“Expect a breakthrough and an opportunity for change”. Panel discusses the Families Together Campaign and the hostile environment in the UK, closing with a message of hope.
The UK has shockingly low numbers of family reunification meaning that refugees and asylum seekers are forced to become separated from their loved ones.
The Families Together Campaign calls for changing the law in order to make justice for vulnerable people separated due to the restrictions placed by the Home Office. The three main areas that require modification are the definition of who qualifies as a family, reintroduction of legal aid, and giving the right to child refugees to sponsor their close family members.
As part of the campaign, a panel of expert speakers gave an incredible session, moderated by STAR president Maud Bucaille and organised with the help of committee member Amy Zhang where we spoke to students and campaigners about the ongoing fight for pushing reform. The event was kindly sponsored by the Oxfam Families Together Fund. Relevant resources on how to take action and make a change can be found at the end of this article.
The Speakers.
The speakers included Tom Davies from Amnesty International and head of the Families Together Coalition, who is a seasoned advocate of refugee rights in the presence of hostile policies and discriminatory rules of the Home Office. Rasha Ezzat is the representative of NaTakallam language learning program for refugees, She came to the UK as a student from Egypt and has extensive experience of working with refugees. Her contributions ranged from aiding women accessing services, teaching English to Arab speakers, and providing some psycho-social support in order for them to become at ease in their new communities. Blanche is a campaigner with The Voices Network. She came to the UK in 2015 as an asylum seeker and has been granted refugee status. Three of her underaged children managed to become reunited with her in the UK but the other three who are over the age of 18 remain separated from her.
Blanche shared with us that the time she was applying for asylum was one of the ‘darkest moments’ of her life due to being separated from her children and loved ones. She adds that most of the help she received to navigate this lengthy, costly and difficult process was not from government agencies but from Red Cross staff whose legal team specializes in reuniting families separated by war displacement and natural disasters. Blanche added that even though her kids are over 18, for parents they are still their kids even though the government digresses on who is a ‘priority and ‘qualified’ for reunification. She adds that now she has found her place in the UK and she is glad to help new arrivals and be a rock of support for them in these very difficult moments.
The current family reunification policy
On a similar note, Tom added that due to Covid-19 we all experienced separation from loved ones but in many instances, this separation is permanent for refugees because the Home Office rules are intentionally setting the ‘acceptability’ threshold for reunification very high. He adds, however, these rules are amenable and that they can be reversed simply by a signature from the home office secretary.
Tom further explained the policies underpinning reunification. He adds that the Home Office requires that people arriving from conflict-ridden countries if recognised as refugees by the UK government, would be eligible to apply for sponsoring their partner and children under the age of 18. However, there are a lot of pitfalls in the existing legislation that has deprived a lot of refugees of their right to bring their family to the UK. Tom argues that this should apply to all people who are recognised as refugees and cannot return home, including minors and closely-related family members.
Navigating these processes is a dire affair for new arrivals as government-sponsored legal aid was cut from this area and going through the application alone has been a daunting task even for those who fully qualify for resettlement schemes. Leading Tom to conclude that the Home Office rules are forcing people to either stay here and be safe without their family or go back to extremely dangerous and precarious environments to be with them.
Rasha also shared with us stories that reaffirmed the fact that these rules can leave a lot of people in limbo and serve as a permanent barrier between them and their families. She mentioned cases where the refugee was made stateless by their country of origin and therefore even though they got asylum in the UK they could not bring their underage kids because they did not have a passport and it was impossible for them to be allowed to travel. Others could not bring old and incapacitated relatives that were not their children because they were not in “immediate” danger. Most haven’t seen each other for years and they suffer a lot because of that, Rasha adds. Crucially, what was surprising to her, in the beginning, is the fact that there are not isolated cases but actually, a lot of refugees and asylum seekers fall victims to mismanagement and inflexible rules.
Available Support for refugees and asylum seekers
The panel further discussed the available support for asylum seekers. Tom said that it all depends on the circumstances of the individual. Asylum seekers are only eligible for 37£ of monetary aid per week and there is some accommodation support for families. Blanche who had first-hand experience added that she did not receive any government support as an asylum seeker, apart from those 37£ and the Red Cross legal aid. She adds that this is why it is so hard to carry on through this process where you have to navigate it virtually alone and with very limited means.
Rasha gave us some compelling descriptions of the dilapidated and unhygienic accommodation asylum seekers are put in. She adds that once you are refused your case all support immediately ceases and you get evicted from the accommodation. She recounts the unsanitary conditions she encountered, especially those in detention facilities where basic facilities and common areas such as toilets are mixed and the centers are way beyond capacity. People are being made destitute in one of the richest countries in the world.
Tom adds that destitution continues after you become recognised as a refugee. You have very short notice to find and arrange new accommodation because once you find asylum you get evicted from accommodation and financial support is immediately cut in 28 days after a positive decision. The government aims to cause antagonism and division with their police as they have presented the channel crisis as an invasion by sea and the accommodation as ‘hotels’ in order to uphold a narrative of ‘being in control’. After the chief inspector of Borders & Immigration visited the Nappier Barracks found them not fit for purpose and unsafe for Covid-19 transmission, fire-prone, etc. Many people in the barracks tested positive for Covid-19 at the same time the UK government tried to present the accommodation as up to standards.
Mental health support
Rasha also raised the issue of mental health support to address the impending epidemic of psychological problems the refugees and asylum seekers have to face with minimal resources. She argues that allowing those eligible to work find employment will boost their self-esteem and their desire to be ‘useful’ in society and help them engage with their new community instead of being locked up and isolated from the rest of the world.
Blanche also argues that Covid-19 meant that once again refugees and asylum seekers had to face isolation exacerbated by the lack of opportunities for creating a support network.
Rasha adds that covid-19 infections in detention facilities are widespread and due to protracted isolation people have started feeling suicidal. There are a few under-resourced charities that aid asylum seekers and refugees with mental health support such as Mind but there is no government support over this issue. On top of that, one of the attendees shared some personal experiences with us and concluded that there is no recognition of the psychological damage inflicted on refugees by the government.
Putting the Families Together Campaign on the agenda
All of the above are interlocking issues affecting people in real terms and constituting what amounts to the ‘hostile environment’.
Tom says that the UK wasn’t open to discussing the Families Together Campaign demands and proposals in the Home Office but now it is a topic on the table. Opposition parties have all made this a part of their policy and last year the campaigners managed to bring a bill in the parliament that was voted for by two-thirds of the MPs but was eventually blocked by the cabinet. But regardless campaigners still managed to raise some high profile support for the campaign and signatures for the petition.
Tom told us that the biggest success this year was not to have any regression in terms of pushing for refugee rights and that even some political opportunities were presented such as a series of consultations with the Home Office on safe routes and family reunification. He also highlighted the need to have targeted campaigns but not lose sight of other areas which can get worse as a result, especially in the asylum-seeking sphere. Tom added that due to the tough stance this government wants to project we should anticipate a border bill soon and that can be momentum for change, “the environment has been hostile for decades and we anticipate attacks on asylum. But there are actions you can take for change”, he reflects.
In terms of Covid-19 the public campaign had to be put on hold. “While there was a major breakthrough the last 2 years, due to the pandemic we knew that it won’t be the priority of policymakers and the government and therefore we only relaunched the campaign publicly in autumn 2020”, says Tom. He argues that the pandemic had a big impact on family reunification as it was hard to obtain visas and arrange international travel for a family reunion, but refugee advocates did manage to get the government to extend the period of which it is allowed to relocate after a positive decision. Also, Covid-19 was an opportunity to raise awareness of what it's like to be separated by a loved one as most people had to face this challenge in these unprecedented times. Service provision was affected as well and in the beginning, a lot of people were panic buying grocery products resulting in the cheapest ones going very fast which refugees rely on.
The discussion was concluded with a message of hope calling us to take action. Tom argued that the campaign has a long-term objective of making the home office think more about human rights and officials becoming aware of the impact their decisions have. “We are being mindful of the bigger picture while achieving small wins along the way”, he remarks whilst acknowledging that modifying some rules doesn’t completely change the circumstances but keeps the pressure up.
Resources:
Given the current hostile environment, vulnerable people rely on us for help to make their voices heard. A simple change in home office laws regarding refugee family reunification means that we can continue to advocate for change in other areas too. There are numerous actions we can take, such us organising our communities, talking to as many people as possible about why this is important or writing to our local MPs.
Here are some resources to get you started.
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