Cloaks of invisibility...

My Sixth Form isn't perfect, though I'm sure no institution can be characterised as such. One of the perks though, is that Wednesday afternoons are folded down for 'Enrichment', a two hour period of extra-curricular activities, such as Sports Society, DofE, Creative Writing, or Amnesty International among others. However, for me and three others, we were invited to St Chad's sanctuary in Birmingham, a charity centre for refugees and asylum seekers, not only to drop off clothing and toiletry donations, but also to learn more about the charity's work and the struggles of claiming asylum in the UK. I can say with great certainty, that it was the most enriching of all Wednesday afternoons.

10 years ago, Sister Margaret established St Chad's after seeing the long queue outside a Youth Hostel, one which has since closed. The centre now operates next to St Chad’s Catholic Church, and whilst there is a clear affiliation between the institutions, support to refugees and asylum seekers is granted irrespective of faith (or lack thereof). The volunteers there, of which there are over 130, are all dedicated servants to social justice who are motivated by either their faith, past experiences, or a sheer desire to help those who so desperately need it.

I could easily commend the efforts and enthusiasm of the volunteers for many more paragraphs but I would like to highlight some of the challenges asylum seekers face when entering the UK, and how St Chad’s and many other sanctuaries work to help these people.

The most common nationalities who enter St Chad’s are Iraqi, Iranian, and Eritrean, with Afghan’s also high on the list. Not economic migrants, it’s worth noting, but individuals who have fled their homeland because their life is in danger. Eritrea in particular is an interesting case. A secretive regime, our wonderful guide Abbie admitted she hadn’t heard of prior to working at St Chad’s. Led by the dictator Isaias Afwerki, I only knew of the country for its totalitarianism and it’s Ethiopian border dispute - something which appears to have temporarily simmered down in recent years. 

These migrants travel sometimes through several countries, risking their lives to reach the UK. And once they reach border security and seek asylum, the dangers remain.

Documentation is the backbone of Home Office bureaucracy, but for those who have had their documents stolen, burned or sold en route, they are left stranded. Sometimes, individuals lacked any data whatsoever, information simply not being recorded in their country of origin, leading to - as Abbie explained - a large amount of asylum seekers with a date of birth given as the 1st of January on Home Office databases.

If they are granted temporary asylum, they are then provided with accommodation, though these may be worn-down hostels with terrible facilities due to overcrowding. They are also given an allowance in order to sustain themselves, though the budgeting and sacrificing required makes even this a challenge. On £37.50 a week, the refugees live on £5 a day or thereabouts, with which they need to feed themselves and travel. With all day bus tickets costing in the region of £4, it is known that some refugees walk up to 5 miles to get to St Chad's knowing full well, that a 5 mile return journey awaits. It also partially explains why some refugee children, despite being older than a pram or buggy's intended age range, continue to use it. This is why St Chad's offers not only long-life food but also clothing for people of all ages. This is vital when you consider the lack of budget these refugees have for clothes, and also the reality that many asylum seekers travel to the UK with little more than the clothes they are wearing, which in a British Winter poses many challenges in and of itself.

St Chad's not only offers tangible goods, but it also offers classes in English, often integrating language learning with other subjects such as sport - thanks to partnerships with Aston Villa - and Art classes led by volunteers. Integration is a complex issue, both socially and politically, but by integrating language learning with other hobbies and interests, the issue is far less contestable.

But St Chad's rely on donations, and this is a problem. Abbie disclosed to us that, in the interests of honesty, she has clearly outlined to prospective donors that the Sanctuary focuses it's efforts on supporting asylum seekers and refugees. And that upon hearing this, many people have put down the phone or changed their mind by deciding to donate to a homeless charity or food bank instead. Not only that, but it costs the Sanctuary £300 a day to operate in their building, and that the centre only currently has the capital to sustain operations into the autumn of next year.

This reflects a growing trend of the last few years. Sanctuaries and centres such as St Chad's are dying out, replaced in the charity appeal 'market'* by food banks and homeless charities. They are also not aided by what appears to be a burgeoning stigma against refugees and migrants in general. Abbie said at the end of our tour, that she hoped we would be able to combat disinformation about asylum seekers and refugees, even if it was only on a small scale. Hopefully, this article has helped to do that.

Let's conclude this article with two quick fire facts:

•  Asylum seekers are not economic migrants, and certainly not 'coming over here to steal (y)our jobs'. 

Firstly because the Home Office has a legal definition for each term, and also because it is illegal for any asylum seeker to gain employment until their application is accepted, something which is very difficult to achieve, as we have discussed. 

Irrespective of your political affiliation or opinions, there is clear consensus that the current system isn't fit for purpose, not least because the Home Office simply isn't able to deal with the volume of cases it faces and deals with. This is all the more remarkable considering the relatively low number of migrants the UK takes in relative to other countries.  Rather than attempting to meet the government target of dealing with each individual case within 6 months, the target was instead scrapped, leaving civil servants and asylum claimants in limbo for a prolonged period of time. In one exceptional case, Abbie said she'd been working with a claimant for the last 9 years - since St Chad's opened.

It is also not helped by the fact that refugees are not eligible to vote, meaning that political parties have no incentive to take the issue seriously. Even the Labour Party has become decidedly more sceptical of freedom of movement since the haemorrhaging of votes to UKIP in 2015. I'm not for any moment suggesting that refugees should be eligible to vote - such a move would be unprecedented across the world and such a system is open to abuse. But, without serious meaningful reform of not just the system, but also people's understanding of asylum seekers and their background, the status quo will continue, and the cloaks of invisibility will continue to hide the suffering of those who have already fled war and murder in their homeland.

Many thanks to not just Abbie, but all the volunteers at St Chad's who made our visit so welcoming and informative.

* - I acknowledge that market is an incredibly inhumane way to describe it, but the competition between charities is fierce enough to replicate a commodities market. This in and of itself, can be seen as an indictment of the status quo.