Detained Lives: the real cost of indefinite ... - Detention Action

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detained lives: the real cost of indefinite immigration detention “ ” I just want to live a normal life. experience of work and destitution in the UK Asylum seekers generally do not have the right to work. Out of around 350,000 refused asylum seekers currently living in the UK, only around 10,000 are receiving Section 4 support from the Home Office 19 , consisting of accommodation and £35 per week in vouchers. With the exception of a small minority with independent means, the rest, it must be assumed, are destitute, relying on informal support from friends, families, communities and charities or involved in the shadow economy. As a result of indefinite detention, many detainees feel that their status as a human being has dramatically changed. They often referred to their former occupations when describing this process of change. Work is not only an economic necessity for survival, it can be a basic human necessity for self-respect, particularly for asylum seekers who have left their roles in their own societies. They are often highly dynamic and energetic people: however forced their initial choice to leave, the process of reaching the UK often requires great resilience. They bring this energy to the UK, but it is immediately stifled as a matter of policy. The forced immobility of unemployment mirrors the much more drastic restrictions of detention, but both have similar effects of isolating asylum seekers from society and maintaining them in a passive, dependent position. Even after a year or more in detention, the interviewees made clear their continued desire to be active and independent. Nine spoke of wanting to work. Former professional identities and qualifications were clearly important sources of self-respect and autonomy: occupations revealed unprompted included a chef, a motor mechanic, a physiotherapist, two plumbers, a welder, a businessman and an academic. “I’m a human being, I’m not an animal, I’m not an alien come from planet, I’m also a human being who wants to have a girlfriend one day, settle down, get married, have couple of children, pay his taxes, be free, work and live, that’s all what we want. I’m not asking for them to crown me as the king of this country or anything like that, all I’m asking is let me work. I’m a plumber from my own country.” Karim Benhamou from Algeria and London, detained 8 years Karim Benhamou, 43, is a plumber from Algeria. He has travelled widely, and speaks Italian, Spanish, French, German and English fluently. He came to the UK in 1995 and claimed asylum. After the refusal of his asylum he was street homeless. He has spent a total of eight years in British immigration detention, which he believes, probably correctly, to be more than anyone else in recent years. He has been detained three times following criminal convictions for attempted theft, shoplifting and using a false document to work, and a fourth time for absconding after false allegations were made against him and he feared going back to prison. Despite his experiences he is a great admirer of the British way of life, supports Arsenal and feels that he is British through and through. He also wants to record that he is very handsome. “ ” All my problems come from, from haven’t got permission to work. 19 Home Office, Control of Immigration, Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom, p11, http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/immiq308.pdf Ned Asad from Iran and Southend-on-Sea, detained 17 months 16 T h e h u m a n c o s t o f i n d e f i n i t e d e t e n t i o n
“ I would have been a chef, I am good at cooking… but here you have to go to college and I couldn’t go, they said no. Every time I try to do right way, the door is closed in my face. ” Rafik Bouzid from Algeria and Portsmouth, detained 22 months Experience of destitution and homelessness was cited as a major factor in leading several interviewees to their current situation. The undeserved indignity of life on the streets clearly remained a painful memory. The four who spoke of sleeping rough all identified homelessness as the main reason for their offences: using a false document to work, theft, shoplifting and claiming asylum in a false name to access accommodation. They argued that they had been placed in an impossible position, prevented from working or claiming benefits, yet unable to leave the UK due to lack of travel documents. These four interviewees had been detained for a total of over twelve years. “ And homeless, of course, I’m not allowed to work, I’m not allowed to claim [benefits], they don’t house me, they don’t give me work and they don’t give me support, what am I supposed to do? Everybody, the night falls, they have a home to go to, everybody has got a hot meal to eat… …wait outside the Underground until it opens up at 5 and I used to sleep on the Piccadilly Line, it’s the longest one. I had to, Cockfosters - Heathrow, Heathrow - Cockfosters, two times, up and down, up and down… I come out, McDonald’s, have a wash, everything, go and get a toothbrush, wash my teeth, comb my hair, make myself look decent, as if I have a home because I’m embarrassed to let people see me dirty. I am not ” dirty even though I sleep on the street. Karim Benhamou, detained 8 years “ I was homeless one year, no choice for me, I have to travel from [this] country. I buy fake passport basically, that’s why they arrest me and they give me one year sentence… I’d like to work but I’m cold and I’m outside, what can I do? Hungry, no food, no support.” ” Mohammed Ali Saad from Sudan and Manchester, detained 24 months Five interviewees spoke of their hopes to return to conventional life and work in the UK. “ Because I want to give my family a very good life. I keep promising my son that when I get released I buy him motorbike. That’s the only thing now I am thinking at the moment. Go back to my ” family, find a job, that’s it. Joseph Lumba from DR Congo and Croydon, detained 2 years and 8 months “ I’m doing a life sentence ” indefinite detention without time limits Most interviewees described discovering that they could be detained indefinitely as a great shock. Nine mentioned only discovering that they would be detained when they reached the end of their prison sentence and were expecting to be released. Four were actually released and only later picked up for detention on the street or at home. 17
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