Stop segregation and criminalisation of people seeking asylum
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Published by Professional Social Work Magazine
After four more deaths in the Channel this week and a major government announcement on immigration, PSW talks to a social worker at the heart of the crisis...
The British asylum system is in meltdown, with calls this week for Home Secretary Suella Braverman to resign following the latest tragedy in which four people drowned off the Kent coast.
The incident came just days after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a five-point plan to curb immigration, with a pledge to clear the backlog of 143,377 unprocessed claims by the end of 2023.
Almost 45,000 migrants have made the dangerous crossing across the Channel in small boats so far this year. Nearly 1,000 came in one day alone in November.
The Home Secretary recently welcomed recommendations in a centre-right think-tank report which propose a ban on migrants using illegal routes from ever settling in Britain.
The report advocates "indefinite detention" and "rapid offshoring" to Rwanda or other countries, stating that "if necessary" Britain should withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, and that all future grants of asylum should only be made through official resettlement routes and capped at 20,000 a year.
All this comes in the wake of the new Nationality and Borders Act, introduced earlier this year, which means those seeking asylum via “irregular means” receive less protection and support.
Naomi Jackson, development lead at Social Workers Without Borders, believes the increased segregation and criminalisation of people seeking asylum must be challenged and their human rights protected.
“The whole system is so broken,” she says, “and one of the fundamental issues is increased hostility towards and criminalisation of people seeking asylum, now the Borders Act is in force.
“Only one per cent of the world's refugees can seek safety through a resettlement scheme. That means 99 per cent of people who might need to seek safety in the UK are being criminalised and denied their rights as refugees."
New offshoring policies and accelerated deportations also pose additional risks to the rights of those seeking asylum, Naomi says.
“Even beyond the offshoring, we're having these quick deportations now, to Albania. There is a policy to turn them around and send them back.
“We welcome the Home Office’s assurance that they are working to speed up decisions on asylum claims and clear the backlog of cases, however that cannot be at the expense of a fair and thorough decision-making process that keeps people’s needs, rights and entitlements at the heart of every decision.
“Access to justice is a cornerstone of our democracy and is not something that should be diluted. We oppose current rhetoric about scrapping the European Human Rights Convention and are concerned about the Government’s plans to replace the Human Rights Act with an alternative British Bill of Rights.”
Changes to the age assessment process also threaten the rights of unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the UK, Naomi claims.
A new National Age Assessment Board is currently recruiting social workers to work for the Home Office to carry-out age assessments.
There are fears children will be wrongly identified as adults, denying them access to education, safeguarding, and support. For social workers there is the additional issue of being part of a system that actually puts children at risk.
Naomi said: “The creation of the National Age Assessment Board is something that should really be ringing alarm bells for us as a profession. There’s a dual purpose now to age assessments where some are done at the request of a local authority for safeguarding purposes and the Home Office can also direct social workers to do an age assessment just for immigration purposes.
“This can then override local authority social worker decisions about a person’s age.
"The NAAB sets a worrying precedent of providing unaccompanied children social work intervention outside of local authority services and setting them apart from the support provided to British children. It also undermines the professional identity of the social worker, because if we are doing assessments that are not for safeguarding purposes, what even is a social worker now?”
Naomi also has concerns for the thousands of unaccompanied children at increased risk of exploitation, trafficking, mental health crisis, and neglect because of the government's failure to adequately safeguard them.
Another alarming development has been a government move to place asylum-seeking children outside the scope of the Children Act 1989.
Naomi said: “Again, there should be massive alarm bells for social workers If a core principle for children and families social work goes out the window for one group of children, what are the implications?
“Once we deny the rights of one set of children, where does it stop?”
Volunteering with Social Workers Without Borders is one way social workers can protect the identity of the social work profession, and keep core values at the centre of practice.
Naomi said: “A lot of our volunteers say that volunteering with us is sustaining because they're practicing social work that actually aligns with what they think it is to be a social worker.”
To enquire about volunteering or any of the services provided by SWWB email info@socialworkerswithoutborders.org
Immigration Five Point Plan
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak outlined the following policies, described by the Refugee Council as "deeply disturbing", in the Commons this week:
Small Boats Command - a new 700-strong unit will monitor Channel crossings, involving the National Crime Agency, military personnel and new officials.
Enforcement - immigration officers will step up raiding illegal business premises. The policy to deport people to Rwanda will be restarted. Objective evidence will be needed for modern slavery claims. There will be a government crackdown on bank accounts for migrants.
No more hotels - accommodation for asylum seekers will move to disused holiday parks, surplus military sites and empty university halls of residence.
More caseworkers - the number will double, in order to clear the backlog by tripling productivity - with fewer interviews and less paperwork
Albania policy - border officials will be based at Tirana airport and guidance for 400 new specialist caseworkers spells out that Albania is a 'safe country' to accelarate rejecting claims.