Here's a story that you might well have missed today. At the end of a rather damning piece on the latest poverty figures in The Guardian, there was a tiny comment on a report released today by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. The report is a damning indictment on the handling of asylum seekers by the government and highlighted the 'inhumane' conditions that they suffer in modern Britain. And yet, this report has barely been commented on by the mainstream media.
The report itself found that many failed asylum seekers suffered social and mental health problems and did without basic food, shelter and care. The report also found that among a group of over 100 failed asylum seekers in Leeds, one in four had slept rough and a third had been destitute for at least a year. The report also refers to a woman who:
'...suffered a miscarriage fearing she would be deported if she sought medical help.'
The chair of the enquiry, Kate Adie, said:
"The current UK asylum system fails by the standards both of human decency and of those who want to 'get tough' on asylum.
"For the benefit of everyone, there has got to be urgent and pragmatic reform which brings these people in from the shadows so that they can be treated humanely, contribute to the community and remain inside the system. We are proposing practical, workable solutions which will benefit local communities as well as government."
Furthermore, Anna Reisenberger, acting chief executive of the Refugee Council said:
"We hope this balanced and reasonable report, from an independent inquiry, will finally convince the government that its policy towards refused asylum seekers has failed and that urgent reform is needed.
"The current policy of using destitution to enforce return might look tough but it isn't delivering results. For all sorts of reasons, which the government well understands, many refused asylum seekers can't return home - at least for the time being. Given that, the policy of denying refused asylum seekers all support and refusing them the right to work manages to be both immoral and pointless.”
As one might expect, the report was greeted with typical tough posturing by the Home Office. This is, after all, exactly what 'Dr' Reid wants people to hear. He wants the Daily Mail and Sun readers to see that he is tough on these scroungers who come over here in their parasitic droves. His Daily Mail pleasing mouthpiece, Joan Ryan, claimed that:
"Our asylum system is a fair one. It ensures that support is available to someone claiming asylum from the time they arrive in the UK until the outcome of their claim is determined.
"But it is not right to ask the UK taxpayer to fund - potentially indefinitely - those who choose to remain when it is open to them to return to a home country that has been found safe for them to live in."
Yep, that is going to play straight to the Mail reading, pitchforks and torches brigade. Good work John. She also added that granting asylum seekers the right to work would:
"send out the wrong message to those who may try to come here without genuine cause".
And what is exactly is the wrong message? If they want to work while they are here, let them and offer them all the protections that other citizens would be entitled to. Don't treat them as vermin to ensure you get a few pleasing headlines from the Daily Mail. And this news also comes on the day that it is revealed that the government is attempting to send asylum seekers back to Sudan, despite the fact that they acknowledge that the country is in crisis.
This whole situation is an utter disgrace and all to garner a few friendly headlines. And that is the real tragedy at the heart of this. Not only are people suffering as a result of 'inhumane' conditions, they are suffering because this government and, in particular, this fuck head of a Home Secretary, want to please sections of the mainstream media to shore up their 'core vote'. The government is willingly playing political games with the lives of the most vulnerable. It is time the vulnerable fought back.
Further Information: Moving on: From Destitution to Contribution - the full report.
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