STOP THE ABUSE OF VULNERABLE MIGRANTS BY HOME OFFICE CONTRACTORS
STOP THE ABUSE OF VULNERABLE MIGRANTS BY HOME OFFICE CONTRACTORS
The Issue
All over the UK, Home Office contractors are violating migrants living in temporary accommodation and getting away with it. It’s time someone took a stand. Will you stand with us?
We are a group of Home Office whistleblowers who have witnessed the many abuses of power from the inside over a number of years. We have tried to change things by acting within the system, but this has not worked and now we can no longer stay silent.
Home Office contractors are empowered to do inspections on migrants in their temporary accommodation. But we have evidence of Home Office contractors abusing this power in the following ways:
· Turning up at the migrants’ homes unannounced, so that the migrants could be caught unawares in the shower, some without their hijab on and others just waking up with little clothes on etc.
· Offering money to migrants for sex – something that may be presented as a financial lifeline to migrants, as they are not allowed to work while they await the Home Office’s decision and their allowance while they wait in this limbo is a paltry £45 a week.
· Sexually harassing or even assaulting vulnerable migrants – mostly women - in their homes.
Worst of all, these horrendous abuses of power are going unreported and unpunished because of the threats made by these same contractors, who tell the migrants their asylum claims will be endangered if they report the abuse. And for any migrants brave enough to tell the police, they will find that the police are reluctant to get involved because they are migrants and so they are referred back to the Home Office migrant help system, which means the reports of abuse end up being investigated by their abusers.
We have not only seen evidence of this in our work, but have recently encountered a migrant - who we’ll call Daniel, though that is not his real name - brave enough to speak out about his and his fellow migrants’ experiences. A veteran of the British Armed Forces, Daniel’s own asylum claim should have been swiftly approved. But instead, he has been stuck in the asylum system for over two years, and is currently protesting peacefully against his treatment by the Home Office and their contractors. If you would like to learn more about what he’s been through, you can read about it here.
But Daniel is just one of the 166,300 people currently living in temporary accommodation in the UK, awaiting the results of their asylum claim. Many of them arrive traumatised by the dangerous situations they are running from, isolated from their friends and family, most of them unfamiliar with our policing and justice systems, uncertain of their rights in the UK. These are very vulnerable people already going through a challenging time in the UK asylum system, which the UNHCR and The British Red Cross say "leaves asylum seekers at serious risk of exploitation and human trafficking” (read the full report here). They can be stuck in that system, their whole life on hold, for years. And during that time, they are being abused by the very people who are supposed to be keeping them safe.
If we don’t speak up for them, no-one else will.
Why act now?
In the course of our work, we have seen migrants’ treatment getting worse and worse as the number of migrants emigrating to this country increases and the political pressures on the Government with it. We have tried improving the system ourselves from within, but our reports were not taken seriously and so now our only option to improve the situation is to go public. The more people who sign this petition, the more likely it is that the Home Office will be forced to overhaul this corrupt system.
What are we going to do to stop it?
By signing this petition, you are calling on the Government to do the following:
1. Launch an investigation by the Home Affairs select committee into the actions of Home Office contractors.
2. Ensure all Home Office contractors are thoroughly vetted before being allowed to have contact with migrants.
3. Better enforce the policy that mandates that migrants are always given a minimum of five days’ notice of an inspection of their accommodation.
4. Prevent male Home Office contractors from entering accommodation that is solely occupied by women and/or children.
5. Make the police take crimes committed towards migrants seriously.
6. Raise more awareness amongst migrants of their rights once they enter the UK.
So what are you waiting for?
Sign the petition. Stand with us against this injustice in support of human rights.
Because no matter your thoughts on immigration, migrants are human beings with human rights who deserve to be protected by the laws of this country.
Check out these links for more info:
https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9737/CBP-9737.pdf
10,061
The Issue
All over the UK, Home Office contractors are violating migrants living in temporary accommodation and getting away with it. It’s time someone took a stand. Will you stand with us?
We are a group of Home Office whistleblowers who have witnessed the many abuses of power from the inside over a number of years. We have tried to change things by acting within the system, but this has not worked and now we can no longer stay silent.
Home Office contractors are empowered to do inspections on migrants in their temporary accommodation. But we have evidence of Home Office contractors abusing this power in the following ways:
· Turning up at the migrants’ homes unannounced, so that the migrants could be caught unawares in the shower, some without their hijab on and others just waking up with little clothes on etc.
· Offering money to migrants for sex – something that may be presented as a financial lifeline to migrants, as they are not allowed to work while they await the Home Office’s decision and their allowance while they wait in this limbo is a paltry £45 a week.
· Sexually harassing or even assaulting vulnerable migrants – mostly women - in their homes.
Worst of all, these horrendous abuses of power are going unreported and unpunished because of the threats made by these same contractors, who tell the migrants their asylum claims will be endangered if they report the abuse. And for any migrants brave enough to tell the police, they will find that the police are reluctant to get involved because they are migrants and so they are referred back to the Home Office migrant help system, which means the reports of abuse end up being investigated by their abusers.
We have not only seen evidence of this in our work, but have recently encountered a migrant - who we’ll call Daniel, though that is not his real name - brave enough to speak out about his and his fellow migrants’ experiences. A veteran of the British Armed Forces, Daniel’s own asylum claim should have been swiftly approved. But instead, he has been stuck in the asylum system for over two years, and is currently protesting peacefully against his treatment by the Home Office and their contractors. If you would like to learn more about what he’s been through, you can read about it here.
But Daniel is just one of the 166,300 people currently living in temporary accommodation in the UK, awaiting the results of their asylum claim. Many of them arrive traumatised by the dangerous situations they are running from, isolated from their friends and family, most of them unfamiliar with our policing and justice systems, uncertain of their rights in the UK. These are very vulnerable people already going through a challenging time in the UK asylum system, which the UNHCR and The British Red Cross say "leaves asylum seekers at serious risk of exploitation and human trafficking” (read the full report here). They can be stuck in that system, their whole life on hold, for years. And during that time, they are being abused by the very people who are supposed to be keeping them safe.
If we don’t speak up for them, no-one else will.
Why act now?
In the course of our work, we have seen migrants’ treatment getting worse and worse as the number of migrants emigrating to this country increases and the political pressures on the Government with it. We have tried improving the system ourselves from within, but our reports were not taken seriously and so now our only option to improve the situation is to go public. The more people who sign this petition, the more likely it is that the Home Office will be forced to overhaul this corrupt system.
What are we going to do to stop it?
By signing this petition, you are calling on the Government to do the following:
1. Launch an investigation by the Home Affairs select committee into the actions of Home Office contractors.
2. Ensure all Home Office contractors are thoroughly vetted before being allowed to have contact with migrants.
3. Better enforce the policy that mandates that migrants are always given a minimum of five days’ notice of an inspection of their accommodation.
4. Prevent male Home Office contractors from entering accommodation that is solely occupied by women and/or children.
5. Make the police take crimes committed towards migrants seriously.
6. Raise more awareness amongst migrants of their rights once they enter the UK.
So what are you waiting for?
Sign the petition. Stand with us against this injustice in support of human rights.
Because no matter your thoughts on immigration, migrants are human beings with human rights who deserve to be protected by the laws of this country.
Check out these links for more info:
https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9737/CBP-9737.pdf
10,061
Petition created on July 11, 2023