ASYLUM VOICE
Asylum Voice - a Campaign of Liverpool asylum seekers, undocumented workers and activists together.
"We have been persuaded by the evidence that the Government has indeed been practising a deliberate policy of destitution of this highly vulnerable group. We believe that the deliberate use of inhumane treatment is unacceptable. " -From a report on the treatment of Asylum Seekers by the Joint Committee on Human Rights of the British Parliament March 2007.
So, a parliamentary committee concludes that the Government has a deliberate practice and policy of forcing people into destitution. This is unacceptable!
We demand justice, equality and human rights for all including all undocumented workers.
Press lies about asylum seekers
Asylum Voice - a Campaign of Liverpool asylum seekers, undocumented workers and activists together.
"We have been persuaded by the evidence that the Government has indeed been practising a deliberate policy of destitution of this highly vulnerable group. We believe that the deliberate use of inhumane treatment is unacceptable. " -From a report on the treatment of Asylum Seekers by the Joint Committee on Human Rights of the British Parliament March 2007.
So, a parliamentary committee concludes that the Government has a deliberate practice and policy of forcing people into destitution. This is unacceptable!
We demand justice, equality and human rights for all including all undocumented workers.
Press lies about asylum seekers
1 They are swamping the UK
No. After years of anti-asylum press stories, British people believe that the UK has 23 per cent of the world’s refugees. The real figure is below 2%. Those claiming asylum have reduced significantly.
2 They abuse the welfare system
No. We get £40 per week, 30% below the poverty line. Many of us get no money at all, we live on vouchers and many do not even get vouchers.
3 They get our housing
No. We are forced to live in sub-standard accommodation run by private companies contracted by the Home Office.
4 They are draining the resources of our NHS
No. We do not have the right to proper health care. Yet migrants have made a massive contribution to the NHS. Today, 23% of doctors and 47% of nurses were born outside of the UK.
5 They are taking our jobs
No. We do not have the right to work. Many of us are destitute and are forced to work for less than the minimum wage. The UK’s working population is declining and health and education need more staff.
We are all Immigrants
Britain is a country of immigrants and each new wave of immigrants, going back centuries, faced similar problems of discrimination and racism. The Chinese, Irish, African Caribbean, Indian and many others suffered in the same way.
We ask that the trade unions and community organisations support undocumented workers. It is not for pity but for solidarity. An injury to one is an injury to all - no matter country we were born in. A worker has the right to work, denying people the right to work is an injury to all. To fight employers lowering wages and conditions all workers should have the right to work and rights at work.
We are Here Because You are There
We came to Britain from Iraq, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. All countries that are either occupied by British troops to support Bush and/or the British & European multi-nationals are there to exploit that country for profit alone.
The British Government has a history of helping oppressive regimes. This Government knows these are unsafe countries, yet these are the countries that we asylum seekers regularly get sent back to.
The following was said about Ethiopia in a recent National Union of Teachers meeting in Liverpool.
“In Ethiopia there are no rights of: association, assembly, free press, free education.”
“Yet the Ethiopian government that supports Bush and Blair’s ‘war on terror’ receives aid from the West every year.”
“The opposition as a result is repressed and human rights advocates and trade unionists languish in jail not because they committed a crime, but because they spoke the truth and stood firm against the injustices being perpetrated in their country. The same happens with Nigeria, Zimbabwe and other oppressive regimes.”
What’s really happening?
· We suffer dawn raids which are the official ‘kidnapping’ and disappearance of immigrants.
· Forced destitution – a deliberate policy
· Forced detention including that of children
· An apartheid benefit system and health care system
· No right to work, No right to travel, No Rights
Support & Campaign
Immigration controls are unjust and racist laws
Support the fight for justice
We call for Solidarity not Pity
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c/o Asylum Link Merseyside, 7 Overbury Street, Liverpool, L7 3HJ, asylumvoice@yahoo.co.uk
