Refugees ‘are forced into destitution’ in Britain because they cannot be sent back

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asylum seekers, destitution, exploitation, forcibly returned, rape, violence

Refugees ‘are forced into destitution’ in Britain because they cannot be sent back

Thousands of people who have fled some of the world’s most dangerous countries are being forced into destitution, begging and prostitution on British streets because they cannot be sent back, the Home Office is warned today.

A large majority of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe are refused asylum, but very few are forcibly returned because their home countries will not accept them or because immigration officers lose track of them.

In a bleak report, the Refugee Council says nearly 25 per cent of failed asylum-seekers who approached it for emergency help over the last two years were from those five countries.

Most do not qualify for state support or housing once their asylum applications have been rejected unless they can demonstrate they are planning to leave.

But the charity says many are too frightened to return because of the grim human rights situations in their homelands and end up living in the shadows in Britain.

“This can force people into street homelessness, begging and sex work. Women who are destitute are particularly exposed to the risk of further violence or exploitation in the UK,” it warns.

“In our experience of working with women in the asylum system, many will have faced violence in their own country or during their flight to safety.

“Arrival in the UK should signal safety but when women’s claims for asylum are refused and they are made destitute, they continue to be exposed to the risk of further violence or exploitation in the UK.”

Others rely on family, friends and charity for help or work illegally in the hidden economy to raise enough money for food and shelter.

“They fear returning so much that many take the difficult decision to stay in the UK, often making huge personal sacrifices in doing so,” the report says.

“Having exhausted their appeal rights, refused asylum seekers usually have no access to financial support or accommodation, and are left living in destitution and without access to basic services.

“This includes pregnant women, for whom destitution is particularly serious given the health implications for themselves and the future health of their children.”

In the report, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, published to mark Human Rights Day today, the Refugee Council urges the Government to offer rejected asylum-seekers from such nations a special form of protection until their home countries are considered safe for their return.

To underline the point, it says women and girls face mass rape and sexual violence from the army, police and militia groups in the DRC, opponents of Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party in Zimbabwe risk murder and torture, while civilians in Somalia suffer indiscriminate attacks both by government forces and insurgent militias.

Lisa Doyle, the Refugee Council’s advocacy manager, said: “For many people, the horrifying situations that caused them to flee their countries in the first place very much remain a reality. It is no wonder many people fear returning and make the difficult decision to stay here, far from family and with few rights.”

“To be here five years without doing anything is very depressing”

Nyasha’s family has paid a heavy price for its involvement in the opposition MDC in Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe’s supporters killed her brother, badly beat up her elderly father and raped her.

Leaving two sons behind, she claimed asylum in 2007. She was refused permission to stay the following year and further application was turned down in 2010.

The only accommodation she was offered was more than 200 miles away from London where she had been living. Now she shares a cramped flat with her grown-up daughter who has a child of her own.

Nyasha* says: “I don’t have anything and have to rely on my daughter. It’s a very difficult situation. Money is a real problem.

“I’m always sick – I’m on tablets for high blood pressure. To be here five years without doing anything is very depressing.

“When I think about it I feel like crying. But my position is a bit better than other people because I have my daughter. But other people are really, really suffering – some rely on friends and live in churches.”

*Nyasha’s is a pseudonym

Children With Cancer ‘Bullied When They Return To School’ Charity Says

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Bullying, Cancer, Children, support, symptoms, treatment

Children With Cancer ‘Bullied When They Return To School’ Charity Says

One in three children with cancer were bullied for their symptoms, such as losing their hair, when they went back to school, according to a children’s cancer charity.

CLIC Sargent reported more than a third of parents they surveyed said their children had been bullied for the effect of cancer, such as gaining weight from steroids. One child was even told by their classmates he was going to die.

The report, No Child With Cancer Left Out, revealed as many as 36% of parents said they did not believe their children received the help needed to keep up with school, while more than a third said they did not have any say in how their child’s illness was communicated.

The survey revealed two thirds, or 62%, of parents felt their children needed home tuition to help get them back to school.

The report, published to mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, found that almost half of parents said their child had grown apart from their friends.

Josh Hill, 13, from Cheshire was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when he was five years old, he was bullied when he returned to school and found it “emotionally difficult.”

His mother Lynda said after missing half of year one of his primary school, and bits of his second year, he was often “really isolated.”

“He didn’t like joining in with things with his friends and always wanted to be around me. I would take him to friends parties or activities. He didn’t want to go, but I wanted to take him to help him keep connected to his peers.

“He was really frightened and getting him there was difficult, even though he knew the children, but once he was there, he was OK.” they said.

Oliver Roberts, from Newcastle, 7, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2010. His Mum, oncology nurse Karen and Dad, oncologist Mark, said he missed two years of school due to his illness. One effect of his treatment is he now has learning disabilities.

“Because childhood cancer is so rare people are less aware of the lasting effects, which makes it harder to access extra support services too,” they said. “The first thing was getting him through treatment, but now a year later, we’re thinking ‘oh my goodness’ because there are so many lasting impacts.

“He really needs individual support; he needs someone that knows how to teach Oli because his case is so complex. Teachers simply cannot teach a class of 30 children, including a child like Oli who has such specific needs. He doesn’t just have educational needs either, he has physical needs.

“Children at Oli’s age need to be caught early, or else you end up with a child who is going to be very disadvantaged in secondary school. I know that he can learn, but it’s not without a lot of effort and special help.”

CLIC Sargent’s chief executive Lorraine Clifton said the reports of children being teased and bullied were distressing.

“Sometimes parents, already struggling to cope with their child’s diagnosis, have to fight to get the help their child needs – and they can feel really let down by the system,” she said.

“Funding can be an issue, so we are calling on government and local authorities to ensure children with cancer do not lose out on the home tuition they need because of any more funding pressures in the future.”

The Rape of an 11-Year-Old Girl Highlights an Important Wider Issue

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Children, sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual objectification, young people

The Rape of an 11-Year-Old Girl Highlights an Important Wider Issue

A man appeared in court last week charged with the rape of an 11-year-old girl on her way home from school. The news has caused widespread shock and consternation, but stories submitted to the Everyday Sexism Project website this year suggest that the sexual harassment of young girls in school uniform is far less rare a phenomenon than we might like to think.

The huge number of entries we have received detailing the sexual objectification and harassment of schoolgirls comes from parents, from bystanders and from victims themselves. One girl told us:

“I was 13 when I experienced sexual harassment for the first time… I was stopped by a group of men (at least 17 or more years old) in a black pick-up truck. They were telling me that they liked school girls and that I probably “have a tight pussy.” I didn’t understand what they were talking about. I was 13… I barely had started growing pubic hair when this happened.”

When the girl objected, she says one of the men shouted “you’re feisty, I like that” before speeding off. She continues:

“For years I have been keeping the secret of all the attacks fellow school mates an [sic] strange young men have shown towards me. I very much considered myself a child at the time of these events.”

Too often the reports we receive suggest that girls are too scared to speak up or shamed into feeling that what has happened was their own fault. Because this frequently silences victims, many people are unaware of how severe the problem is. A man wrote to us, shocked, after witnessing a similar event:

“The other day when I was sitting outside of my work two middle school girls walked out after getting ice cream on their way home from school… a jeep drove by and a man yelled “sluts” at them. It was a very upsetting thing to witness. I dont [sic] want to live in a world where men think its okay to treat any women, much less two girls who couldn’t have been more than 14, like that. Something is very wrong.”

Many of the stories we have received also suggest a worrying normalisation of sexual harassment within schools by students themselves, with one woman telling us:

“At my child’s primary school is a playground corner difficult to see by supervisors – kids call it The Rape Corner”.

Another woman described her own experiences of sexual assault in a school setting, and explained the normalisation that left her feeling unable to report them:

“Between the ages of about 12 and 14 I and many other girls were regularly pestered and groped by boys in the halls. I remember one boy in particular would run after a friend of mine and kind of tackle her grabbing her boobs. Thinking back it’s really odd none of us felt we should/could tell teachers about this… It happened a lot… It felt like it was just something that happened when you got older. But it shouldn’t be.”

Another told us:

“In the first year of high school I was walking home with a friend and a group of boys (three or four I think) from my year pushed me against a wall trying and managing to put their hands up my skirt. My friend just watched and laughed”.

One student even said:

“When I was 15 I was reading aloud in English. I asked what page to start from and was told Page 3, and the male laddish teacher added ‘you should be on Page 3’. I was a geeky kid and already ashamed of my body. All the class laughed I never forgot it.”

A theatre in education facilitator working on projects with young girls in schools told us about 13-year-old girls “telling me they get beeped at and catcalled on [the] way home from school” and a girl of the same age who was sent a text message from a boy at school “threatening to rape her”.

It is deeply saddening that young girls are receiving the message, both as they walk to and from school and from within their own peer groups, that their bodies are fair game for catcalls and groping, and that sexual assault is something to be laughed at, played down and made into a joke. At the same time their male peers are also affected, as they form their ideas about what constitutes ‘normal’ treatment of the opposite sex. Of course these reports vary in their severity, but it is important to sit up and take notice of what is happening all the time, not just when a serious crime has been committed.

To give some idea of the frequency with which events like this are reported, every one of the accounts mentioned in this article was received in the past week alone, without any special request for particular submissions on this theme.