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Stop the illegal eviction of a 22 mnth old baby and family from east Birmingham

brum noborders | 22.04.2008 13:46 | Migration | Birmingham

Fatma Yavruk and her family, including 22 month old baby Arda, are due to be evicted from their Birmingham home today, due to a bureaucratic mix up by the UK Border Agency and the callous attitude of their Housing Association landlord, Astonbrook.

Fatma Yavruk and her family, including 22 month old baby Arda
Fatma Yavruk and her family, including 22 month old baby Arda


The family's section 4 support was terminated in February- despite the fact that UKBA's policy is NOT to terminate subsistence packages for families with dependant children. The family has survived on handouts from friends for 2 months.

Their accommodation provider, Astonbrook Housing Association, has not been paid by UKBA since February and has now told the family that they will be evicted onto the street today (21/04/08).

Astonbrook changed the locks on the property yestarday but, in error, gave the family a set of keys. Astonbrook have confirmed that they have no interest in advocating on behalf of this family's interests, and do not consider themselves to have any duty of care. They are simply obeying the UKBA's orders and will evict the family today.

To register your disgust at this state of affairs,

please email Gail Adams at the UK Border Agency
or telephone Faisal at Astonbrook on 013845 68600.

Astonbrook Housing Association hit the headlines last summer when police raided their offices. The Birmingham-based asylum accommodation provider was raided after it emerged that the 'charity' had been, among other things, inventing asylum seekers to claim millions from the Home Office and the City Council.

brum noborders

Additions

Astonbrook ignores it's mission statement in pursuit of profit

22.04.2008 15:30

'Guided by its objectives, Astonbrook HA:

Believes that prevention of homelessness and underlying issues is the collective responsibility of our society and that tackling it requires joined up thinking and inter-agency approach.'

expose the asylum profiteers!


Family remains destitute

24.04.2008 10:48

Fatma and her family are still in their accommodation: thanks to the messages of solidarity and support and unwelcome publicity, Astonbrook appear to have reconsidered the option of throwing them on the street.

However, while the UK Border Agency (as the Border and Immigration Agency, formerly the National Asylum Support Service has chosen to rebrand itself this week) attempts to sort out the mess its policies have made of these people's lives, the family remains reliant on the handouts of cash-strapped charities.

Every Child Matters? What a joke.


Family threatened with evistion yet again.

24.04.2008 15:44

Fatma called her adcoate this afternoon in tears, as Astonbrook staff had once again arrived to threaten the family with changed locks, eviction and homelessness.

The family's advocate discussed the situation with the Astonbrook employee in question, who gave his name as Raoul. Raoul explained that Astonbrook had received no payment from the Home office since February and now intended to force the houshold onto the street. He confirmed that he had not spoken to anyone at the Home Office's section 4 team- which had yesterday confirmed that the family WAS entitled to accommodation and support, and nor did he intend to. Raoul's advice was that the family should present itself to local authority's social services team- which they have already done, to no avail. Raoul confirmed that he had no interest in making any referral on the family's behlaf, and saw his job merely as effecting their eviction.

However, after some intervention on the part of Indymedia- including the prospect of a camera crew on site to witness Astonbrook's team at work- Raoul and his friends left the family, threatening to return tomorrow morning (Friday) to carry out eviction. Telephone calls have been ongoing between the family's advoctes at ASIRT and Gail Adam's office at the UK Border Agency.

Bewilderingly, the family has received a subsequent telephone call from another UKBA contracted accommodation provider, United Property Management, offering to take them to a new property at an undisclosed location tomorrow. UPM has advised Indymedia that they are not presently able to provide the family with an address, creating further anxiety that the family may actually be, in the parlance, "dispersed" to yet another region of the UK, where they will potentially have no support network. All of which seems far more stressful, complex, expensive and unnecessary than the logical step of the UKBA simply advising Astonbrook to reinstate the family's support!

Every Child Matters? What a joke.


More from Astonbrook's own website.

24.04.2008 16:14

“Valuing its most vulnerable groups is a cornerstone of a just, equitable civilised society. Therefore, Astonbrook HA will continually endeavour to enhance the quality of service and harness opportunities in ways, which meet the challenges and encapsulate the essence of what supporting people are seeking to achieve.”

By threatening traumatised refugees, changing locks and making babies homeless? Shameful.

Astonbrook. Shameful money grabbing hypocrites.


Comments

Display the following 3 comments

  1. roaul makes colleugues homeless — steve broad
  2. The mision of Statement — James
  3. Give us strength — Astoncrook