Support legal challenge to keep border controls out of school

 From Against Borders for Children. Please support their crowdfunder to pay for a legal challenge to government policy. LINK 

This is particularly relevant in Brent where we have children in our schools of many different nationalities and where substantial numbers are undocumented.

--> Against Borders for Children is a coalition of parents, teachers, and campaigners.

Our aim is to reverse the Department of Education’s (DfE) policy of collecting country of birth and nationality information on 8 million children in England to help bring border controls into classrooms which was introduced in September 2016.

We've been campaigning since last year to get this policy scrapped. Now, with the support of Liberty, we’re hoping to win this in court – but we need your support to cover legal costs.
 
Collection of nationality and country of birth data is a toxic policy that has led to highly divisive and discriminatory collection practices such as asking only children assumed to be migrants to bring in passports and birth certificates.

The information is not being collected for educational purposes, but as part of a compromise with the Home Office on harsh measures that would have seen the children of undocumented migrants ‘deprioritised’ for school places. Nationality and country of birth information was going to be handed over to the Home Office as part of a broader data-sharing scheme to track down undocumented children and families through school records. Only public outcry has prevented this, and it could still be shared in the future. 

Some parents now fear sending their children to school could lead to deportation.

We believe schools should be safe for ALL children. Help us to fight this racist policy, and keep border controls out of schools!

Appeal to stop deportation of 77 year old Parkinson's disease sufferer

Appeal from M. Nadeem to support his petition LINK

My father, Hakeen Muhammad Haleem, is a frail ailing 77 year old. He has been staying with me and my family, at our expense, since 2010. He is a widower with a number of serious health issues who needs around the clock care.  Now, because he is a Pakistani citizen, the Home Office are trying to deport him -- even though it would mean he would live completely alone with nobody to care for him.

My father has suffered from vascular dementia, Parkinson’s disease, heart problems, angina, diabetes, vision limited to one eye, and of very poor quality, and has in the past had a stroke. There is no one to care for him except myself and my wife.

I am appealing to you that my father is suffering severely physically and severely mentally impaired.
I have repeatedly assured the Home Office that I and my wife will take full financial responsibility for my father’s welfare and that we have no desire or intention to claim benefits on his behalf. We only wish to be allowed to care for our father and provide a safe and loving home for him with us for his remaining years.

The present immigration rule on adult dependent relatives introduced in 2012[1] makes it almost impossible for British citizens to bring their elderly parents to live with them in the UK in their declining years. Despite these rules earlier this year 92 year old Myrtle Cothill from South Africa who was given permission to stay in the UK after more than 150,000 people signed a petition protesting against a deportation order. 

My father was born a British subject, as were his parents, surely the Home Office can extend the compassion it has showed Mrs Cothill to my father in his time of need?

We call on the Home Office and the Government to:

1)   Grant Haleem leave to remain in the UK to live out what days he has left under the care of his son and daughter in law;
2)   Reverse the amendment of the immigration rule on adult dependant relatives which came into force in July 2012 radically changing the previous rule (which was in place for over 40yrs) which allowed British nationals and other settled persons (i.e. persons with indefinite leave to remain) to be joined by their parents/grandparents aged over 65yrs if they could be accommodated and financially supported by their children/grandchildren without reliance on the public purse.
3)   Reinstate the previous immigration rule on family reunion to enable others like Haleem to be granted leave to remain in the UK.

Footnote [1] The new immigration rule only allows British citizens, and other (non-EU) settled persons, to be joined by relatives where the long-term care they require is either not available or not affordable in their country of residence, but privately payable by them in the UK – this means that the only family members who will be allowed to join their families in the UK will be those who live in countries where medical care is more expensive than in the UK or entirely non-existent.

Demonstration for Yashika 4pm today Parliament Square

Message from Oasis Academy

Dear Friends

We are having a demonstration at Parliament Square, at 4:00pm today, to call for Yashika's deportation tomorrow to be halted.

The authorities intend to force her onto a 5pm Air Mauritius flight from Heathrow at 5:00pm, alone, on Mother's Day.

Yashika is still being detained. She deserves to be at school, not locked away in Yarl's Wood as if she were a criminal.

Please join our facebook group and share widely with friends, family and supporters.https://www.facebook.com/events/1410777295849969/?fref=ts
Get down to Westminster and join our protest!

We are issuing a deadline to Theresa May to address students of Oasis Academy Hadley by 8:00pm tonight.

She has intervened to stop deportation before. She must now do the same for Yashika. She has the final decision and she must make the right choice.

We want Yashika back! #FightForYashika

CHILDREN TO BE UPROOTED AT SHORT NOTICE RATHER THAN DETAINED

The decision to end the detention of children in immigration centres, more than 1,000 in the last year of the Labour government,  was one of the few made by the Coalition government that I welcomed. The detention of children and the physical and psychological damage done to them was a national scandal.

However the Guardian reports today that the UK Border Agency is launching a scheme to deport families within a two week period, preventing them from having enough time to organise the move, seek legal advice, settle their affairs and prepare their children for the move. The UKBA document leaked to the Socialist Worker expresses fears that ending detention could result in more community campaigns against deportation supported by the media and MPs.

In a previous post  last year I put forward the view that the authorities preferred to detain children because if they attended school there was a possibility of campaigns in their support:

I believe that one of the reasons that detention is favoured by this Government, and previous ones, is that schools as institutions have become highly effective at mounting campaigns against the deportation of pupils as well as supporting their needs. Schools are legally required to support racial equality and often have policies committed to social justice. Refugee and asylum seeker's children establish friendships in the school and their families begin to make links with the local community. These friendships and connections challenge negative stereotypes as refugees and asylum seekers become real people, with names, characters, emotions and histories and earn the respect of the host community.

The Guardian confirms this view:

'Nicola Rea (the author of the document and head of service, asylum, refugee and immigration services),  also raises concerns that children will continue to attend school once a family has been warned of removal, which could cause problems with other children and teachers campaigning to stop the deportation'

Too right!