The British Red Cross offers advice service for asylum seekers

4:30pm Saturday 16th March 2013 in News By Frazer Ansell

The British Red Cross has opened a new monthly surgery for asylum seekers and refugees in Watford.

Trained volunteer caseworkers will be offering support and advice by appointment on one Friday each month at the Mind Well-Being centre on St Albans Road. Appointments can be made by calling 01582 589081.

The project will be run in partnership with Herts Aid, the HIV and sexual health charity, which will make referrals to the surgery.

The Red Cross will offer advice on asylum claims and adjusting to life in the UK, as well as packages of food and essentials for those who find themselves facing destitution.

Tayyaba Khan, Red Cross Refugee Service Manager for Beds, Herts and Essex, said: "The people who come to our centres have been through very difficult experiences and often have to deal with renewed trauma and extreme poverty when they arrive in the UK, so there is a lot we can do to keep them going and put them in contact with the right organisations.

"It’s great when we see someone come through the asylum process and join the local community - some even become volunteers or staff with the British Red Cross.

"In this area we have seen a lot of people who have fled from Zimbabwe, but there are also Iranians and refugees from across Africa. Our volunteers hear all sorts of painful stories, but they can make a big difference in the lives of our beneficiaries."

Comments(11)

crazyfrog says...
5:35pm Sat 16 Mar 13

in other words helping economic migrants claim as much as possible without ever putting in, we are an island if these people were genuine asylum seekers then they would settle in the first safe country they arrive in.

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LSC says...
11:29pm Sat 16 Mar 13

Does seem a slightly odd set up. What has the HIV charity got to do with asylum seeking, so why would they be in a position to refer people?

As far as i know, HIV sufferers are not generally victims of oppression and in need of asylum.

They are, however often very poor and in need of a decent NHS to treat them.

But I doubt the two are linked in any way.

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miwe2 says...
4:41pm Sun 17 Mar 13

I thought the asylum bit was already covered by the Citizens Advice Bureau. This is not what I gave my donation to the Red Cross for.

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Razor Sharp says...
5:40pm Sun 17 Mar 13

crazyfrog wrote:
in other words helping economic migrants claim as much as possible without ever putting in, we are an island if these people were genuine asylum seekers then they would settle in the first safe country they arrive in.
Most economic migrants already know the loopholes before migrating through various routes, disappearing into the black market and evading UKBA officers by providing incomplete information.

Some then claim protection under human rights, enter into sham marriages and then attempt to claim indefinite leave to remain. Visa colleges were a popular route, before tightening of Tier 4, removal of post study work and strict financial criteria.

If you explore the economic migrant loopholes, you will find a network of people financially gaining from the same, including some immigration advisers and solicitors, some private colleges, those arranging sham marriages and international student agents. Some immigration advisers and student agents are opening private colleges to increase profitability and widen their range of client services.

I hardly think that a one day per month surgery by trained Red Cross volunteers will have much of an impact on net migration figures in Watford!

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garston tony says...
8:38am Mon 18 Mar 13

Crazyfrog, I agree that some of these asylum seekers will have crossed many other safe countries to get here (although there is such a thing as airports too where they can come direct) and it does for me put a question mark over their asylum claim why they didn’t claim it in the first safe haven.

LSC, we can only assume that these organisation have a valid reason why they are involed in this scheme and taking a stab at it maybe because many people coming from certain countries to claim asylum have certain illnessess etc.

Miwe2, your comment shows how often charities cant win. All too often people moan about charity money being spent abroad and not in this country but when an example is given of aid money being used in the UK there are also detractors. I think you'll find however that this is very in keeping with the Red Cross's work and you'll find that they do have schemes in many western supposedly well off countries

Razorsharp, I agree schemes such as this arent going to affect how many people come to this country to claim asylum but wether genuine or not if there are public health issues surrounding them I'd say its important to get those tackled seeing as they are here.

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Roy Stockdill says...
12:04pm Mon 18 Mar 13

It occurs to me that refugees from across Africa and Iran must have travelled on arduous journeys through numerous other countries before ending up in the UK.

Why, precisely, are they so keen to come here? Surely the reason is obvious: friends have told them, or they have read it in their papers, that Britain is the softest touch in the Western world and the country where they will be most welcomed and provided with benefits and goodies at the expense of the indigenous inhabitants!

I have no doubt the Red Cross do perform some praiseworthy work, but this initiative is not among them. I agree with Razor Sharp that there are probably a lot of people making a lot of money out of the asylum racket.

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garston tony says...
1:17pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Yes, unfortunately people do make money from the asylum racket as you called it. I hope you were not including the Red Cross in that however! I don’t see how providing assistance to people who have HIV for instance is not a worthy thing regardless of if they are asylum seekers in this country or living anywhere else. You really don’t care about anyone do you Roy!

I'm sure you always strived for a better life throughout yours Roy and no one can blame someone for wanting to come to this country for instance if they believe it will make their lives better. They didn’t create that situation, if its not an ideal one lets tackle the politicians that allowed it to happen.

But helping others who are in need is always praiseworthy Roy, always

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Roy Stockdill says...
1:26pm Mon 18 Mar 13

I'm afraid I am far from convinced that all asylum seekers are in need, Tony! Indeed, some of them are almost certainly professional criminals. However, try and deport them and they start squealing about their human rights.

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Razor Sharp says...
1:57pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Roy Stockdill wrote:
It occurs to me that refugees from across Africa and Iran must have travelled on arduous journeys through numerous other countries before ending up in the UK.

Why, precisely, are they so keen to come here? Surely the reason is obvious: friends have told them, or they have read it in their papers, that Britain is the softest touch in the Western world and the country where they will be most welcomed and provided with benefits and goodies at the expense of the indigenous inhabitants!

I have no doubt the Red Cross do perform some praiseworthy work, but this initiative is not among them. I agree with Razor Sharp that there are probably a lot of people making a lot of money out of the asylum racket.
I have witnessed people literally making £millions, some of whom have now shifted to exploiting other loopholes, which I won't discuss here.

As for asylum seekers, a lot depends on net migration figures, how they are manipulated for political ends and the complexity of immigration laws which appear to penalise legitimate migrants and favour those that abuse the system.

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garston tony says...
2:48pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Roy Stockdill wrote:
I'm afraid I am far from convinced that all asylum seekers are in need, Tony! Indeed, some of them are almost certainly professional criminals. However, try and deport them and they start squealing about their human rights.
I did say people in need Roy, not those pretending to be. We don’t know the individuals and its not for us to judge if the Red Cross should provide assistance or not therefore.

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Razor Sharp says...
6:39pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Those in need will probably benefit, while the "professional criminals" probably already know more than the volunteers through their circle of contacts. So, I see nothing wrong with the limited advice and contact being provided.

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