Letter to my Mp

 

FOR THE ATTENTION OF:

Joanne McCartney AM Enfield and Haringey

Thursday 17 October 2013

from Adrian Hawkes

 

Dear Mp Joanne McCartney

Re: Mp Theresa May crazy ideas (i.e. – No nhs or banks for asylum seekers)

I note with some dismay some of the new legislation with regards to immigration / refugees and asylum seeker that the current government proposes. Is it a response to a perceived danger that is far from real?

Do we not want to live in a country that cares for people who are in danger, have been persecuted have been attacked for whatever reason, so that having run away we then continue to make their life difficult, why would we want to do that?

I know there is a lot of press hype about immigration but does that mean it’s correct, or that the government should responded to the ‘feelings’ rather than the facts?

The facts are:

• There are around 15.4 million refugees in the world

• There are an estimated 28.8 million ‘internally displaced people’, those who have left
their home but have not crossed an international border (UNHCR, Global Trends 2012 ).A family of Sri Lankan asylum seekers

• There were an estimated 193,510 refugees in the UK at the start of 2012

• that’s just 0.33% of the UK population.

• 48% of refugees are women, whilst 46% are under the age of 18.

• The number of applications for asylum, including dependants, was 27,410 in 2012

Are these figures that are so dangerous to us?
And of course there is all the jobs and money that these people cost:

• Many other asylum applications in recent years have been from people from Afghanistan, Congo, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, China, Sudan and Zimbabwe

 

• These countries have either recently experienced conflict or have well-documented human rights abuses (UNHCR, 2009).

• A single adult asylum seeker receives £36.62 a week – that’s just £5.23 per day

• Asylum seekers cannot claim mainstream benefits.

• A single unemployed UK citizen of the same age would receive £67.50, plus other benefits they may be able to receive.

• Asylum seekers do not qualify for council housing tenancy or housing benefit.

• Asylum seekers do not have permission to work in the UK.

(Home Office, Asylum Support)

Am I delighted about the new rules, actually for me NO. Then I always was suspicious about the hype.

Ask yourself:

• If my family were in danger of death or they could run to another country what would I do?

• If my children were in danger of death or starvation or torture but I found a way to send them out of danger what would I do?

• If my family was living in terrible conditions but a way out was seen what would I do?

Yours Sincerely,

Adrian Hawkes
(Director of Phoenix Community Care)

p.s. – The value of life does not change if they are poor or rich. The value of life does not look at nationality. People are people and kids are kids. Would you deny them nhs, food and warmth?