Human rights campaigners have called on the Home Office to open more screening centres to stop asylum seekers being forced to travel to Croydon.Oh, the (in)humanity!
Now a group representing female refugees in Scotland has started an e-petition which calls for screening to be routinely available across the UK.
Patricia Zimouini Nganga, of the Refugee Women's Strategy Group, based in Glasgow, said: "When people flee their homes and arrive in this country they are often stressed and confused.
"Some of the women are pregnant or have children and they have no choice but to travel hundreds of miles to a place they don't know, with very little or no money to pay for food or somewhere to stay.
"I feel very bad for anyone who has to take that journey."Haven’t they already ‘travelled hundreds of miles to a place they don’t know’, then?
They ought to be used to it!
The Refugee Council has backed the petition for screening units in Scotland and also called for more elsewhere in the UK.
Chief executive Donna Covey said: "Having no choice but to travel to Croydon to claim asylum is both impractical and unjust for people, some of whom are based as far as Scotland, north or south-west England, and who include pregnant women and those with mobility difficulties.
"Most people claiming asylum will be unable to afford the travel fares, so must rely on friends and charities to help them out.
"Once they get there, we know a number of our clients are forced to sleep on the streets if there is a delay with their appointment as they have nowhere else to go. The situation is unsustainable."You know what’s unsustainable, Donna? Having more offices dotted round the country, with more civil servants employed to staff them, just so that someone who has snuck into the country underneath a lorry or squashed into a container isn’t subjected to the ‘indignity’ of the UK rail system…
Luckily, that’s unlikely:
But the prospect of more screening units being made available remains unlikely, particularly because travel to Croydon is seen by the Home Office as a last resort for those who have broken the rules.So it is a punishment, then..?
11 comments:
The good news is that the Refugee Council had some of its funding cut last year.
The bad news is that it was only some.
Sadly, you don't have to have snuck into the country to be forced to visit Lunar House.
Perfectly legal immigrants, such as Mrs Badger, are forced to make the pilgrimage.
This may be considered A Good Thing, but it's actually pretty shabby and very Stalinist.
Shabby, maybe but very Stalinist ? Hardly.
People choose to immigrate here... for whatever reason...and can just easily choose not to.
Or do our leaders not allow people to make their own minds up and leave whenever they wish ? Now *that* would be Stalinist.
Yes, Stalinist.
I have no problem with making life difficult for illegal immigrants. I don't even have a problem with making it awkward for asylum seekers.
But when you start making life expensive and grubby for people from countries who were our allies during two world wars and the remains of whose sons are sprinkled across the fields of Kent, inter alia, making life bloody complicated for your own citizens, then I call that dictatorial and officious.
Try asking an Australian about the reception they routinely meet at Heathwrow.
Dictarial and officious? Welcome to Britain. Would not want to treat our guests any different to how the rest of us are treated eh?
"The bad news is that it was only some."
Spot on!
"This may be considered A Good Thing, but it's actually pretty shabby and very Stalinist."
Yes, there should be some distinction between legal migrants and the illegal sort. But no doubt it would be considered 'discrimination'.
"Dictarial and officious? Welcome to Britain."
Indeed... *sigh*
Sorry Julia, I actually agree with this. It is pretty much inhuman forcing people to go to Croydon. Every time I've been there, something bad has happened; most significantly I was in Croydon Ikea when the World Trade Centre was hit.
I fear ever visiting there again. Forcing people to go there is surely "cruel and unusual punishment".
Uncle Badger - You assume that it is done deliberately.
Regardless, values and principles...however hard fought for and won...don't pay the bills.
Wonder how much is being claimed in expenses for these day trips to Lunar House?
The re is a really simple reason why Croydon has been selected. Once they have arrived at a 'typical British town', the idea is they take a look around and say to themselves, "Do I really want to live in a sh*thole like this?" They then take the first Eurostar to Belgium, which has a much nicer climate, better tasting beer and Mayo on their chips! At least, that is the plan.
Penseivat
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