Home » Our History;What we do; Campaigning; Reports; Facts about Asylum

Our History;What we do; Campaigning; Reports; Facts about Asylum

Our History and What We Do

Bristol Refugee Rights was set up as a voluntary organisation in 2005
to uphold and champion the human rights of asylum seekers and
refugees. We provide a place of welcome in Bristol where asylum
seekers and refugees can meet and be supported to play a full part in
the life of the wider community and also campaign for the human
rights of refugees and asylum seekers. Bristol Refugee Rights aims to
deliver a ‘user-led’ service that addresses the practical, psychological
and human rights needs of refugees and asylum seekers by:

  • Welcoming people into a safe place
  • Empowering people to achieve an independent and productive life
  • Enabling social inclusion
  • Bringing public attention to human rights aspects of asylum law and
    practice based on information collected in the welcome centre.

Sue

Sue Njie

15th July 1951 – 15th July 2009

Bristol Refugee Rights and its Refugee Welcome Centre grew out of Sue Njie’s vision and determination.

It was Sue who, from 2000 onwards, saw the gap in provision for people newly arrived in Bristol, who seek asylum in UK, and set about organising for it to be filled.

She recognised the way isolation and exclusion affect asylum seekers in Britain. She understood the importance of a place where asylum seekers could come together, feel welcomed, and begin to find the support they so desperately needed. She knew, from many years community work experience, that to start things you have to take risks – have to be prepared to put yourself on the line. She took every opportunity that presented itself to speak about this need, to bring together a steering group, to attain wider recognition for the project, argue the case often in the face of scepticism and discouragement, to raise initial funds and to realise her dream. In April 2006 the doors opened, with a hot meal and a handful of volunteers.

Since then, the centre has grown enormously and gone through many changes – in name (from the imaginative but impossible to keep repeating Holding Refugees and Human Rights in Mind to the snappier Bristol Refugee Rights, in location (St Paul’s to Easton), in staff and volunteers, in users of the service, and in the Board of Trustees. It is now becoming recognised as a meeting point and real resource for new arrivals in Bristol. But it has remained firmly based in Sue’s initial vision – a place of welcome for asylum seekers and new refugees, where people from all over the world meet each other as human beings, and form a community that grows and works together.

Innovation of this kind requires more than dotting i’s and crossing t’s. It requires passionate commitment, insistence, clarity of purpose, and refusal to be diverted. Sue had all this. And as well she had a huge heart, and a capacity to meet and respond to everyone equally. Besides the strength to inspire and initiate, she noticed and responded to individual need. This is how she will be remembered by many dozens of people – for her generosity, wisdom born of experience, her straightforward kindness and her capacity to meet, appreciate and enjoy people on their own terms.

She has left a profound sense of loss but also a powerful legacy – in the flourishing voluntary community groups she worked so hard to establish, and also in personal gratitude from an astonishing number of people in every walk of life in Bristol, including many users of the Refugee Welcome Centre.

Our Values

The key values that underpin the work of Bristol Refugee Rights are
inclusion, partnership working, commitment to provision of a quality
service, empowerment and accountability. We work to sustain these
values both in the Welcome Centre and in our human rights
campaigning.

 

Through daily contact with people in the drop-in we have come to understand directly and in a very personal way the asylum process and its effect on people’s lives. Our experience accords with many of the findings of the four excellent reports of the Independent Asylum Commission, published in summer 2008.

Matters of particular concern to us:

  • 1). 75% of asylum claimants are refused asylum here – they all face destitution. As we get to know people we understand how the asylum system lets down those who desperately need it.
  • 2). The final tier of support – Section 4 – is available under certain conditions to those who would otherwise be destitute. This requires people to live on the shockingly low weekly sum of £35 – issued not in cash but in the form of supermarket gift cards.
  • 3). Detention of children. Two young children in our ‘family’ at the Welcome centre were detained for 9 weeks between them over the past few months. This has given us some shocking first-hand information on the treatment of families in Yarl’s Wood removal centre.
  • 4). We firmly support the IAC recommendation that anyone whose case has taken more than 6 months to determine, should have the right to work to maintain themselves. This should also apply to those who have been refused but not removed.

These concerns will form the basis of our campaigning work over the coming year.

 

Please sign our petition by going to the following site :-

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/dignitynotdestitution

Thousands of people fleeing conflict or persecution seek sanctuary in Britain. Three out of four of them are refused, but for various reasons it is impossible for them to return to their home country. They remain here, often for long periods of time, living in poverty, lacking adequate support from public services, and denied the right to support themselves by taking paid work.

Believing that such people deserve to be treated fairly, humanely and with dignity, we call on the Government to :-
- end the threat and use of destitution as a tool of Government policy against refused asylum seekers;
- provide all asylum-seekers with adequate financial support and access to public services, including health care and education;
- give such support in the form of cash, and end the use of supermarket gift cards;
- allow asylum-seekers, including those whose application has been refused, the right to work if, after six months in the asylum process, they have neither left the UK nor been given leave to remain.

Annual Report and Accounts - 2010/11

Our 2011 Annual General Meeting will be held on 18th October 2011. Here is our Annual Report and Accounts  for the year ending 31st March 2011 :-

brr_annual_report_2010-111

 

final_trustees_report_2010-11pdf

 

final_brr_accounts_2010-11pdf 

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

Oxfam’s Feb 2011 Report

 

Executive summary 

UK asylum policy has increasingly restricted asylum seekers‟ access to welfare support, both while their application is being processed and if they are refused. Over recent years, there have been growing concerns about the scale and impact of destitution among refused asylum seekers. It is estimated that 283,500 refused asylum seekers were living in the UK in 2005, and this number seems likely to have increased (NAO 2005). Existing evidence suggests that many asylum seekers have been destitute for more than six months and a significant proportion for more than two years. This strongly indicates that refused asylum seekers are prepared to face long periods of destitution in the UK rather than returning to their country of origin.

 

This research uncovers how the hundreds of thousands of people currently living in the UK, with no access to legitimate means of securing a livelihood, survive on a day-to-day and longer-term basis. The strategies adopted by destitute asylum seekers have been analysed within a sustainable livelihoods framework, to ensure a systematic understanding of the different types of resources to which asylum seekers do – and do not – have access, and the impact this has on their lives. This approach also allows us to identify changes to government policy that could help prevent destitution among refused asylum seekers. Fundamentally, the need to remain hidden and to avoid any risk of being deported affects every decision made by destitute asylum seekers, and in turn the coping strategies which they adopt. 

Key findings

 

 

Institutional resources

 

 

Many refused asylum seekers would rather remain destitute than apply for government support because they fear it will result in deportation.

 

Many are unaware of their entitlement to free primary health care, or are anxious about contact with the authorities and therefore do not access health services. 
Destitute asylum seekers are often deterred from accessing support from large voluntary organisations because of a perceived lack of independence of these organisations from the Home Office.
Churches appear to provide an important source of support for many of those living in destitution.

Social resources

 

 

Social contacts are often the most important resource and include a range of social relationships. Some asylum seekers receive support that is completely altruistic, but many are exploited by others in return for resources that help ensure survival.

 

Some relationships are overtly transactional, with destitute asylum seekers providing childcare, cooking and/or housework, and sometimes sex, in exchange for meals, cash, shelter, or other daily necessities. 
Both men and women form sexual relationships with local people as part of their livelihood strategy, but these relationships are sometimes disempowering.

Coping with Destitution

 

 

 

 

  
, Oxfam GB Research Report February 2011 6
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Economic resources

 

 

All destitute asylum seekers know it is illegal for them to work, but often have no choice but to work illegally to survive. Wages were mostly reported as being between £1 and £3 per hour, and in some cases were even lower.

 

Most examples of illegal work involved low-skilled jobs, with low pay, long hours, poor working conditions, and a constant fear of being raided by immigration officials. 
There are very few examples of destitute asylum seekers being involved in criminal activity other than illegal work, as they are extremely fearful of being caught by the authorities and deported.
There is evidence of both men and women involved in commercial sex work, with many of those who pursue this strategy being physically abused, sexually exploited or manipulated, or forced to stay against their will.

Access to resources

 

 

Speaking English is a crucial asset to allow access to broader social resources, and in turn to further institutional and/or economic resources.

 

The existence of refugee and migrant communities from the country of origin plays a significant part in shaping asylum seekers‟ coping strategies and future possibilities. 
Gender plays an important role in determining the livelihood strategy adopted; with men sometimes viewed as better-equipped to find work and make friends, while women were more likely to have to stay at home looking after children.
Destitute asylum seekers will avoid coming into contact with authorities, even if they are subject to abuse or the victims of criminal behaviour.

Conclusion

 

 

Destitute asylum seekers use a range of strategies to cope with destitution and are forced to lead little more than a hand-to-mouth existence, with no hope that their situation will ever come to an end. Their overwhelming lack of access to institutional, social and economic resources denies them a sustainable livelihood, and results in a life that is robbed of dignity and unacceptable by human rights standards.

 

The survival strategies adopted by destitute asylum seekers are a consequence of asylum policy in the UK. That hundreds of thousands of people would rather live in poverty and in constant fear of deportation – reliant on friends, transactional relationships, commercial sex work or low-paid illegal work – rather than return to their country of origin, suggests the failure of government policy. 

The government should accept the growing body of evidence that shows that destitution does not lead refused asylum seekers to return to their country of origin. The risks associated with continuing to pursue this approach are enormous, with significant implications for wider society. The evidence collected during the course of this research suggests the need for an entirely new policy approach – one which recognises both the human rights of asylum seekers and also their right to be human. Being human means having access to the resources needed to survive on a day-to-day basis with dignity. It also means having hope for the future.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Coping with Destitution, Oxfam GB Research Report February 2011 7 It is not acceptable for asylum seekers to continue to live in destitution, and the government has a responsibility to ensure that the human rights of asylum seekers are upheld. The humiliating and degrading strategies adopted by destitute asylum seekers to survive and avoid deportation reflects the need for changes to government and civil-society policy and practice. All aspects of the asylum system – including the flawed asylum-determination process that often leads to wrongful denial of asylum, and policies that deny access to resources (such as the right to work and access to welfare support) – must be urgently reviewed to ensure that all asylum seekers are able to secure a sustainable and dignified livelihood.

 

Our key policy recommendations are as follows: 
Improve the quality of asylum decision-making.
Provide protection for those in need and those who cannot be returned.
Ensure access to free legal advice and representation for all refused asylum seekers, in order that they can submit an appeal or submit a fresh claim if appropriate.
Reinstate the right to work and earn a livelihood.
Reintegrate asylum seekers into the mainstream benefits system.
Provide welfare support for all asylum seekers until the point of return.
Provide access to primary and secondary health care for all asylum seekers.
Improved support and information should be provided to all asylum seekers by voluntary sector organisations.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommendations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is not acceptable for asylum seekers to continue to live in destitution, and the government has a responsibility to ensure that the human rights of asylum seekers are upheld. The humiliating and degrading strategies adopted by destitute asylum seekers to survive and avoid deportation reflects the need for changes to government and civil-society policy and practice. All aspects of the asylum system – including the flawed asylum-determination process that often leads to wrongful denial of asylum, and policies that deny access to resources (such as the right to work and access to welfare support) – must be urgently reviewed to ensure that all asylum seekers are able to secure a sustainable and dignified livelihood. 

 

Our key policy recommendations are as follows:

Improve the quality of asylum decision-making.

Provide protection for those in need and those who cannot be returned.

Ensure access to free legal advice and representation for all refused asylum seekers, in order that they can submit an appeal or submit a fresh claim if appropriate.

Reinstate the right to work and earn a livelihood.

Reintegrate asylum seekers into the mainstream benefits system.

Provide welfare support for all asylum seekers until the point of return.

Provide access to primary and secondary health care for all asylum seekers.

Improved support and information should be provided to all asylum seekers by voluntary sector organisations.

 

The facts about asylum

Source - Refugee Council

Asylum seekers and refugees do not get large handouts from the state

  • The vast majority of asylum seekers are not allowed to work and are forced to rely on state support, which is set at just 70% of income support.
  • Asylum seekers want to work and support themselves. Many do voluntary work while their asylum application is being processed.
  • Asylum seekers do not come to the UK to claim benefits. In fact, most know very little about the UK asylum or benefits systems before they arrive. (Home Office, Understanding the decision-making of asylum seekers, July 2002)
  • Asylum seekers do not jump the queue for council housing and they cannot choose where they live. The accommodation allocated to them is not paid for by the local council. It is nearly always ‘hard to let’ properties, which other people do not want to live in.
  • Asylum seekers do not get special perks such as mobile phones and help to buy cars. They are also denied access to many of the benefits others rely upon, such as disability living allowance.

Asylum seekers and refugees are law-abiding citizens

  • The vast majority of people seeking asylum are law abiding citizens. (Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), Guide to meeting the policing needs of asylum seekers and refugees)
  • Many destitute refused asylum seekers fear approaching the police to report incidents of sexual harassment and assaults, avoiding contact for fear of being picked up, put in detention and deported. (Refugee Action report on destitute refused asylum seekers, 2006)
  • 6.5% of the vulnerable women who presented to the Refugee Council’s project said they had been forced into prostitution or exchanging sex for somewhere to stay. (Refugee Council: The Vulnerable Women’s project, 2009)
  • In international and national law, distinctions are made between refugees, asylum seekers, legal and illegal economic migrants, minority citizens, travellers and others. These distinctions are all too easily lost by the media, and most particularly in the tabloid press. (Memorandum from UNHCR to the Joint Committee on Human Rights, 2007)
  • Immigration officers have the power to detain asylum seekers, even if they have not committed any crime.

Refugees make a huge contribution to the UK

Asylum seekers are looking for a place of safety

  • There is no such thing as an ‘illegal’ or ‘bogus’ asylum seeker. Under international law, anyone has the right to apply for asylum in the UK and to remain here until the authorities have assessed their claim.
  • Asylum seekers are not economic migrants. The top ten refugee producing countries in 2007 all have poor human rights records or ongoing conflict. (UNHCR, 2007 Global Trends: Refugees, Asylum seekers, Returnees, Internally displaced and Stateless Persons, 2008)
  • Many refugees and asylum seekers hope to return home at some point in the future, provided the situation in their country has improved.
  • The 1951 Refugee Convention guarantees everybody the right to apply for asylum. It has saved millions of lives. No country has ever withdrawn from it.

Britain’s asylum system is very tough

Poor countries - not the UK - look after most of the world’s refugees

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Languages


Find us

Bristol Refugee Rights map

Merchandise

Bristol Refugee Rights shop