From deacondave at onetel.com Fri Sep 30 16:43:26 2005 From: deacondave at onetel.com (Dave Havard) Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 16:43:26 +0100 Subject: [Aas] Test Message-ID: <433D5D1E.7000204@onetel.com> Hi all, This is just to test that the list is working. Please acknowledge if you get this so we know who is on the list, just in case I misspelled someone's address. There is a web page where you can change your own settings or unsubscribe if you wish. Blessings, Dave From deacondave at onetel.com Fri Sep 30 16:56:10 2005 From: deacondave at onetel.com (Dave Havard) Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 16:56:10 +0100 Subject: [Aas] Draft letter to Home Secretary Message-ID: <433D601A.1040700@onetel.com> Hi, here is the draft of the letter to the Home Secretary, written by John V. and amended by me. Feel free to make comments, suggestions and amendments. It is also attached as a Word doc if that is useful. Love and peace, Dave Dear Mr Clarke, We are a small Christian Community, with members mainly in cities, and properties in Sheffield and Stockton. Some of our members are working very closely with asylum seekers, At our last weekend members instructed us to write to you to express our grave concerns regarding several matters which concern asylum seekers. Firstly we believe that asylum seekers should all be allowed work permits. At present the lives of many of the human beings who came to our country seeking refuge are made simply intolerable by their being forced into begging or illegal work or crime, simply to stay alive. Christian and other organisations are under enormous pressure to try to help in these situations and are often overwhelmed by the scale of the problem. In any case it is work these people are wanting, and are prepared to do, not charity. Secondly we are deeply concerned at the way many immigration officials seem to act. We have met many people who's frustrations include; apparently arbitrary actions, unpredictable procedures, poor translation facilities, and the word from one official being denied by another. The procedures to secure evictions often leave observers aghast at what is being done in our country's name. Children are often scared witless by heavy handed unnecessary early morning calls and are left in fear that they can be intruded upon at any time. We are also very concerned at agencies like Group 4 and some housing agencies who appear to be very poorly regulated. Some staff are abusive and items get stolen. We welcome the Home Affairs Committee's announced intention to set up an inquiry into the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. We shall be submitting suggestions to them, as invited. In our opinion the whole system needs a major overhaul as at present it is highly inefficient and abusive to those we should be helping. Asylum seekers arrive in our country deeply traumatised by the often frightful experiences they have fled. They are further traumatised by being forced to take part in a protracted process which assumes that they are guilty and lying. We believe we need to set up a quicker, more transparent and fairer process. Thank you for your attention in this urgent and vital matter. Yours sincerely, for the Ashram Community -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: letter to Home Sec.doc Type: application/msword Size: 13312 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://lists.aktivix.org/pipermail/aas/attachments/20050930/3f1ae33b/attachment.doc