unworkable.  

Human beings should not be forced to risk their lives to seek asylum, and implementing safe passage is the only solution. Propagating discriminatory rhetoric is dangerous and inhumane. We need to oppose the so-called Illegal Migration Bill and instead provide safe and legal pathways for those seeking refuge. The tragic deaths of so many in the Mediterranean highlight the desperation and risks that people are willing to take to avoid persecution, secure safety and a better future. It is our duty to provide safe and legal pathways to end this unnecessary loss of life. 

Those seeking sanctuary are not to be feared. Solidarity comes in all sizes, and we can all play our part in standing against hate and fear. The UN states that everyone has the right to seek asylum in another country and that forced migration is not a legal concept under international law. All people on the move have human rights which should be respected, protected and fulfilled. Refugees and asylum-seekers have "specific needs and rights that must be protected under a particular legal framework". (see here) Let's establish safe routes for asylum seekers and refugees #openarms #RefugeesWelcome #StopTheBill 

Small boats are not the problem, small minds are. 

 

Take Action! 

Write to your MP about the Illegal Migration Bill. You can use this handy online tool by Refugee Action.

Sign the pledge to fight the Refugee Ban Bill.

Sign the petition by Freedom for Torture. 

Sign the parliamentary petition.

Joint statement on the Rwanda deportations

The WERS Community Campaigns Group condemns Priti Patel’s abhorrent plans to deport people seeking asylum to Rwanda. Over 100 people from Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan and Kurdistan who came here for a safe and peaceful future are now detained in appalling conditions, some on hunger strike, as they face forced removal to Rwanda on 14th June. 

The Government claims that Rwanda is a ‘safe third country’, yet LGBT+ people and activists face persecution and imprisonment. Only last year, the UK Government raised concerns about torture and extrajudicial killings in Rwanda. This Government is giving people an impossible choice: either be sent to Rwanda, or be returned to face the horrors they fled. 

The Government claims that the people it wants to deport are single men. In reality, most of those detained are husbands, and many are fathers. In one case, an elder Syrian brother is facing deportation and will be forced to leave his 16-year-old brother behind. This brutal and unjustified plan means families will be separated, with no prospect of ever being together again. 

Everyone has the right to seek asylum and to rebuild their life. Priti Patel claims that she wants to stop human trafficking, but what is this cash-for-people agreement if not human trafficking?

The UK Government should not outsource its responsibilities to people seeking sanctuary to Rwanda, or anywhere else. This is a cruel and racist policy that does not reflect the compassion of communities in Newcastle and across the UK.

We call on the UK Government to abandon these plans and build an asylum system based on compassion and justice. We urge all members of the WERS community to stand with us and take action to stop these deportations.

Take Action!

Write to your MP using Choose Love’s online tool 

Write to Privilege Style and Ibero Jet and tell them not to deport people 

Call Privilege Style and Ibero Jet using Freedom from Torture’s online tool (please note that both numbers are Spanish phone numbers and the tool only works on mobiles)

Sign AllOut’s petition against sending LGBTQ+ people to Rwanda

Sign this parliamentary petition

Donate to Detention Action and Care 4 Calais’ legal funds

Joint statement on the anti-refugee Bill

There are many problems with the UK’s asylum system. We wait in uncertainty and fear for months and years, waiting for a decision on our case. While we are waiting, we are denied the right to work, and instead must live on £39.63 a week. Many people experience homelessness. These are things that could be fixed, and would benefit everyone.

Despite this, the Government’s anti-refugee Bill does nothing to tackle these problems. Instead, it will only make things worse. People will be punished and criminalised for making ‘irregular’ journeys, but those journeys are the only way they have to reach safety. People could be moved and have their claims processed ‘offshore’, in places where their rights would not be upheld. Putting people in reception centres would cause a mental and physical health crisis. People could be stripped of their citizenship with no notice. The ‘inadmissibility’ rules force people into even longer periods of waiting and limbo, and could then tear people away from the communities they have started to build trust in.

We believe a better system is possible. We call on the Government to throw out this Bill, and create a system that truly allows people to rebuild their lives. This includes ensuring that people have enough financial support to meet their needs, and that everyone has the opportunity to work and study. Together, we stand against the Government’s anti-refugee Bill and call for an asylum system that upholds our rights.

Take Action!

There are lots of ways that everyone can take action to stand up for the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum.

Write to your MP about the anti-refugee Bill. Asylum Matters has put together a short guide on how to get in touch with your MP. You can also use Refugee Action’s simple e-action to message your MP.

Sign this petition against proposals that would allow the Government to strip people of citizenship. 

Support the campaign to Lift the Ban on people seeking asylum working. You can find out more about the case for change here and find ways to get involved here.

What we would change in the asylum system

  • Instability

    There are too many uncertainties and no communication from the Home Office and it is impossible to know what’s happening with your case or how long it will take. Living with such uncertainty is extremely hard. People should be able to communicate directly with the Home Office and know what is happening with their case.

  • Inadequate legal advice

    People have received poor quality or neglectful legal advice, and reports that should take 6 months (for example country reports) have taken two years to be completed, with little accountability for poor advice or service. People should be routinely invited to give feedback about their solicitor.

  • Treatment of migrants

    People should be able to retain agency over their lives and be recognised as human beings who do not want to be forced to be inactive and rendered redundant. They should have the opportunity to acquire new skills, through work or study, while they are waiting.

  • Waiting times

    The waiting times for a decision should be reduced. The Home Office should see each case as an individual and take vulnerability, age and health into account, prioritising people who are most vulnerable.

  • Access to education

    People should have earlier access to ESOL and the opportunity to study more broadly while they are waiting. Applying for asylum shouldn’t interrupt further education or university studies.

  • Temporary accommodation

    The number of people in hotels should be reduced.The length of time people spend in them should be reduced and the quality of the food should be improved.

  • Lift the Ban

    People should have the right to work.

  • Equal opportunities

    People should have more opportunity to take part in city life and structures.

  • Limiting detention

    There should be a time limit on detention.

  • Access to benefits

    People who receive Section 4 support don’t have access to cash, making it difficult to buy travel tickets. The card also isn’t accepted in all shops. People should always have access to cash so they can travel and buy the things they need.

  • Equal rights

    Everyone should be treated with the same rights, respect and able to access the same services as other human beings. People shouldn’t be prevented from accessing support services because they are seeking asylum.

  • Improving family reunion

    The eligibility for family reunion should be extended. There are cases where because of delays by the Home Office on decision-making, children and young people who would have been eligible to be reunited with their family could now be left behind.

  • Lack of accountability

    There is a lack of accountability for organisations contracted to provide services in the asylum system, for example Migrant Help.

  • Asylum support

    Asylum support rates should be increased. Currently, it is extremely difficult to afford access to the internet and mobile phones and stay connected.