Major new report, Asylum City, says accommodation centres will create an unworkable “parallel universe” for asylum seekers

Major new report, Asylum City, says accommodation centres will create an unworkable “parallel universe” for asylum seekers

Unions, children’s charities, church leaders and refugee groups unite to condemn segregated education

Copy of Asylum City report as a PDF file

Bill Morris, General Secretary of the Transport & General Workers’ Union, was joined today (Friday, October 4th, 2002) by representatives of leading teaching unions, children’s charities, church and refugee groups to launch Asylum City, an independent report into the resources required to ensure the government’s accommodation centres provide a basic level of support for the asylum seeker residents.

Only days before the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill that will implement the centres returns to the Lords for its Report Stage consideration, Bill Morris condemns the plans as creating “an unworkable parallel universe for asylum seekers” and the proposals to exclude refugee children from local schools as “segregated education that is an act of state-sponsored discrimination against children and a violation of international conventions which the Lords must throw out.”

The report, produced for the Asylum Coalition by the independent New Policy Institute, aims to set a benchmark for basic care and challenges government assertions that large-scale, isolated accommodation centres are the appropriate place to meet the educational, health, language, legal and everyday needs of asylum seekers.

Speaking at the launch Mr Morris said: “This report, which is an indictment of government’s asylum proposals, speaks for itself. In terms of the resources and the professionals required to sustain even a basic level of care and support, they are impractical. These vast, isolated camps will stand as Labour’s Greenham Common, and a blight on our collective conscience.

He continued: “Placing asylum seekers on a parallel universe may satisfy the extremists in society but it will make a mockery of a tolerant Britain. It is hypocritical to tell immigrants to speak English and promote social inclusion on one hand, yet shut asylum seekers away from the language and culture of our society on the other.”

Asylum City reveals that, even at this stage in their development, too many questions about fundamental health, education and social provisions at the accommodation centres go unanswered, such as

· Will there be GP on 24-hour call and a female GP for female residents? Will there be a nurse or pharmacist for day to day medical matters?

· How will the centres cater for the dietary and cultural needs of 750 residents from different cultures and of different age groups?

· Will children be educated in mixed-year classes so that 5 year olds are taught alongside 10 year olds? How will this comply with government commitments that the on-site teaching will be on a par with mainstream schools?

· If residents are to be prevented from `wandering around’ local villages, how will residents occupy their day? Will there be a shop, a library or even a place of worship suitable for all the residents?

Asylum City

Some of the key questions to be answered by the Home Office

Under the provisions of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill 2002, the government is seeking to establish at least four accommodation centres for asylum seekers. Asylum City reveals that, even at this stage in their development, too many questions about fundamental provisions at the accommodation centres go unanswered:

Food
How will the centres cater for the dietary and cultural needs of 750 residents from different cultures and of different age groups? How will the quality of the food provided be controlled?

Subsistence
Will each centre have a shop? If so, what will the shop sell - will it sell toiletries, newspapers, over the counter medication? Will it be extensive enough to stock clothing and shoes for 750 residents of all ages and sizes?

Health and social care
Will there be GP on 24-hour call? Will there be a female GP for female residents? Will mental health professionals be part of the primary care team? How many nurses will be on-site to deal with medical issues as they arise? What else will be provided on site - will there be dental, midwifery or pharmacy services? Will children have access to specialist paediatric or social work care?

Education
How big will class sizes be? Will children be educated in mixed-year classes so that 5 year olds are taught alongside 10 year olds? Will this be acceptable to teaching professionals? How will this comply with government commitments that the on-site teaching will be on a par with mainstream schools? Will every 4 year-old resident at a centre have access to the free nursery place introduced by the government?

Other provisions
Will there be a mosque or church or other place of worship suitable for all the residents?

Will there be a crèche? How will residents occupy their day? Will there be an on-site library? Can residents become involved in voluntary activities at the centre? Will there be facilities for physical exercise? To what extent will language support be provided? Will translation services be provided during medical examinations, for instance?

ENDS

Notes to Editors: The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill will return to the Lords on 9th October. Amendments will be tabled to overturn the government’s plans to exclude refugee children from mainstream schools. Asylum City was commissioned the Asylum Coalition and written by the New Policy Institute.

About the Asylum Coalition: The Asylum Coalition was formed when to try to inform the development of a fair, human asylum policy. Its members are: BMA(Dr Michael Wilks 07870 674 490), Churches Commission for Racial Justice (Rev Arlington Trotman 020 7523 2138), The Children’s Society (Patricia Durr 07876 762 245), Family Welfare Association (Helen Dent 020 7254 6251), Oxfam (Sandy Ruxton (01865 312 209), Refugee Council (Imran Hussain (020 7820 3046), Save the Children, Rebecca Hickman (07748 905 101), T&G (Pauline Doyle (020 7611 2560)

Source: http://www.tgwu.org.uk/