A summary of social care stories from the main newspapers

By Clare Jerrom and Reg McKay.

Relocation of refugees ‘should not be
rushed’

The government should allow local communities more time to
prepare for the arrival of groups of asylum-seekers, in order to
prevent future clashes such as those in Glasgow, according to a
local government chief.

Local Government Association chief executive Brian Briscoe
warned that support services had to be in place before large groups
of refugees arrived in clusters, often in deprived areas. At the
same time, Downing Street denied that a Home Office review of the
dispersal system meant the scheme had failed.

Briscoe added that time was essential to prepare local residents
in dispersal areas and explain to them the circumstances that
refugees were escaping from.

But the review of the dispersal system will not reassess the
principle behind the dispersal scheme. Instead, it will concentrate
on how effectively asylum-seekers are being integrated into
communities to which they are dispersed.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 14 August 2001 page 4

Hunger strike stresses plight of
asylum-seekers

The chaos surrounding the refugee dispersal system resulted in a
group of 36 jailed asylum-seekers entering the sixth day of hunger
strike and demonstrations outside the Home Office to denounce
attacks on those seeking sanctuary in Britain.

The hunger strikers at Cardiff prison are among more than 1,100
people being held in prisons in England and Wales as detainees
under the Immigration Act. Many are being detained alongside
criminals due to a shortage of detention centres.

The protest outside the Home Office follows the murder of a
Kurdish refugee last week in Glasgow, which precipitated a review
of the resettlement scheme.

Source:- Independent Tuesday 14 August 2001 page 6

More asylum-seekers will face being sent
home

The number of failed asylum-seekers deported to their native
countries will rise dramatically, ministers have warned.

The Home Office has confirmed that 60,000 ‘bogus’
asylum-seekers will be removed in two years under new targets.

Last year there were 76,000 asylum claims, but only 8,000 who
had their case rejected were deported.

The tougher targets should ease the pressure on communities
where tension is rising between locals and asylum-seekers.

Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday 14 August 2001 page 2

Police ‘too busy’ to monitor
paedophiles

A lack of resources in the police force is resulting in
paedophiles and sex offenders roaming unchecked because officers
are too busy to monitor them properly.

Senior officers are too busy trying to cut burglary and other
high-volume crimes to devote vital manpower to checks on sex
offenders, according to a Home Office report.

The report describes a “general problem of confusion and
misunderstanding” surrounding the sex offenders register and risk
assessments, while even key officers such as detective inspectors
had “only a hazy understanding” of the system.

The Association of Chief Police Officers said public
expectations over monitoring paedophiles could only be met with
more manpower.

Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday 14 August 2001 page 15

Scottish newspapers

Service co-ordinator for asylum-seekers
appointed

Glasgow City Council yesterday announced the appointment of a
co-ordinator of council services for asylum-seekers and refugees in
the city. Dawn Corbett, a policy officer to the chief executive,
will undertake the task of ensuring that all council departments
are responding to asylum-seekers’ needs. Making the
announcement, Charles Gordon, leader of the council, appealed to
Glasgow’s middle classes to stop “pontificating” on the
asylum-seeker crisis and “do a bit more that is practical”.

Source:- The Herald Tuesday 14 August 2001 page 1

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