City of Sanctuary Sheffield have closed their drop-in centre but are maintaining support services by phone and online. The charity is coordinating aid to some of the most vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers to stay safe during the coronavirus crisis. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Dozens of people joined a Sheffield march at the weekend to highlight the plight of refugees and migrants stranded in Libyan detention centres and at risk of torture, rape or being sold into slavery. Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 Libya has been divided by competing military factions. Migrants and refugees face indefinite detention in notoriously dangerous holding centres which have been condemned by United Nations observers. Tchiyiwe Chihana reports for Sheffield Live!
A new partnership between six charity organisation and Sheffield Council is underway to support refugees granted status to stay in the UK. Sheffield Project for Refugee Integration and Growth (SPRING) is a European funded initiative to enable refugees to meet their potential and integrate into the local community. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
A delegation from Sheffield’s Stand Up To Racism campaign have returned from Calais after delivering aid to destitute refugees. The aid workers, including city councillor Zahira Naz, distributed warm clothing and other donated items. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
A Sheffield-based migration rights group is calling on the government to assure safe passage for refugees and asylum seekers crossing the Channel to enter the UK. Stuart Crossthwaite, of the South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group, said the government should provide a “safe and legal route to allow people to exercise their rights to claim asylum”. The comments came as Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced two additional UK Border Force boats will be deployed to patrol the Channel. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Campaigners have handed a petition to Sheffield Council to end the use of the Earl Marshall Guest House in Burngreave to house the children of migrants and refugees. The guest house is routinely used to accommodate single homeless men and concerns have been expressed at the safety of co-housing vulnerable mothers and children. Campaigners claim previous assurances by the council the practice will stop have not been implemented. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Dozens have joined a rally outside the Sheffield Town Hall to show support for migrants and refugees and the right to freedom of movement. The rally under the banners “Don’t scrap freedom of movement” and “Migrants are welcome in Sheffield,” comes following publication of government plans for post Brexit immigration controls. Sheffield Live! reporter Baillor Jalloh spoke to organiser Ed Maltby.
Dozens of anti-immigration campaigners travelled from Sheffield to the Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre in Lincolnshire to protest against what they described as the cruel and inhumane treatment of asylum seekers. The protest was organised by the Sheffield branch of Student Action for Refugees together with South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Sheffield Council is to receive government funding to help new refugees find work and to integrate into the local community. The fund will pay for two local authority project workers who will provide support to access housing and services and to assist entry into employment. Baillor jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
A Sheffield-hosted conference on housing conditions for asylum seekers and refugees has called for an end to the outsourcing of contracts to security firms such as G4S. The event, organised by South Yorkshire Migration, Asylum and Action Group, comes amid growing concern over a new £4 billion asylum housing contract. G4S has provided accommodation for asylum seekers in South Yorkshire since 2012, after signing a regional contract, and the company has declared interest in bidding for the new scheme, expected to start in September 2019. A report by the Home Affairs Select Committee in 2017 described living standards in some asylum accommodation as disgraceful, with overcrowding and infestations of vermin. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!