This was our submission to the Inquiry and was carefully brought into being by Mike and informed by submissions from Margaret, Adil, Nadia, Claire, Mark, Becky and Ailsa.
This is shared on our website after submission to the Inquiry 3/12/2025
Many sanctuary seekers we have welcomed may have arrived as strangers, but became first guests, then friends who have enriched our lives. We owe them a great debt of gratitude
Contents
HBTSR’s experience
Routes of Settlement
Case studies of delay, uncertainty and its effects
Welcome Days
Schools of Sanctuary
Hardship Fund
Legal assistance and accompaniment
Appendices:
1View of HBTSR partner, drop-in centre
2View of A, HBTSR member and Trustee, himself a refugee from Malawi
3 Experience of HBTSR member N, an EU citizen
4 HBTSR Hardship Fund
5 Organisations supporting HBTSR’s activities
6 Case studies of delay, uncertainty and its effects
The Inquiry was launched ‘to understand how well the Government’s proposals will help them achieve their goals for immigration and their broader policy aims’.
HBTSR’s experience is predominantly with people seeking sanctuary, especially those currently living in Swansea and Newport; and, with our own communities in rural southern Powys, how they have provided welcome and support for sanctuary seekers, and what they have learned from these guests and the difficulties they confront to become secure, settled, integrated and contributing members of the wider society.
We were established in September 2015 to welcome people seeking sanctuary, raise funds to help them and to encourage our political representatives to put policies in place for a kind and fair immigration system. We now have 505 members who receive our newsletters and 1,300 followers on FaceBook.
HBTSR is supported by a wide range of local organisations, listed in Appendix 5.
We have included at the end of this report appendices containing specific experiences and evidence.
Routes of Settlement
Our experience, and therefore our evidence, mainly concerns people who have already reached the UK from elsewhere, via a variety of routes and programmes, and from a Babel tower of countries and communities across the world. What they share is that all are seeking sanctuary: a safe place to live for themselves and their families.
For the great majority their route of settlement did not terminate with their arrival in the UK, but has continued long afterwards, as they struggled with delays, difficulties and anxiety. Now they face the prospect that even when they obtain the ‘right to remain’, that right will be provisional and temporary.
We hear from them harrowing stories of the dangers they have fled, their grief on having to leave their homes, and the often extreme dangers of their journeys. But our direct experience is of the difficulties they confront on arrival. Every day thousands of tourists and travellers arrive at British airports to be greeted by signs welcoming them not to a country, but to ‘the UK Border’. Sanctuary seekers who manage to cross this daunting border face a far greater barrier: the route to ‘settlement’ in a country which they hope to make their home.
The declared policy of successive UK governments including the present one has been to reduce immigration. To do this they try to make it harder for immigrants to arrive, harder for them to stay and easier for them to leave or be expelled. The ‘hostile environment’ announced by the government in 2012 was merely an emotive description of a raft of policies which continue to be announced and implemented today.
The deliberate and inhumane effects of such policies include: making the lives of those who have already arrived more miserable; restricting in various ways their access to housing, education, public and health services; curtailing their freedom of movement; confining them to unsuitable locations (hotels, barracks, the Bibby Stockholm); denying them the right to work; making it harder for them to integrate into host communities while simultaneously accusing them of failure to integrate; and attempting or carrying out forced removal.
Perhaps most damaging of all has been the trend for political leaders to designate sanctuary seekers as ‘other’, ‘the problem’, ‘strangers’ and worse, claiming that they are ‘tearing our country apart’, and thus arousing groundless or greatly exaggerated fear in the British public, and leading inexorably to extremist actions such as arson attacks on migrant accommodation and violence in the street. Our own members and friends report that this hostility now affects not only sanctuary seekers but all people whose appearance, dress or culture identify them as different.
Yet, how different it might be and has been. Some of us remember and were involved with the Chilean Refugee resettlement programmes of the 1970s, which included scholarships to study at UK universities. The daughter of one of those refugees, Rocio Cifuentes, is today the Children’s Commissioner for Wales. More recently, the UK programmes for Syrian and then Ukrainian Refugees have given immediate permission to work. What a difference this makes. One Ukrainian family in our area, who remain active in HBTSR, have rapidly established a highly successful food business and had stalls in the Hay Literary and Abergavenny Food Festivals.
Case studies of delay, uncertainty and its effects
Appendix 6 contains some harrowing case studies, all based on sanctuary seekers known to and helped by HBTSR. These cases demonstrate:
*Stress and unfamiliarity mean that applicants make poor decisions at interview.
*Applicants suffering from trauma may not recall or may be unable to speak of many details of their experience at the time of their interview, leading the Home Office to deem them an unreliable witness if they bring them forward later.
*Lack of understanding of the initial interview process, lack of support and advice, and the unavailability of legal aid solicitors contribute to prolonged processes, costly to the Home Office and cause confusion, anxiety and depression in applicants.
*Extreme stress and fear lead to panic and, in this sad case, death.
* Delay and prolonged processes lead to anxiety, depression and, in this case, suicide.
* Delay and stress cause depression that may make it hard to resume work.
* Uncertainty about right to remain and length of stay make it hard to sustain work.
* Short-term right to remain makes employers reluctant to hire.
* Uncertainty about right to remain and length of stay make it hard to sustain work.
* Many sanctuary seekers are anxious to work and are demoralised by being forced to rely on charity or benefits.
* Delays and uncertainties will encourage or force some skilled professionals to leave.
* Those who benefit from achieving refugee status rapidly are able to find work and settle more easily.
* Even after obtaining refugee status, many will take time to adjust and feel safe and to find work and study. New restrictions and uncertainties will add to their anxiety.
Welcome Days
Living in a large, predominantly rural area, HBTSR decided to focus on providing respite Welcome Days for guests who are sanctuary seekers in the nearby cities of Swansea and Newport. In the 10 years since then we have held at least 98 welcome days (with a gap during the Covid pandemic) and many smaller visits, in 16 towns, villages and local centres, including Brecon, Talgarth, Hay-on-Wye, Cradoc, Talybont on Usk, Llangynidr, Llanbedr, Llangattock, Llangorse, Llwyn Celyn, Bronllys, Clyro, Penpont, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Visitor Centre as Libanus, Craig y Nos Country Park, Hay Literary Festival and others. These have each typically welcomed as guests between 30 and 100 sanctuary seekers for a day of welcome, respite, recreation and enjoyment. So we estimate that the total number of guests at more than 5,000. It is not unusual for more than 100 local residents to contribute to and attend the Welcome Day.
As well as the larger Welcome Days, we have held many events for smaller groups: for unaccompanied asylum seeking children, for women’s groups, for young people. We have welcomed and worked with first Syrian refugees, and later the Ukrainians, for whom the UK government established special programmes and who were given the right to work immediately. We make no distinctions and the various distinct refugee communities often work and share together.
Our own local communities have provided the welcome, food, sport and leisure and entertainment for adults and children. Primary and secondary schools, pubs, restaurants, shops, food businesses, Brecon Cathedral, churches and chapels, women’s institutes, rotary clubs, sports clubs, scouts, artists, crafts people, writers, musicians, therapists have all contributed and taken part, along with hundreds of local families. Local mayors, councillors, clergy and MPs have all taken part. The individuals involved have accompanied our guests, learned something of their experiences and needs and provided warm welcome and friendship. Many of our members comment how much the experience has been welcomed in turn by their communities and has helped to enrich them.
Many sanctuary seekers we have welcomed may have arrived as strangers, but became first guests, then friends who have helped to enrich our lives. We owe them a great debt of gratitude.
Among the things we observe and learn from our guests are:
*The trauma many have suffered when they were forced to leave home, be separated from wider family and endure dangerous journeys to reach the UK
* The enormous insecurity affecting all concerning their future
* The delays, illogical processes of application and appeal
* The demands for evidence and documents they may not possess or be able to access
* The frequent loss of applicants’ documents by the Home Office
* The difficulty of accessing legal advice and Legal Aid
* The demoralising effects of being denied the right to work
* The fear of many that they may be detained, taken to an Immigration Removal Centre and potentially deported
* The isolation induced by the inability to pay for transport, even by bus to different parts of the same town or city
* The vastly more beneficial effects of the special programmes for refugees from Syria and Ukraine, allowing refugees to work, speeding their integration, allowing many to swiftly achieve economic independence and contribute fully to UK society
* Despite the severe trauma many of our guests have suffered, they are able to appreciate and join in activities with apparent enthusiasm and we receive overwhelmingly positive feedback from them about the value of these days for their psychological wellbeing.
Schools of Sanctuary
HBTSR is one of over 100 local groups affiliated to City of Sanctuary UK. We have worked with them to support local schools to be awarded School of Sanctuary status. Currently 5 local primary schools and 1 secondary are Schools of Sanctuary.
In addition we have supported Powys to become a County of Sanctuary.
Hardship Fund
The HBTSR Hardship Fund was established in 2017, in the group’s second year. It has a board of advisors able to reach decisions quickly. Most grants are made within one week of application. All applications come via the refugee drop-in centres in Swansea and Newport, who are best placed to help us establish priorities. At several times HBTSR has forwarded larger amounts to these groups to create their own funds for Shoes; Travel; a Feminine Hygiene fund; and a ‘Moving On’ fund for those moving from supported to rental accommodation; we also have a legal assistance fund.
HBTSR has also helped obtain cheap laptops to help students and language learners, and helped to establish a substantial bicycle refurbishment scheme in Newport, collecting more than 100 donated cycle in the last 3 years and at the start arranging teaching sessions to allow the leaders of the scheme to become experts in cycle repair. In addition we have held many Bike maintenance days in collaboration with a local cycle shop who have also helped with supply of locks, helmets and parts. Bicycles are more than just a free source of transport : they offer freedom, mood enhancing exercise and integration.
Analysis of the applications shows the following requests reported to the Hardship Fund, indicative of needs unmet by government provision:
*Travel costs, especially bus passes to school or college, for refugees living dispersed across a large urban area
*Travel costs of anyone accompanying nervous applicants to courts, tribunals and to visit legal advisors in other, often distant cities from which the applicants had had to move
*Costs for courses and equipment for those hoping to gain employment
* Costs for legal expenses
* Eye tests and spectacles. *Winter shoes *Sports courses and equipment to enable younger people to participate in sport in their city.
Legal assistance and accompaniment
HBTSR established a panel of volunteers who, on request, accompany sanctuary seekers to tribunals where their asylum or right to remain cases are considered. We cannot speak or intervene, but our supportive presence is much appreciated by the applicants and sometimes noticed favourably by tribunal judges. Some of the points and issues that emerge at these hearings include:
*Delays: many people have been waiting years, some up to 10 years, for a resolution. Living with constant uncertainty inevitably has an impact on their stress levels.
*Evidence: at the substantive interview with the Home Office applicants are not aware of the type and level of evidence required and are not given support. Inevitably they are stressed having left their country of origin and survived difficult journeys.
*Cases dismissed: if the Home Office dismisses the case without any option of appeal then a fresh claim has to be put together. Dismissing cases in this way may appear to speed up the process for the Home Office, but leads to further case load and duplication of work.
*Cost of expert witnesses: to proceed with a fresh claim an Expert Witness report is often needed. This can cost hundreds of pounds for the asylum seeker, unless they get legal aid (see below), which covers the expert’s fee.
*Legal aid has been made ‘available’ by government and they have increased the allowable fee slightly but there are not enough solicitors to do the work. These face unrealistic caseloads and often do the minimum amount of work.
*Lack of legal help: Our experience over the past 10 years is that fewer people now have access to legal help. One of the Swansea drop-in centres is trying to fill the gap: it works closely with asylum seekers to help them prepare their cases and to be as clear as possible about their narrative. This involves detailed questioning as to produce a clear, written timeline of events that they can take into court. There has been an increase in positive outcomes following this initiative.
*Benefit of better advice: if there could be clear and properly funded and resourced cooperation between legal services and charities, it would improve interview and court hearings and drastically reduce the amount of time spent on cases and the cost of accommodation for those whose cases are pending.
*New evidence Catch 22: When the Home Office dismisses a case and a fresh claim is made this can then be dismissed on the basis that the new evidence wasn’t presented originally.
*Interpreters: Many countries have several languages and the choice of language for the hearing can be determined by the availability of an interpreter rather than the claimant’s first or preferred language. Inability to speak in the language ‘offered’ has sometimes been used as evidence against the asylum seeker, while speaking in a language in which they are not fluent may lead to poor or incorrect presentation of evidence.
One case example. An asylum seeker was forced to leave his homeland having suffered and still suffering from threats against his life, some originating from his mother, a powerful political figure in his society. He was asked at his substantive interview if his mother had influence? He replied ‘no’ as he understood the question to be whether she was ill with influenza and the case was dismissed.
Following much additional work and the help of an expert witness, a fresh claim was made. This was dismissed because it was different from the first interview and deemed ‘not credible’. The court documents were taken to a barrister for advice. He was so shocked by it that he offered to act pro bono and to find a solicitor , also pro bono.
APPENDICES
1 View of an HBTSR partner drop-in centre.
Indefinite Leave to Remain proposals. The Home Office currently struggles to competently and efficiently process 2 visas for refugees – the initial 5 year visas, followed by an application for ILR. The proposal to only issue visas for 2.5 years means that Home Office workload could quadruple as they will now need to process 8 visas, presumably at great expense to the taxpayer. In addition, the short term nature of the visa will make it even more challenging for refugees to find and maintain work, or a private rental tenancy- this decision could also inadvertently increase our benefits bill. In addition, creating permanent insecure status for people living in and contributing to our communities will cause additional damage to our social fabric of our country, already harmed by the divisive Brexit referendum. We believe this insecurity will be hugely damaging to community cohesion, leading to increased workloads for our police and other statutory services. We would propose 2 x5 years visas, followed by ILR for 10 years, and then Citizenship after 20 years with competency in English required – in most cases. We believe this will address concerns but also be fair and enable refugees to contribute and participate in life in their new home.
2 View of A, HBTSR member and Trustee, himself a refugee from Malawi.
I can relate from my personal experience arriving in the UK as a refugee from Malawi in October 1973.
*I was only 16 years of age, when my parents were asked to leave Malawi immediately due to the political upheaval in East/ Central Africa at the time (ref: Idi Amin and Uganda exodus).
*Although I was a Malawi citizen by birth, I had to leave my country of birth with no other viable options due to my age.
*Stricter UK immigration requirements would have meant the family unit breaking up and not supported in a hostile home country, where persecution of minority groups was rife.
*My mother, who spoke no English, but five other languages, would have had great difficulty settling down in the UK, and adjusting without us helping her with the language barriers etc.
*We all took on part time jobs to survive and provided financial stability without relying on state handouts.
*The personal impact should not be underestimated. We worked together as a family, finding schools, support services such as doctors/ dentists and support services we needed to survive.
*As part of this family team work we were able to link with organisations and individuals that became our long term friends and partners.
*If the eligibility criteria is changed from what we experienced back in 1973, then there will be a negative impact on the desire to learn and integrate into British society, and also to contribute to the richness and diversity of the local community.
*A stable and long term future will enhance the desire to make the UK a permanent home, and contribute to the enhancement of local services. For example my mother helped look after a young single immigrant mother who had just given birth to a young girl, and had no one to help her through the difficult period in her life.
*Without my mothers mentoring and support, the young girl would have been abandoned in a strange country with little or no support, and could have suffered from long lasting trauma.
*My brother has gone on to become a renowned paediatric specialist and earned his OBE for services to this country based on this initial experience on wanting to make UK our permanent place of residence and contribute to the British society. I had a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry and have represented England and Wales in over 60s cricket teams.
*Any “limbo” status of residency will affect this drive to become part of the community and make positive contributions, and becoming an integral part of the community.
Examples of refugees and asylum seekers who are making significant contributions to making UK diverse and inclusive include:
*Michael Marks: a Polish Jew who migrated to the UK in the 1880s and went on to found Marks & Spencer.
*At least 18 refugees have gone on to become Nobel Laureates
*Freddie Mercury: the lead singer for Queen came from Zanzibar
*Sir Mo Farah: a world class athlete and a refugee from Somalia
Refugees contribute to the UK economy in multiple ways, particularly in filling labour shortages and *through their work.
· Economic Impact:
A London School of Economics report suggests that every refugee accepted into the UK would contribute over £260,000 to the UK economy over 12.5 years, if key policy changes expediting their integration were adopted. These benefits come from taxes, increased consumer spending, and reduced state-funded accommodation costs.
· Public Services: Many highly qualified refugees are eager to work in public services.
NHS: There are over 1,000 medically qualified refugees on the British Medical Association’s database; supporting a refugee doctor to practice in the UK costs significantly less than training a new doctor from scratch (£2,500 vs. £250,000).
Current Barriers to Maximizing Contributions
Despite their potential, many refugees face significant barriers to employment and full integration.
Right to Work: Asylum seekers are generally banned from working while awaiting a decision on their claim, a process that can take years.
Qualification Recognition: Difficulties in getting foreign qualifications recognised in the UK prevent many highly skilled refugees (e.g., teachers, engineers, doctors) from working in their professions.
Organisations like the Refugee Council and Refugee Action advocate for policy changes, such as lifting the ban on working, to allow refugees to become self-sufficient sooner and contribute more effectively to society.
3 Experience of HBTSR member N, an EU citizen.
An example of how making it easy to gain a secure integration status can further integration, help immigrants make positive contributions and most of all secure their emotional attachment to their host country and its society.
I would like to outline my experience of how an easy process to gain settled status as an EU citizen in 2020 has improved my integration into UK society.
My experience is clearly different from what UK residents applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain face now – whether they come to the UK as people seeking sanctuary or arrive with work visas. I would like to point out how an easy process and a welcoming climate have helped me to feel able to contribute meaningfully to the community I live in. I would also like to add anecdotal evidence that a constant climate of insecurity can drive people away that would be a benefit for the country.
I came to the UK in 2015 as an EU citizen, so a year before the Brexit vote, due to my husband taking up a qualified position in a UK based company relying on the specialist skills of their largely international workforce. I myself also quickly found qualified work in a qualified field.
During the Brexit negotiation process, there was a constantly increasing worry of how the requirements and the process to secure our immigration status would turn out. Even though it was relatively clear that the government had no intention of making it hard on EU citizens to secure their legal status, it was very unsettling not to know which of the many ideas flying about would be put into action.
During this period of insecurity, a lot of my husband’s qualified colleagues did not want to live with this kind of insecurity and felt generally unwelcome. So they returned to their EU countries voluntarily. The worry about whether or not they would be able to continue to stay paired with the growing climate of open hostility that some communities of EU citizens faced, was not something they felt comfortable with in the long run. So the UK has certainly already lost valuable specialist workforce due to this period of insecurity.
When it finally emerged that the requirement for gaining EU settled status would be a relatively easy online application free of charge, my husband and I were very relieved once the required period of having lived in the UK for 5 years was over. At that point, we had already fulfilled this. In general, the process was easy and the decision came quite promptly. And while I understand why language requirements in this context make sense, the EU settled status application did not include any.
The settled status we enjoy gives us nearly equal rights to UK citizens, including being able to vote in local and regional elections, being eligible for access to the NHS and benefits, should we ever need them.
All this has been a stable basis for us leading a secure life in the UK since our successful application. We are closely connected to our community with ties to friends and neighbours and are happy in our careers. We pay taxes, follow UK politics closely, vote in local and regional elections and volunteer for charities to give back to the society. We are working towards buying a house and I am planning to apply for UK citizenship. Overall, we see our future here and feel very much at home.
This would certainly have been different if gaining Indefinite Leave to Remain/EU settled status had been more difficult or we had had to wait longer before being able to apply.
The most important point is that ease of the process gave us the feeling that our contribution to the society of our host country is valued.
4 HBTSR Hardship Fund
The HBTSR Hardship Fund was established in 2017, in the group’s second year. It has a board of advisors able to reach decisions quickly. Most grants are made within one week of application. While a few come from individuals, most applications are forwarded by the refugee drop-in centres in Swansea and Newport. At several times HBTSR has forwarded larger amounts to these groups to create their own funds for Shoes, Travel, a Feminine Hygiene fund and a ‘moving on fund’ for those moving from supported to rental accommodation.
HBTSR has also helped obtain cheap laptops to help students and language learners, and backed a substantial bicycle scheme, collecting more than 100 donated cycles, repairing them and supplying with locks and helmets, in collaboration with local cycle shops.
Detail of payments 2024 – 2019
2024 Feb £200 To help clear a debt to allow recipient to stop worrying and make
progress
Mar £850 To clear 2 families debts and to buy an oven
May £300 A specialist course to enhance job opportunities for person soon to
graduate in IT.Money was donated anonymously via a third party in
order to reduce risk of a rush of similar requests
Aug £570 For a Massage course at Ty Coch and ebike repair for a disabled man
2023 Feb £45 Bus pass for child
Feb Bus fare for vulnerable man
Feb Football kit for 1
Apr £140 Train fares for Ukrainian family
Jun £50 Cash plus a bag of groceries for a woman moved from Swansea, whose
Aspen debit card was not renewed for more than 3 weeks
Jun £41 Registration and kit for young footballer (club waived weekly
subscriptions)
Jul £135 Birth project run by a member
Sep Face paints and left-handed scissors for an asylum childcare group
Sep £245 Kit required for a catering course
Sep £350 Bus pass for travel to College
2022 Feb £100 Subsistence whilst studying and delay in submitting leave to remain
form
Walking boots & jacket
Feb £250 Goods to replace stolen items
Apr £200 Removal expenses for 3 families (able to use same transport)
May £600 Two Swansea Groups & R. Help with safe house £600
May £200 Goal-posts for sports group
May £400 On-line accountancy course
May £400 BSL course
May £80 Special spectacles
Jun £245 Football boots/socks/shin pads
Jun £40 Two shopping trollies
Jul New sheets and towels for residents in housing association flat
Aug £250 Help for Syrian family to move house
Aug £250 New football kit
Aug £500 Help family to pay and retain trusted solicitor
Sep £300 Major dental work for Ukrainian woman. Helped sort out
access/eligibility for community dentistry
Sep £56 4 weeks travel to school for one child
Sep £150 Milk and clothing for premature baby
Sep £1,080 3 travel passes @ £360 each. Found other funding source for many
more
Oct £100 Transport cost for 2 beds
Oct £250 Funeral costs for one Ukrainian
Oct £62 Cycle helmet, lights, pump, locks for Ukrainian
Nov £185.89 Trainers for 5 people
Dec £240 Football coaching and kit for 1 promising young footballer
Dec £1,000 To SASS drop-in to establish footwear fund to buy trainers and winter
shoes for new arrivals
2021 Jan £300 For safe accommodation for children of a recent Afghan refugee lady
who were awaiting family reunion visas
Feb £250 Removal expenses
Feb £35 Eye test
Mar £155 Eye test & spectacles
Mar £440 Destitute woman awaiting support
Mar DBS check for a man who was allowed to work but was NRPF, had lost
job due to Covid and had opportunity of another but needed DBS
Mar Woman who was NRPF on a spousal visa whose husband died of
Covid-19 to tide her over
Mar New expensive diet for man recently out of hospital
Mar A new heater for man afraid to put on central heating and additional
support to help explain bills
Apr £300 Carpets for house move
Apr £300 Short-term accommodation while seeking flat
Apr £300 safe house
May Train fare to see solicitor (successful outcome)
Jun School uniforms & bus fares
Jun £300 Safe house
Jul £200 Driving lessons & test for man to help employment chances
Aug £13 Travel to see solicitor
Sep £60 Bus pass to school for 4 weeks
Oct £120 Spectacles
Oct £140 Baking course
Nov £190 IELTS exam fee
Nov £350 BSL course
Nov £100 Winter shoes for children
Nov £200 Safe house
Dec £200 Funeral expenses and family support
Dec £200 Repatriation of body
Dec £75 Football boots
2020 Jan Payments for 2 destitute people for food and essentials for several
weeks, a vacuum cleaner, replacement spectacles and transport for
disabled boy to attend school
Feb Bus fares for teenagers attending school with long journey, help with
clothing and items for family with No Recourse to Public funding, Shoes
and money for a destitute men.
Mar Weekly support for elderly couple who had support withdrawn and then
reinstated. Contribution towards tuition fees for man to kickstart career
in IT after granted status. Help with transport to tribunal for family
members, and money towards laptops for Syrian Families in Ystradgyn
Apr Shoes for 7 children
May Court fine. Digital tablet for child not in school. Medication for person
with no income and need for non-prescription items. Groceries for
household with no money.
Jun Printer cartridges, lap tops x2 help with legal fees for a citizenship
application
Jul Mobiles, tablets, clothing grants, Level 3 Beauty equipment
Aug £1,050 Laptops for students/children/language learners
Sept 7 bus passes
Sept Help for victim of domestic abuse
Oct Bus passes. Course equipment for 2. Course books for 1
Nov 1 Laptop
Dec Help with moving
2019 Various requests met, originating from individuals and from Groups
such as Swansea Asylum Seekers Support, Newport Sanctuary and
Sharetawe (a charity that helps destitute asylum seekers).
Group donation: to EYST to top up their own Hardship Fund
£600 £50 per month for fund for Nappies, Feminine Hygiene products and male toiletries administered by a volunteer in Swansea.
- 5. Organisations supporting HBTSR’s activities
A more complete list of organisations supporting HBTSR can be found on our website,
together with the names of many individuals honoured at our Annual Public Meetings. The
details are at: https://hbtsr.cityofsanctuary.org/about-us/thank-you
Our work has been recognised by a number of awards and commendations from and
cooperation with:
The High Sheriff of Powys
Hay Castle
Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority
Bwyd Powys Food
Gwernyfed Rugby Club
Talgarth Town Football Club
Penpont House
Ty Mawr Lime
Brecon Rotary Club
Brecon Town Council
Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations (PAVO)
Hay Literary Festival
Powys County Council
Hay-on-Wye Chamber of Commerce - 6. Cases of delay, uncertainty and its effects
H is an Iraqi Kurd who arrived aged 18 having been twice displaced within Iraq and sent by
people-smugglers paid for by his grandparents who subsequently are believed to have been
killed by ISIS. He had had no education in Kurdistan but rapidly taught himself English and
was able to sit GCSEs within 2 years of arrival. He subsequently sat 3 A levels [ Maths,
Chemistry and Biology] and Welsh Baccalaureate, won awards for being best student in
College and then in Wales. He was granted refugee status 3 years after arriving on the
second appeal. He is now completing an MSc in Pharmacy and has received many job
offers. Throughout this time he has volunteered with a homeless shelter and with Asylum
support groups, works as an Interpreter for Migrant Help and works as a pharmacy
technician. He has also given freely of his time to talk with schools about the importance of
education and kindness.
He is very anxious that he will have to remain as a visitor for years as he wants to
become a citizen and be able to put down roots.
S was a Sudanese man in his 20s was very stressed by his long wait for refugee status. His
older brother was in a different part of the Uk and had achieved status quite quickly with an
identical background and history. S at his initial interview was trying to be helpful had agreed
to manage without an interpreter in either Sudanese Arabic or his other indigenous
language and was therefore judged by the Home Office to not be from Sudan. He was
awaiting submission of a fresh case so was living on very little money with some support
from his brother. He was encouraged by friends to work at a car wash and on his first shift
was terrified by the arrival of the Immigration Law enforcement squad. He ran away, fell
through a fragile roof and died.
Stress and unfamiliarity mean that applicants make poor decisions at interview.
Extreme stress and fear lead to panic and, in this sad case, death.
E was an Ethiopian University lecturer who had had to flee as he had an Eritrean mother
and was suffering from severe discrimination. His case was prolonged and he became
severely depressed. He wanted to work, to be able to teach, to be a member of society. After
another refusal mainly based around debates about his nationality he took his own life.
Delay and prolonged processes lead to anxiety, depression and, in this case, suicide.
M is a university lecturer in Educational psychology from an African English speaking
background had to flee as she became involved in standing out against Female genital
mutilation and breast ironing. She was granted Refugee status within 18 months but was
distressed that it took so long and subsequently found it hard to resume work in her
profession.
Delay and stress cause depression that may make it hard to resume work
A is a Syrian doctor of 5 years standing from Aleppo. He was supported by the ‘WARD In
Wales’ scheme to be able to take the Professional Linguistics assessments and then
achieve GMC registration. This took 3 years as his progress was delayed by Covid. It took a
further year to find a suitable pre-registration job . He is unable to return to Syria as he was
threatened there for providing impartial treatment to the injured from both government forces
and ISIS. He does not need to have further insecurity of ability to work.
Uncertainty about right to remain and length of stay make it hard to sustain work.
N is a Libyan man who was granted one year leave to remain and was unable to find any
work despite good qualifications, as employers did not want to take on someone who might
not be able to work for them longer term. He applied for hundreds of jobs from manual
labourer to professional work.
Short-term right to remain makes employers reluctant to hire.
A an Iranian Christian was appalled when he was told he could not legally work until he
had refugee status. He said in his country no one had something for nothing and it was very
poor form to accept charity. He was granted refugee status after a year and is nowin full time
employment.
Many sanctuary seekers are anxious to work and are demoralised by being forced to
rely on charity or benefits.
B is an Australian citizen who moved to the Uk with her Australian son to be with her
British husband and British son. She applied for her third working visa and her son’s third
leave to remain and these documents took over 6 months to be processed. Her MP wrote 5
times to try to speed this up. During these 6 months she was unable to work as a midwife
and had to rely upon her husband and British family for support. She was so annoyed at the
way the Home Office treated her application that she has decided to return to Australia with
her family and so the UK will lose her nursing skills and her husband’s skills as an electrical
engineer.
Delays and uncertainties will encourage or force some skilled professionals to leave.
N is an Afghani Interpreter who had worked with British Forces in Afghanistan was able to
achieve refugee status within months of arrival with his wife and three daughters. He was
delighted to be able to start work in a local university and for his wife to work as a lecturer in
Information technology. She had been working until the Taliban came to power and as a
family they were delighted that their daughters would now have a future.
Those who benefit from achieving refugee status rapidly are able to find work and
settle more easily.
M is an Afghan woman who had been forced to flee when a British Council film featuring
her entrepreneurial skills was mistakenly released in Afghanistan. She was granted Refugee
status within a year but it took 4 years to obtain visas for her children and the children’s
Aunts and grandmother who had cared for them in hiding during this time. While their
applications were delayed, she became seriously depressed and was unable to work or
continue her university studies. When the family were reunited it took time for all parties to
adjust to being in a new country and with new freedoms. The proposed law changes are
very worrying to them. They are all very concerned that new restrictions will mean they
cannot ever settle.
Even after obtaining refugee status, many will take time to adjust and feel safe and to
find work and study. New restrictions and uncertainties will add to their anxiety.
Q is a herdsman from a tribal region. He chose to speak in English at interview as that is his
country’s official language. But he wasn’t sufficiently fluent in to cope with the level of Home
Office questioning – he had no idea or understanding of the process. Part of the questions
were on screen which he also wasn’t used to. He had received no legal advice or
guidance up to that point and thought he was going to have a friendly sit down, helpful chat
with someone! He left totally humiliated and bewildered. And the Home Office has not let
him forget his mistakes. They dismissed him without recourse to appeal. To date he has not
had legal advice from a Legal Aid solicitor even though he and his are able to claim Legal
Aid and many solicitors have been approached. All are too busy or no longer provide Legal
Aid.
Lack of understanding of the initial interview process, lack of support and advice, and
the unavailability of legal aid solicitors contribute to prolonged processes, costly to
the Home Office and cause confusion, anxiety and depression in applicants.