Children of failed asylum seekers living in Manchester/Leeds/Bradford/North London have been earmarked to be the guinea pigs for the Home Offices latest experiment in 'degrading and inhumane treatment' of refugees.
From Wednesday 1st December, section.9 of the Asylum and Immigration act 2004 will be piloted in Manchester, as well as in Leeds/Bradford and North London. It is expected that 150 families will be included in the pilot. The Home Office feels these areas are suitable for a pilot exercise because:
- they have sufficient resources to run an exercise
- there are a large numbers of families in these areas
- there are no other pilots concerning other sections of the legislation taking place in these areas.
From Wednesday 1st December, section.9 of the Asylum and Immigration act 2004 will be piloted in Manchester, as well as in Leeds/Bradford and North London. It is expected that 150 families will be included in the pilot. The Home Office feels these areas are suitable for a pilot exercise because:
- they have sufficient resources to run an exercise
- there are a large numbers of families in these areas
- there are no other pilots concerning other sections of the legislation taking place in these areas.
Snatch the children of Manchester, Leeds,Bradford and North London
Section 9 (Asylum & Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc) Act 2004) is now in force: allowing the Home Office to separate children from their parents, if the parents refuse to leave the UK voluntary.
This section of the Act gives the Home Office the power to withdraw support from families whose asylum application has been refused and who are not co-operating with efforts to remove them.
the rest of this is I assume from the home office - sick bastards
"The Home Office has indicated that the aim of s.9 is not to make families destitute or to take children into care. It exists to ensure families comply with removal directions. The Home Office hopes that s.9 will change the behaviour of asylum seeking families at the end of the process.
How will the pilot process work?
Stage 1
Once a family has received a final refusal on their asylum application they will receive a letter from the Immigration Service (IS). Those who do not have any travel documentation will be given the opportunity to receive assistance from the IS Documentation Unit who will contact families’ embassies directly. Families will be required to report to the Local Enforcement Office on a weekly basis. When reporting, families will have to satisfy immigration officials that they are taking sufficient steps to return to their country of origin. Families will be required to provide documentary evidence which will be checked. Travels costs will not be reimbursed. At this stage the local authority will be informed that a family within its jurisdiction may have their support withdrawn.
Stage 2
Families will receive another letter from the IS giving details of their interview with Immigration staff.
Stage 3
Families will be asked to attend an interview with Immigration staff. Prior to the interview a warning will be read to clients informing them of their responsibilities. Families will have to sign a declaration stating they understand the process. An interpreter will be in attendance. Notes of the interview will be taken and families will retain a copy. The interview is in two parts, the first will give an opportunity to show that the family is taking reasonable steps to comply with removal while the second concerns access to support. If a family cannot attend an interview, they will have 7 days to provide evidence as to why it could not attend. If a family have not attended the interview or the IS is not convinced that reasonable steps have been taken to leave, a warning letter will be issued again and the certification process will start.
Stage 4
Case files will be passed onto NASS to consider whether a decision to withdraw support will amount to a breach of Articles 3 (inhuman or degrading treatment) or 8 (the right to a family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Families will be issued a letter and a certificate informing them whether or not their support has been withdrawn. If NASS judges that withdrawal of support will breach the ECHR then the letter will make this clear and state that support will not continue for an indefinite period. Continuation of support will be subject to regular review.
Stage 5
If support has been withdrawn it will end 14 days after receipt of the letter and certificate. The 14 days will begin 2 days after the postmark. At this stage, an appeal can be lodged to the ASA but support will still be withdrawn regardless of whether the appeal has been heard. NASS will inform IS of the outcome of a family’s case.
When making a decision to withdraw support NASS will consider the Limbuela [
http://www.asylumsupport.org.uk/limbuela.htm ] judgment as a baseline for breaches of Article 3 of the ECHR. Decision making will also need to consider Article 8 and the effects of separating a child from its family although, at present, it is thought there are no test cases on which to base information on at this stage. The IS has indicated that withdrawal of support is a final option and it hopes to remove families rather than make them destitute. Support would be re-instated immediately once a family made steps to return to its country of origin. Due to the Children Act, children will never have support removed from them and it is at this stage where they may be placed in local authority care.
The IS has stated that the process, as outlined above, will take a minimum of 8 weeks from beginning to end. If there are difficulties in obtaining documentation this may well take much longer. Support will continue throughout this period. Under the pilot exercise the first removals of support may take place at the end of January 2005.
At every stage in the process families will be informed of the option to return home voluntarily and will be given details of the Institute of Migration. Although, support will not be conditional on signing up to the IOM or VARRP, there will also be the option of Home Office assistance to return to their country of origin.
When the pilot finishes there will be a review of the process and all NGOs and LAs will be invited to give full feedback and this will include an opportunity to offer suggestions on changes to the process. It is unlikely that the final process for s.9 will be rolled out nationally until late 2005".
http://www.asylumpolicyinfo/iapnewsdecember.doc
Section 9 (Asylum & Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc) Act 2004) is now in force: allowing the Home Office to separate children from their parents, if the parents refuse to leave the UK voluntary.
This section of the Act gives the Home Office the power to withdraw support from families whose asylum application has been refused and who are not co-operating with efforts to remove them.
the rest of this is I assume from the home office - sick bastards
"The Home Office has indicated that the aim of s.9 is not to make families destitute or to take children into care. It exists to ensure families comply with removal directions. The Home Office hopes that s.9 will change the behaviour of asylum seeking families at the end of the process.
How will the pilot process work?
Stage 1
Once a family has received a final refusal on their asylum application they will receive a letter from the Immigration Service (IS). Those who do not have any travel documentation will be given the opportunity to receive assistance from the IS Documentation Unit who will contact families’ embassies directly. Families will be required to report to the Local Enforcement Office on a weekly basis. When reporting, families will have to satisfy immigration officials that they are taking sufficient steps to return to their country of origin. Families will be required to provide documentary evidence which will be checked. Travels costs will not be reimbursed. At this stage the local authority will be informed that a family within its jurisdiction may have their support withdrawn.
Stage 2
Families will receive another letter from the IS giving details of their interview with Immigration staff.
Stage 3
Families will be asked to attend an interview with Immigration staff. Prior to the interview a warning will be read to clients informing them of their responsibilities. Families will have to sign a declaration stating they understand the process. An interpreter will be in attendance. Notes of the interview will be taken and families will retain a copy. The interview is in two parts, the first will give an opportunity to show that the family is taking reasonable steps to comply with removal while the second concerns access to support. If a family cannot attend an interview, they will have 7 days to provide evidence as to why it could not attend. If a family have not attended the interview or the IS is not convinced that reasonable steps have been taken to leave, a warning letter will be issued again and the certification process will start.
Stage 4
Case files will be passed onto NASS to consider whether a decision to withdraw support will amount to a breach of Articles 3 (inhuman or degrading treatment) or 8 (the right to a family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Families will be issued a letter and a certificate informing them whether or not their support has been withdrawn. If NASS judges that withdrawal of support will breach the ECHR then the letter will make this clear and state that support will not continue for an indefinite period. Continuation of support will be subject to regular review.
Stage 5
If support has been withdrawn it will end 14 days after receipt of the letter and certificate. The 14 days will begin 2 days after the postmark. At this stage, an appeal can be lodged to the ASA but support will still be withdrawn regardless of whether the appeal has been heard. NASS will inform IS of the outcome of a family’s case.
When making a decision to withdraw support NASS will consider the Limbuela [
http://www.asylumsupport.org.uk/limbuela.htm ] judgment as a baseline for breaches of Article 3 of the ECHR. Decision making will also need to consider Article 8 and the effects of separating a child from its family although, at present, it is thought there are no test cases on which to base information on at this stage. The IS has indicated that withdrawal of support is a final option and it hopes to remove families rather than make them destitute. Support would be re-instated immediately once a family made steps to return to its country of origin. Due to the Children Act, children will never have support removed from them and it is at this stage where they may be placed in local authority care. The IS has stated that the process, as outlined above, will take a minimum of 8 weeks from beginning to end. If there are difficulties in obtaining documentation this may well take much longer. Support will continue throughout this period. Under the pilot exercise the first removals of support may take place at the end of January 2005.
At every stage in the process families will be informed of the option to return home voluntarily and will be given details of the Institute of Migration. Although, support will not be conditional on signing up to the IOM or VARRP, there will also be the option of Home Office assistance to return to their country of origin.
When the pilot finishes there will be a review of the process and all NGOs and LAs will be invited to give full feedback and this will include an opportunity to offer suggestions on changes to the process. It is unlikely that the final process for s.9 will be rolled out nationally until late 2005".
http://www.asylumpolicyinfo/iapnewsdecember.doc
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