News

Community Care last month launched a campaign that calls for an end to the racist hysteria around asylum seekers and refugees and for their fair treatment.

Right to Refuge: A Fair Deal for Asylum Seekers and Refugees aims to combat prejudice and racism and ensure that asylum seekers entering the UK are treated in accordance with national and international laws and standards such as the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees.

The campaign also demands the end of the detention of children and calls for their treatment in line with the Children Act 1989. It also wants an end to the incarceration of asylum seekers in prison–like conditions.  It urges councils to include the needs of children of asylum seekers when formulating policies on child protection, social inclusion and so on.

To coincide with the campaign’s launch, Community Care published a survey of social workers who work with asylum seekers. The results show that 91 per cent of social workers have worked with asylum seekers with mental health problems and 70 per cent encountered people who may have been tortured. More than 90 per cent of those surveyed said that they had met asylum seekers who were frightened or experienced loneliness.

Eight-seven per cent believed that services were failing asylum seekers.

However there was some good news. Eight-five per cent of staff surveyed felt that there employer was committed to helping asylum seekers while an overwhelming 99 per cent believed that refugees and asylum seekers could make a positive contribution to society.

More on the campaign at www.communitycare.co.uk/righttorefuge