Immigration - new material (45)
01 November 1999
Review: "United Kingdom Asylum Law in its European Context", Prakash Shah and Curtis Francis Doebbler (eds.), 1999, pp.162. This discussion on the 1996 UK Asylum and Immigration Act goes beyond listing legal provisions and articles. It is a useful contribution for all those fighting to "prevent the deterioration of the basic humanitarian protections of asylum seekers". It critically assesses the removal of rights to benefits, the "safe third country" and "safe country of origin" rules, employer sanctions and the emergence of numerous classifications and statuses of asylum seekers, which has led to the practical abolition of fair asylum procedures. The book points to the fact that in its attempt to simply reduce the number of incoming asylum seekers, the EU harmonisation effort implies "that most applicants are economic migrants rather than refugees, as if those categories could be conceived of in a mutually exclusive sense in the first place". Concerning the discussions on Schengen and Dublin the authors conclude that "it has become apparent that EU states were not that interested in pursuing an end to the problem of refugees in orbit, but rather more keen to ensure the relocation of the problem outside the Union" (see Statewatch vol 9 no 5 on the globalisation of immigration control).
Life without cash. In Exile (The Refugee Council) Issue 5, June 1999, pp14-15. The worst aspects of the voucher system are highlighted. Attention is drawn to its inconvenience and impracticality, as well as to the humiliation and stigmatisation which it causes to asylum seekers. Comments from MPs opposed to the system, and a case study of a pregnant young woman's experience of living on vouchers are included.
In Exile. The Refugee Council, Issue 6 (September) 1999. This issue gives details of the way in which the Refugee Council believes that the government's new support system for asylum seekers will work in practice. Questions are again raised about how asylum seekers are to survive on, at best, 80% of income support. In spite of government claims that the decision making process for asylum claims will be speeded up, asylum seekers will most likely have to survive on less than the minimum support for meeting a person's basic needs for a considerable period of time, such is the extent of the backlog of cases awaiting an initial decision.
Learning the lessons of Dover. CARF No 52 (October/November) 1999, pp3-5. Excellent article on the situation of asylum-seekers in Dover, Kent and plans to disperse them across the country. It covers the racism of the local people, the media, Dover council and Labour Party asylum policies, but most importantly gives a voice both to the asylum seekers themselves and their support networks.
Infodienst des Bayerischen Fluechtlingsrates. Bavarian Refugee Council, No 69 (September-October) 5 DM. This bi-monthly bulletin is a valuable source of information, reporting on current developments in refugee support work and activities of anti-deportation campaigns. Includes critical statements on Germany's asylum and deportation practices towards specific refugee groups (this issue covers Turkey/Kurdistan, Iraq, Angola, Togo and former Yugoslavia). Available from: Bayerischer Fluechtlingsrat, Valleystr. 42, 81371 Munich, Germany. Tel: 0044-89-762234, Fax: 0044-89-762236, bfr@ibu.de.
Moechten Sie hier leben? (Would you want to live here?). Bavarian Refugee Council, 1999. This pamphlet criticises the mass accommodations of asylum seekers in homes in Germany and demands humane temporary living conditions for refugees with a view to decentralised housing. They point out that it is not only the lack of sanitary provisions, the danger of racist attacks and the inadequacy of all facilities which leads to the
impoverishment and destitution of refugees. But it is also the isolation, the humiliation of a rigid house rule enforced by the "caretaker" and finally the lack of a private sphere, which can lead to depression