:rhp-europe.net

Quarter 4 statistics

Total Asylum Applications in Q 4: 6910 (Quarter 3 – 5890)

Appeals received by AIT in Q4 2007: 2,610, 29% lower than Q4 2006

In 2007, 63,140 persons were removed from the UK, 1% lower than in 2006 (63,865). Principal asylum applicants removed in Q4 2007: 2,765; 25% lower than Q4 2006 (3,695)

Asylum detainees12 as at 29 December 2007: 1,455 detainees who had claimed asylum at some stage

44,495 people on asylum support

The five Local Authorities with the highest number of asylum seekers in dispersal accommodation were: Glasgow City, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle.

Read ECSR Summary

Source: Home Office Q4 Statistics

2007 Review

Asylum applications in 2007 were at their lowest level for 14 years, according to statistics published by the Home Office today.

In 2007 there were 23,430 principal asylum applications lodged, this represents the lowest number of annual applications since 1993. It also means that principal applications are now a quarter of the level they were at in 2002.

Today’s figures show that between October and December 2007, there were 6,910 principal asylum applications.

Last year 12,525 failed asylum seekers, excluding dependents, were removed from the United Kingdom. Overall the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) removed 63,140 people from the UK - one person deported every eight minutes.

The BIA not only increased the number of decisions made in 2007 - 21,660 compared to 20,930 in 2006 - but also made those decisions quicker than ever before.
Read more from BIA news page

Posted by ecsrrhp to news, uk | add a comment

On march 27, 2007, I posted an entry about efforts to deport North African refugees in Innsbruck. Click here to see that post. I asked for prayer for a Christian response to the situation -that christians would begin to reach out.  That kind of response is on the cutting edge of what society needs.  This response would be to extend “true justice” as Zechariah 7:8-10 describes.  This kind of response comes from who we are as God’s people.  It is right and good. It is in our DNA and we should not think twice about it.  Sure enough, the city of Innsbruck has continued to think what they can do and they too have come onto this idea also.  Their idea is how Christians have envisioned working with refugees.  They want to send a streetworker to approach them on a human level, to help get the refugees off the street!  Pretty revolutionary idea eh?! -that Christians have long since been planning and praying for.  Click here to read the article in German.

Posted by Paul to news, prayer requests | add a comment

31 October 2007 

Immigration officers received tough new powers to protect the border and tackle immigration crime when the UK Borders Bill received Royal Assent today.

This is the latest step in the Government’s shake up of the Border and Immigration Agency which will see the most far reaching changes to the immigration system in the past 40 years, introduced over the next 12 months.

The UK Borders Act increases the powers the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) has to build stronger borders, tackle organised crime and remove incentives for illegal immigrants wanting to come to Britain.

The Act also ensures that from 2008 ID cards will be introduced for foreign nationals subject to immigration control. This is a crucial step in fighting illegal immigration, enabling those here legally to prove it and prevent those here illegally from benefiting from the privileges of Britain.

The UK Borders Act:

• introduces compulsory ID Cards for foreign nationals which will help tackle fraud, illegal working and multiple identity;
• provides new powers to immigration officers allowing them to detain at ports in England, Wales and Northern Ireland individuals they suspect of having committed a crime, to arrest those they believe to have fraudulently been acquiring asylum support and to access Her Majesty’s Revenue Customs (HMRC) data to track down illegal immigrants;
• extends powers to enable the prosecution of those who facilitate or traffic from abroad, even if their crimes were committed outside of the UK;
• allows automatic consideration for deportation of foreign national prisoners - sending out a clear message that those who abuse the hospitality of the United Kingdom by committing serious crimes will not be tolerated;
• introduces a Code of Practice to keep Children Safe from Harm which the Border and Immigration Agency will have regard to when dealing with children and
• establishes a Chief Inspector for the BIA, to oversee the new Agency.

Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said:

“The UK Borders Act will be a big step forward in giving our frontline forces the powers they need to strengthen our borders and shut down the illegal jobs that we know cause illegal journeys.

“The introduction of ID cards for foreign nationals will help secure a triple ring of security, which starts with biometric visas identifying individuals before they travel to the UK, through checking of individuals at the border and ID cards for foreign nationals ensuring that those not legally allowed to enter the UK are not able to access the benefits of Britain.”

The passage of the UK Borders Act follows major steps already taken by the Government to strengthen the UK border. They include: the introduction of biometric visas, already rolled out in 106 countries around the world, which have led to 7,300 individuals successfully being matched to applicants known to the immigration authoriteis; the introduction of a network of airline liaison officers who have stopped 180,000 people boarding planes bound for Britain in 2006 and the rollout of checks against passengers entering and leaving the UK which has generated 15,000 alerts and over 1,200 arrests since 2005.

Source: BIA news page  http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/newsarchive/ukbordersbillgainsroyalassent

Notes to editors

1. The UK Borders Bill can be found on the Parliament website at:
   http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/pabills/200607/uk_borders.htm

Posted by ecsrrhp to news, uk | add a comment

The European Court of Human Rights has asked the UK Government to put a stay on removal of refused asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, pending the hearing by the Court of several communicated cases relating to forced returns by EU countries to Sri Lanka of refused ethnic Tamils’.

Posted by ecsrrhp to news, uk | add a comment

ECSR National Conference 
8-9th September 2007 
                (Sheffield, UK)                  

                           

ECSR held its second national conference in September 2007. The conference planning team worked hard on the publicity, organisation and finances to make this conference a reality. The first day saw 120 delegates attend while 90 delegates attended on the second day. Delegates came from all over the UK and one of the main feedbacks was the unique opportunity to meet other Christians working with asylum seekers and refugees. It was an inspiring time of listening, sharing and encouraging one another.

The conference looked at three main aspects: Right Receiving, Relevant Reach Out, and Real Integration.

RHP’s own, Marco Vermin from Netherlands gave a thought provoking talk on being Jesus to refugees amongst us and the importance to reach out.

There was also a wonderful celebration of cultures through an evening concert led by four Christian refugee communities from Liberia, Burma, Eritrea and Congo. This was a real highlight and was well received by everyone. One delegate remarked ‘It was like looking forward to what heaven might be!’

Full Conference review: ECSR National Conference

Posted by ecsrrhp to news, uk | add a comment

The asylum laws in Austria, are unnecessarily complex and inadequate. One example of this is the inability to understand the laws and the tendancy to interpret them in more than one way. In my opinion, the flaw and injustice behind all of this is the unspoken willingness in Europe to accept and define 2nd class citizens.

The asylum laws leave endless cracks that refugees fall into where their applications are passed from one office to another, with no hope of an answer. The worst scenario is that these asylum seekers will receive a negative decision based on a technicality, and must leave Austria. They will then go somewhere else along the refugee highway or live illegally underground. The best scenario is that they will receive a positive asylum decision, and always be second class citizens. Most will wait for years for an answer. According to a count in February of this year, there were over 38,000 asylum cases waiting for to be resolved in Austria.

Click here to read an article in German about this situation. In this article, The Austrian newspaper, “Die Presse” reports that the leading justice of the constitutional law court, Karl Korinek, agrees that a “repair” of the asylum law is needed in order to help reduce the bureacracy and problems. Unfortunately, the Austrian Minister of Interior, Platter, indicated that while he is willing to talk about this, he basically likes things the way they are.

These two officials will meet this week to discuss this topic further. Pray that the officials would begin to make the changes that are needed.

Posted by Paul to austria, news, prayer requests | add a comment

The “Tiroler Tageszeitung” published an article on 24.3 by Reinhard Fellner, (”Höchstgericht pocht auf Asylwerber-Grundrechte”)
about an Innsbruck lawyer who has filed a complaint in the Austrian courts that the the Austrian asylum process has violated basic rights.

The article says that thousands of cases are waiting to be processed, and some more than 10 years. This backlog of cases has led to a shortening of the asylum process where after only two appeals the applicant is then quickly deported. In these instances basic rights are violated because there is no chance to check if the person’s life is in danger when returned to their country.

The complaint has caused the higher courts to rule in favor of the asylum applicants, so that deportation will only be possible in the case of adults whose safety can be verified.

In Innsbruck this ruling has raised the concern that this will make it harder to prosecute and deport a number of North Africans who are involved in crime and drugs in the city center. Many of these North Africans are not yet adults.

The solution which society wants is for the asylum process  to speed up so that these refugees can be deported as soon as possible. I think it is an impossible solution.

I would pray instead for a Christian to catch the vision to reach out to this group of refugees and to bring change through the power and presence of Christ.

Posted by Paul to austria, news, prayer requests | add a comment

I attended the opening celebration on February 10, for “Zuflucht bei Freunden” (refuge with Friends) in Hof, Germany.

The organization began 6 months ago through the initiative of Michael Beyerlein as an attempt to bring local volunteers together to help the poor in Hof and its surrounding area.

They hope to reach out to both the homeless as well as refugees and asylum seekers. Currently, the organization offers a “cafe” once a week and a childrens program for refugee children.

Those who are helping in this initiative include onces from the German lutheran church, the Baptist and Brethren churches.

The opening celebration featured a concert by an African choir, “Les Ambassadeurs”. There were over 150 people in attendance.

Please comment for further clarification and/or information about the work that is going on in Hof. thanks.

Posted by Paul to germany, news | 1 comment | show comment » | « hide comment

An independent Policy Exchange think tank has recently completed a poll of Muslims living in Britain. The results are alarming and they make us realize the need for clear Christian values which reflect the foundations of British society.
Click here to read a summary of the poll

Posted by KIA Norway to news | 1 comment | show comment » | « hide comment

The various coordinators for the rhp in Europe meet each year for a consultation. Our aim is to strengthen the platform and understanding  for Christians across Europe to reach out to the nations in Europe.  One example is this blog.

The consultation this year was feb 5-8 in Copenhagen.  It’s our chance to share information, consult together and encourage one another.  This year we were 13 leaders from 11 different organizations and 9 european countries. We have had reports and discussions about the EU parlament, funding for projects,  intercession and spiritual conflict,  refugees in Africa, islamic issues, somalian exodus, and the

Here we are in one of our discussions.

Ones also encouraged us each day from God’s Word.
From Jonah, we remembered the need to develop our hearts and not just our ministries.
From Luke 11.5-13   “Ask” God what to do, because we only have so much time and energy.  “Look” past the obstacles we face.  “Knock” in order to walk through the doors God will open.  Big visions come with lots to do.
From Colossians 2.7  we remember the danger of syncretism:  we take from our cultures to add to our faith.

Posted by Paul to news | add a comment

622 people aply for asylum seekers in Bulgaria for 2006 .

We visit the refuge camp and try to help those people with pratical things. Here we are giving gifts to refugees.

Posted by dennikolov to bulgaria, news | add a comment

Refugees used as models raises a stir.

Click here to read the BBC report.

Posted by Paul to news, spain | add a comment