9th to 11th of January, 2004
| People affected by S55 |
| Downloads |
| Links |
| Go to NNRF site |
THE SEVEN LOOSE PIECES OF THE GLOBAL JIGSAW PUZZLE:
"The third piece is round like a vicious circle. It consists of enforced emigration. The more enterprising of those who have nothing, try to emigrate to survive. Yet the new order works night and day according to the principle that anybody who does not produce, who does not consume and who has no money to put into a bank, is redundant. So the migrants, the landless, the homeless are treated as the waste matter of the system: to be eliminated."
Subcomandante Marcos,
Zapatista Army of National Liberation,
in
"The Zapatistas: a Rough Guide" by Chiapaslink.
£2837 - and 20p!
We are delighted with this but, sadly, in the current situation, there can never be enough.
The event was very successful. At the last count, 37 people fasted (we may hear of more) and we had 54 helpers/visitors, plus any who didn't sign in. About half the fasters were asylum seekers or refugees, and the rest were from the host community, including retired people and one person with diabetes.
Other cities held similar events.
Section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (which had been in force for one year just before the fast) denies all support to asylum seekers without dependants who do not make their asylum applications as soon as “reasonably practicable” on arrival in Britain. This ignores the fact that many people arriving do so after facing fear, trauma and violence as well as a harrowing journey, and are usually confused and frightened as well as maybe having little or no knowledge of English or our asylum system. Some people have been denied support even when they claim a few hours after arriving (although David Blunkett has recently defined “reasonably practicable” as within three days) or, for others, their arrival time has not been believed. Many people have their application denied because they are unable to complete the large (almost 20 pages) Statement of Evidence form in English within ten working days. All these people receive no support of any kind – no home, no food, no shelter. They must depend on friends, charities or the streets.
In the same situation are people whose asylum applications have been refused, but whose country of origin the government categorises as “unsafe”. Begging the question of whether someone from an unsafe country should receive asylum, this leaves many people (e.g. from Zimbabwe) in a limbo where they neither have status here, nor can they return to their countries. These people are made destitute.
Similarly, a number of people who do satisfy all the difficult government criteria often have to go without support for a number of weeks or months because of bureaucratic incompetence. They should receive support, but don’t. Some of these have children.
We were based in St Peter’s Centre, belonging to St Peter’s Church in Nottingham city centre. About 12 people slept there overnight both nights. The rest of us spent most of the days there, and people with commitments fasted at home, some calling in to touch base. It was very suitable accommodation, as it was warm and we had a room for activities and a quiet room where people could sleep during the day.
We had a stall in the Market Square the Saturday before the fast, and also held stalls outside the Centre for most of the daylight hours during the fast. Dried/tinned food was collected, we got a lot of signatures on the petition and handed out so many leaflets we had to have a reprint. The people who came to sign the petition and make donations compensated for the usual racist morons who stalked past. During the fast, two banners hung from the church railings, calling for solidarity with destitute asylum seekers.
We made useful contacts, both in Nottingham and with other cities, where people took up the idea of the fast too. Alan Simpson MP came to offer solidarity and helpful advice.
We had quite a bit of media coverage, but we were not able to monitor all of it properly. We know that we were in the local Nottingham Evening Post three times; an interview was broadcast on local radio, and a TV station visited.
We kept a diary, in which any fasters, supporters or well-wishers could write. It is in many languages. People spent the time in the centre reading, chatting, playing board games, doing craft work (knitting, sewing, painting, glass painting, mat making etc) and giving each other back and shoulder massages. Leafleting at the stall gave some fresh air. It was a very congenial weekend, in good company, and so the fast was actually enjoyable.
At the end of the fast, we were provided with free food by local group “Food Not Bombs”, and also by a group of Kurdish women who spontaneously decided to cook for us. It was a very sociable end to an intense 48 hours.
The event was organised mainly by email and during three open meetings. It was heartening to find such a pool of goodwill – somebody always popped up to do every job that needed doing; be it finding sponsors, media work, liaising with St Peters, writing leaflets, printing leaflets, organising the stall, leafleting, making placards, doing transport, making stickers, making banner, writing and updating website, keeping people entertained and busy, organising, spreading the word, photography, lending equipment, cleaning up at the end, and probably a lot more. Thanks to everyone. It was free organisation at its best.
However, it was not just about enjoying each other’s company and fundraising. We could choose to go without food for 48 hours. For an ever-increasing number, there is no choice. We heard of people sleeping in bus shelters and dustbins. We know of around 70 asylum seekers in Nottingham who had to apply for food parcels from a church charity during the last few months of 2003. The issue of destitution among asylum seekers is urgent, and we continue to campaign for the right of everyone to have food, money and shelter (and the right to work to provide themselves with these); and ultimately the vision is of a world where people don’t have to leave their families, friends, homes, jobs and all they know in order to escape from murder or torture.
We held a follow up meeting.
Downloads
The files below contain materials which you may find useful.
Sponsor formGroups in other areas are welcome to edit the sponsor form for their own use.
To read the above PDF files, you need Acrobat Reader. If you want to download the latest version of Reader, please click on the Acrobat icon below.Leaflet: "The Facts about Asylum"
Links
Some of the links below are to files in .pdf format. These may take a while to download so we have marked these (.pdf).
- Nottingham & Notts Refugee Forum
- Asylum seekers protest persecution, by Neil Hodge, about Nottingham Fast and its context (World Socialist Website).
- Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.
- Concern at new asylum measures, by Frances Webber.
- Paul Stewart of Refugee Action on the challenge of providing support for asylum seekers.
- Almost one in five asylum seekers is being made destitute, by Alison Benjamin.
- “Destitution by Design” report from Ken Livingstone’s office (.pdf).
- HealthWorld Online (Nutritional program for fasting).
- Health & Yoga.
We can choose to go without food for up to 48 hours; some asylum seekers have no choice.