Demonstration for Asylum Seekers’ Right to Work 21 August Sheffield
Sudanese community in Sheffield | 19.08.2008 13:06 | Anti-racism | Migration | Sheffield
Demonstration for Asylum Seekers’ Right to Work 10am 21 August @ Vulcan House, Sheffield
As you probably know, most asylum seekers are not allowed to work. This can lead to destitution, isolation or the dangers of working illegally, including people being criminalised. The protest will call for the right to work for all asylum seekers. As Khalid from the Sheffield Sudanese community explained “We came here for protection from persecution. We didn’t come here for benefits, we want the right to work while we are here”.
The protest was initiated by the Sudanese community in Sheffield and we will also be calling for an end to deportations to Sudan . The UK Government recently declared a temporary halt to sending Darfuri asylum seekers back to Sudan after various campaign groups, including South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group (SYMAAG) protested at this practice. The Sudanese president has been charged with genocide by the International Criminal Court (and condemned by the UK Government), yet deportations of Darfuri people to the Sudanese capital Khartoum may resume next month. Nour, from Darfur explains: “Every one of us wants to return home one day – but not now, it is too dangerous for us”.
On Thursday 21st August we will march through the centre of Sheffield, assembling outside Northern Refugee Centre, Scotia Works, Leadmill Road , S14SE at 9.15am. We protest outside Vulcan House (Home Office Reporting Centre, 6 Millsands S3 8NU) at 10am on Thursday 21st August. At Vulcan House we will hand a letter to the Home Office outlining our concerns and demands.
Called by the Sudanese community in Sheffield and supported by SYMAAG. All those who support our aims are welcome to join us.
The UK Borders Agency have helpfully produced a map showing where their shiny new office, Vulcan House, is located in Sheffield :
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=435612&y=387841&z=0&sv=S3%208NU&st=PostCode&lu=N&tl=~&ar=y&bi=~&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf
See you there on Thursday
LEAFLET text:
We’re Not Here for Benefits…
We Want the Right to Work!
Genocide in Darfur
We are from Darfur. You’ve probably heard of Darfur, part of the African country of Sudan. Over the last 5 years the military government of Sudan and its militia has tried to kill the people of Darfur: a genocide. In what Gordon Brown called “one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of our time" 200,000 people have been killed, 2 million forced to flee their homes and 4 million people rely on food aid from outside. This is out of a total population in Darfur of 6 million people.
What would you do?
Some people from Darfur have tried to escape these horrors by leaving their country. Not an easy decision: what would make you leave your home, friends, family, job and your home country? A few thousand have made the difficult journey to Britain, a few hundred have come here to South Yorkshire. They have come here to find safety from persecution, to seek asylum.
No Deportations of Darfuri Asylum Seekers
Too Dangerous to Go Back
When the British Government has deported Darfuri asylum seekers to Sudan they have been tortured and abused on their return. This is not surprising - the Sudanese president is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and he remains in power! But the British Government will still not agree to stop these deportations of Darfuri people to Sudan in future. As Nour, a Darfuri asylum seeker in Sheffield explains “Every one of us wants to return home one day – but not now, it is too dangerous for us.”
Asylum Seekers – Not Allowed to Work
Did you know that most asylum seekers are not allowed to work? Khalid from Sudan explains “We came here for protection from persecution. We didn’t come to this country for benefits, we want the right to work while we are here”. He has been waiting 8 years for the Home Office to grant him the right to remain in this country.
Musa, from the Sudanese community association in Sheffield, explains “Having the right to work is very important. It would help our members integrate more easily with local people and relieve the stress of being away from friends and family in Africa. Some have been waiting years for a decision from the Home Office, leaving them in limbo and unable to live independently.”
We are here today to say:
We’re not here for benefits - We want the right to work.
No deportations of Darfuri asylum seekers
Contact SYMAAG at
dignitynotdetention@yahoo.co.uk or via 0114 241 2780
As you probably know, most asylum seekers are not allowed to work. This can lead to destitution, isolation or the dangers of working illegally, including people being criminalised. The protest will call for the right to work for all asylum seekers. As Khalid from the Sheffield Sudanese community explained “We came here for protection from persecution. We didn’t come here for benefits, we want the right to work while we are here”.
The protest was initiated by the Sudanese community in Sheffield and we will also be calling for an end to deportations to Sudan . The UK Government recently declared a temporary halt to sending Darfuri asylum seekers back to Sudan after various campaign groups, including South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group (SYMAAG) protested at this practice. The Sudanese president has been charged with genocide by the International Criminal Court (and condemned by the UK Government), yet deportations of Darfuri people to the Sudanese capital Khartoum may resume next month. Nour, from Darfur explains: “Every one of us wants to return home one day – but not now, it is too dangerous for us”.
On Thursday 21st August we will march through the centre of Sheffield, assembling outside Northern Refugee Centre, Scotia Works, Leadmill Road , S14SE at 9.15am. We protest outside Vulcan House (Home Office Reporting Centre, 6 Millsands S3 8NU) at 10am on Thursday 21st August. At Vulcan House we will hand a letter to the Home Office outlining our concerns and demands.
Called by the Sudanese community in Sheffield and supported by SYMAAG. All those who support our aims are welcome to join us.
The UK Borders Agency have helpfully produced a map showing where their shiny new office, Vulcan House, is located in Sheffield :
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=435612&y=387841&z=0&sv=S3%208NU&st=PostCode&lu=N&tl=~&ar=y&bi=~&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf See you there on Thursday
LEAFLET text:
We’re Not Here for Benefits…
We Want the Right to Work!
Genocide in Darfur
We are from Darfur. You’ve probably heard of Darfur, part of the African country of Sudan. Over the last 5 years the military government of Sudan and its militia has tried to kill the people of Darfur: a genocide. In what Gordon Brown called “one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of our time" 200,000 people have been killed, 2 million forced to flee their homes and 4 million people rely on food aid from outside. This is out of a total population in Darfur of 6 million people.
What would you do?
Some people from Darfur have tried to escape these horrors by leaving their country. Not an easy decision: what would make you leave your home, friends, family, job and your home country? A few thousand have made the difficult journey to Britain, a few hundred have come here to South Yorkshire. They have come here to find safety from persecution, to seek asylum.
No Deportations of Darfuri Asylum Seekers
Too Dangerous to Go Back
When the British Government has deported Darfuri asylum seekers to Sudan they have been tortured and abused on their return. This is not surprising - the Sudanese president is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and he remains in power! But the British Government will still not agree to stop these deportations of Darfuri people to Sudan in future. As Nour, a Darfuri asylum seeker in Sheffield explains “Every one of us wants to return home one day – but not now, it is too dangerous for us.”
Asylum Seekers – Not Allowed to Work
Did you know that most asylum seekers are not allowed to work? Khalid from Sudan explains “We came here for protection from persecution. We didn’t come to this country for benefits, we want the right to work while we are here”. He has been waiting 8 years for the Home Office to grant him the right to remain in this country.
Musa, from the Sudanese community association in Sheffield, explains “Having the right to work is very important. It would help our members integrate more easily with local people and relieve the stress of being away from friends and family in Africa. Some have been waiting years for a decision from the Home Office, leaving them in limbo and unable to live independently.”
We are here today to say:
We’re not here for benefits - We want the right to work.
No deportations of Darfuri asylum seekers
Contact SYMAAG at
dignitynotdetention@yahoo.co.uk or via 0114 241 2780
Sudanese community in Sheffield
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Report on the Sudanese demonstration
28.08.2008 16:39
We started quietly – many people had never been on a demonstration before – but found our voice when we reached Vulcan House, near Castle Market. Vulcan House is the new centralised Home Office Reporting Centre where people seeking asylum are required to attend to receive benefit vouchers or simply because they are told to. Their visits are often accompanied by humiliating searches and requirements (such as being told to remove trouser belts).
200 leaflets were distributed to people near the Town Hall, on Fargate and outside Castle Market explaining that people seeking asylum are not allowed to work while their claim is being processed and that some people have been waiting 8 or even 10 years for a decision about their right to stay in the UK. The response was generally positive and people seemed willing to listen. We carried banners and placards saying “We’re not here for benefits – let us work” and “Darfuris in South Yorkshire Say: Don’t Send Us to Wanted Sudanese President” (referring to The Sudanese President’s indictment for genocide by the International Criminal Court).
At the end of our demonstration we heard speeches from members of the Sudanese Community Association, ASSIST and South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group (SYMAAG). Nour, from the Sheffield Sudanese community, handed a letter to a Home Office representative explaining the case for the right to work and an end to deportations to Sudan. He explained that we would continue to demonstrate until we got a positive response. It was clear that the weeks we spent organising the demonstration and the activity of the day itself had lifted people’s spirits and confidence. And isn’t that a victory in itself?
Before the demonstration, members of the Sudanese community and SYMAAG were invited to speak on Radio Sheffield, Sheffield Live and Radio Hallam. BBC Look North and the Sheffield Telegraph paper both reported the demonstration and the reasons for it.
South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group
e-mail:
dignitynotdetention@yahoo.co.uk