June, 2006
The political rhetoric of the immigration/asylum debate has helped to create a climate where the Government wants to be seen to be active in removing people with criminal convictions, those without documents (including visa overstayers) and people whose asylum claims have been unsuccessful. There are targets for numbers to be removed and large numbers of deportations are trumpeted as a sign of political success.
Immigration officers, acting on behalf of the Home Office, have the right to detain anyone they suspect of committing an immigration offence, people waiting for a decision on an application for asylum this country or about to be removed. in practice this may include people who have strayed across the border, people seeking asylum who live in the community but who are thought to have broken the Home Office conditions e.g. by spending time away from home or by getting paid work. Detention periods may be very short or quite lengthy.
Immigration detention
The issue of immigration detention in Northern Ireland has given concern for some time. Numbers have risen over the years and there have been anxieties around treatment and conditions. In the past, the major campaigning issue was around the stigmatising of people who had not been convicted of any crime but were held in prison or prison-like conditions. A number of bodies here, including the Churches, have made representations to Government over the years. Partly because of this, male detainees were no longer housed in prison but moved to a dedicated wing in a small prison ‘work out unit’ on Belfast’s Crumlin Road in 2004. In the same year all women prisoners and female immigration detainees were moved from Maghaberry prison to Hydebank Wood Young Offenders’ Centre.
People Trafficking and People Smuggling
When people are ‘smuggled’ or ‘trafficked’ it means that they cross international borders in an unauthorised way. Both involve breaking the law. The difference is that people who are smuggled are assumed to have given their consent, and people who are trafficked are moved against their will.
There are many grey areas. People may be very willing to move because of appalling poverty or fear, and for some people travelling with legal documents is just not an option. Others may think they are going to have proper jobs in a new country, only to find they are in the power of gangsters, or have been misled about the work or remuneration. Often, in either trafficking or smuggling, people end up with a large financial debt, owed to the person who smuggled or trafficked them. There can also be subtle ways in which somebody is ‘bound’ to, for example, someone from their own country who has arranged for transport and employment, and to assert one’s rights would seem to be breaking a debt of honour. Stricter border controls and entry requirements create an underground economy where money is made in providing fraudulent papers, help with transport, guided border crossings, and the facilitation of jobs and accomodation.
Often, it is assumed that people trafficking only refers to the movement of people for sexual exploitation but the economic exploitation of people is also common - a modern form of slavery. This is a dark area. It is difficult to establish facts, so rumour thrives. We need to beware of hysteria but at the same time be aware that there are people who have come here by travelling in terrible conditions, or are trapped here by criminals and do not know how to improve their situation. The arrival of unaccompanied minors is also often a cause for concern.
Rev. Becky Dudley who has undertaken research locally, says:
‘Hard data is difficult to find, but professionals and community workers have encountered a cause for concern about trafficking in four areas: exploited labour; women and girls who are exploited, including in the sex industry; unaccompanied minors arriving in Northern Ireland; and young people (born in Northern Ireland) who are being systematically sexually exploited.’
Her research, on behalf of Women’s Aid, can be read here Women’s Aid [pdf]
For a discussion of the definitions, read the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime paper, Distinguishing between Human trafficking and People Smuggling [pdf]
People smugglers make profits by helping people enter countries without the proper authority, for example by organising transport and false documentation. There are, however, many people such as Oscar Schindler, who help refugees flee persecution not for profit, but out of compassion, and they are often confused with people smugglers. National Council for Churches in Australia
The situation in Europe
Governments and non-governmental organisations have become increasingly worried about the illegal movement of people. EU enlargement, world poverty, war, cheap travel, a fluid labour market and criminal gangs, all combine to make people smuggling and trafficking more likely.
Some examples:
2004 figures show that 32 out of 33 London Boroughs were concerned over trafficked children. (Amnesty International UK, 14/10/04)
A rising influx of eastern European women are trafficked to London for sex work: They face rape, beatings, threats of slavery, and are forced to have sex with up to 40 men a day for little income. (Guardian, 11/02/05)
Police have found that hundreds of Turkish boys have been brought to the UK to work in restaurants over the past few years. (UNICEF, Child Labour Today, 2/05)
The government of Malta has been accused of turning a blind eye when issuing visas to likely victims of trafficking. Trafficking agents in China market Malta as an easy gateway into the European Union. (Malta today, 4 and 10 April 2005)
The Italian government has claimed that armed Maltese traffickers force Chinese passengers to jump to shore to avoid Italian surveillance. If they refuse, they are beaten, sometimes to death. (Malta Today, 4 and 10 April 2005)
Source: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Newsletter Vol 13 No 1 Spring 2006 http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/
Response by Christians in Britain
A consultation day to alert Christians to trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation was organised by CHASTE (churches alert to sex trafficking) in order to encourage Christians to become more aware and involved with the issue. The government has just concluded consultation on a draft action plan to tackle trafficking and presently operate the Poppy scheme, providing safe housing for 25 women. This provision is for the whole of the UK but it does not cover the need. Issues raised by the action plan include the following: are the government right in not providing automatic asylum status to victims of trafficking? Should the government give an automatic period of time for people to reflect on their situation?
Little is known about the full extent of trafficking for sexual exploitation within the UK, primarily because of its secretive and highly dangerous nature. The consultation day hoped to encourage further research in order to respond more effectively.
Useful Organisations:
CHASTE
PO Box 983, Cambridge, CB3 8WY tel: 0845 456 9335 www.chaste.org.uk
National Christian Alliance on Prostitution:
NCAP PO Box 37077, London, E15 4XR, tel: 08450044231, www.ncapuk.org
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army has an anti-trafficking resource pack with a DVD of a short movie, 1 sermon outline, 2 posters and other information costing £5. They can be obtained from:
The Salvation Army Anti-Trafficking Campaign, International Development, 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN, UK www.salvationarmy.org.uk/internationaldevelopment
CROP
This is a voluntary organisation, which was founded in 1996 by Irene Ivison whose 17 year old daughter Fiona was murdered in 1993 3 weeks after being coerced into working in street prostitution. (See Fiona’s Story Virago Press.) Address: 34 York Rd, Leeds, LS9 8TA, www.crop1.org.uk
Ireland
The Conference of the Religious in Ireland in the north, CORI(NI), co-hosted a seminar with the Law Centre, Belfast, in December 2005, ‘The Face of Human Trafficking: A Haunting Cry in Our Time’. Dr Helene Hayes, whose international research led to the book, The Voices of Trafficked Women, led the seminar which had as a focus the aspiration that the international trade can be countered by international networks of people who explore and find ways to oppose it.
The seminar highlighted the deeply traumatising effect on women:
the deep sense of loss; self blame and low self worth; sense of denial; loss of identity; the loss of trust in other people; isolation, without family and friends; the fear of violence, sexually transmitted disease, especially HIV and AIDS. Rehabilitation can take years and involves the giving of unconditional love, rebuilding identity and the capacity to love and trust, and creating new dreams for the future.
An ad hoc CORI anti-trafficking working group has issued a leaflet, Trafficking of People;Modern Day Slavery,to provide information for Catholic religious on the issue of trafficking.
The official view of the local situation
It is very difficult to make absolute statements about what is happening here. On the one hand, in a written answer to a question from David Simpson MP, Tony McNulty Minister of State (Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality) at the Home Office wrote 24 January 2006:
(a) It is not possible to state with accuracy the number of people smuggled illegally into Northern Ireland over each of the last five years. The nature of facilitation is such that many of those who have been facilitated may state if encountered that they entered by themselves on a false passport or stowed away without assistance, or similar response. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary it is often not possible to disprove the subject’s claimed method of entry.
(b) The Police Service of Northern Ireland has conducted a number of inquiries into suggestions of people-trafficking to Northern Ireland for the purposes of prostitution. There is presently no evidence to suggest that this is taking place in Northern Ireland. The Police Service of Northern Ireland is acutely aware of the problems experienced in other jurisdictions and they continue to monitor the situation closely.
However Paul Goggins, NI Security minister is reported as saying that women are working as sex slaves here, with police seemingly powerless to act because the women claim they are doing it on a voluntary basis. ‘Many are not ready to say straight away that they are victims of trafficking.’ He said that a new immigration unit and enforcement team to be operational in Northern Ireland later in the year was specifically to tackle the problem of people smuggling. ‘Human trafficking – is certainly not at the level it is elsewhere in the UK, but it certainly is a more pressing issue than it was’. Daily Mirror, 8 June 2006.
There have already been indications that the police are not complacent about the issue. In a talk at Queen’s University on 28 January 2006, a PSNI detective inspector spoke of the lucrative brothel business in Northern Ireland. She is reported as indicating that:
‘The horrible phenomenon of women packed into vans and lorries and imported to the UK to work as prostitutes has so far not been seen in Northern Ireland. Her prediction is that human trafficking of this kind, where women are held under duress, will arrive as trafficking routes extend to include Belfast airports.’
Full Report [pdf]
People smuggling and exploitation in the agricultural sector
As long ago as 2002 a BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight programme exposed the fact that hundreds of eastern European workers had paid money in order to be smuggled into Ireland, to work on farms here on the promise of high wages. In reality they were passed on to farmers who just wanted cheap labour. On one farm, Lithuanian journalists posing for Spotlight as immigrants were paid about £1.20 an hour - a quarter of the UK minimum wage.
news.bbc.co.uk
Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings
The link between international sporting events and exploitation:
‘Give red lights red card’
The Northern Ireland Region of Soroptimist International, an organisation dedicated to the improvement of the status of women writes:
We have become concerned about information coming from the United Nations, European Union and Germany that the football World Cup, being held, this year is to be the focus for the trafficking of an estimated 40,000 women into Germany to service the prostitute trade.
Resolutions concerning this have been debated in the UN and EU. Indeed on March 8, International Women’s Day, a seminar was held in the European Parliament by FEMM, The Women’s Rights Committee, on ‘Forced Prostitution in the Framework of World Sports Events’.
Northern Ireland Soroptimists are writing to acquaint Irish men who will be going to the competition, of the situation. It is only by highlighting this issue, and by men standing against it, that this dreadful practice can be stopped.
All decent people, both men and women, cannot but be appalled at the sexual exploitation of these women, many of whom are very young. By raising our voices against it we can ensure that the traffickers are brought to justice and these women restored to their families.
FEMM’s slogan for this campaign is ‘Show the Red Card to Forced Prostitution’. The IFA used this idea very successfully against sectarianism in football in N Ireland. Please support the use of the Red Card again against this vile trade.
RITA ALLEN NI Regional President Soroptimist International, 17 April 2006
© 2006 Independent News and Media (NI) a division of Independent News & Media (UK) Ltd
belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Teaching English as a Foreign Language - Introductory Talks
EMBRACE would like thank all who came along to the two Introductory Talks:
How to Set Up a Conversational English Programme
Tuesday, 12th February 2008
Introduction to Teaching English
Tuesday, 19th February 2008
Follow-up
EMBRACE are looking at the possibility of setting up English language learning for street sellers. This would be based in south Belfast.
EMBRACE values the support of members and interested parties as it seeks to equip the church to understand and respond to the situation for minority ethnic people, and also as it acts in practical ways to meet particular requests for assistance.
You can be involved in supporting our work through giving in the following ways:
EMERGENCY FUND
The Emergency Fund is used to provide vital emergency assistance to destitute migrant workers and people seeking asylum where no other means of support, either statutory or charitable is available. Assistance may be given to provide hostel accommodation and food as a short-term stop gap whilst a longer term solution is established. It may be provided to allow someone to return to their home country when there is no reason to stay and no other means of returning. All support given is subject to meeting a set of criteria and delivered through agencies such as NASS and NICEM. To learn more about migrant worker destitution, see our migrant worker pages. If you would like to give to this fund please contact us.
MEMBERSHIP
Individuals and groups may become members of EMBRACE by registering and making an annual payment (£10 for an individual and £20 for a group). Members receive a quarterly news sheet, the EMBRACE annual update booklet and information on EMBRACE events. In addition members can be involved in working groups which gather and disseminate information, organise and support events, and focus on specific projects. For more information please contact us.
Download an EMBRACE membership form.pdf here
Download an EMBRACE gift aid form.pdf here
If you would like to contribute regularly, please contact our office to receive a standing order form.
DONATIONS
We are indebted to those who have supported the work of EMBRACE through their donations. As a voluntary organisation without core funding, the preparation of many materials and the general administration of the office could not be done without the support received in this way. If you would like to make a donation to EMBRACE please contact us.
‘The command to love your neighbour extends to everybody who lives near you and everybody you meet in the six days between attending church. … We should avoid thinking of ‘church’ as simply a ‘church’ building and instead think of ourselves as the active, committed people of God.’
Welcoming Angels, Dublin 2005, p. 40.
Many of us would love get to know new neighbours, helping them to adjust to new surroundings, and building more inclusive communities. We are concerned with the needs of people who have been forced to flee from their own countries. As change produces fear and suspicion, and there is an increase in overt racism, we want to find ways of creating bridges of trust. These are just a few ideas as to how to make a start:
Becoming a more welcoming congregation
- Ensure that your church buildings are welcoming from the outside, with clear signs.
- Language is very important, and it is helpful if people can be greeted with a phrase or two in their own language.
- Encourage newcomers to participate, for example, in reading a lesson or taking up the collection/ offertory.
- Include some aspect of the worship tradition from the country of origin, such as a song or a prayer.
- Invite members of minority ethnic Christian groups to take part in special services.
- Hold special services for example, in Refugee Week, Anti-Racism Sunday, or Holocaust Memorial Day, and invite members of minority groups to speak or attend.
- Could your premises be use for a drop-in centre to help people settle in, or host a mother and toddler group, recreation centre (sport or culture) for minority ethnic groups, English language classes, or an advice centre?
- Work with others on a welcome pack for new residents.
Increasing cultural and ethnic awareness
- Encourage racial awareness and anti-racism training in your congregation or area.
- Hold celebration meals such as harvest suppers where you might invite people from a minority ethnic group to cook for you.
- Celebrate festivals such as Chinese New Year.
- Visit cultural centres together. For example, people from a rural background, anywhere in the world, will find something in common at somewhere like the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.
- Visit the cultural centres of minority ethnic communities – such as the Indian Community Centre in Belfast, to learn, and to affirm their presence as part of a shared society.
- Learn about other people’s religious beliefs and practices by hosting an exhibition, visiting religious centres, or inviting members of other faiths to explain their religious beliefs.
- Find ways of celebrating and honouring the achievement of individuals and groups from minority ethnic populations in your community.
- Use any forum, inter-church groups, Community Safety Groups, District Policing Partnerships, to make sure that even minor acts of racism are taken seriously.
Some practical things you might do personally or in a group
- Pray for the work of EMBRACE and the building of a more welcoming community.
- Invite people from minority ethnic backgrounds to your home.
- Learn as much as you can about the issues surrounding immigration, asylum and racism so that you can counter myths and stereotyping.
- Join EMBRACE so that we can help to keep you informed about facts and issues.
- Compile a dossier about racist incidents in your area and share this with community and congregational leaders.
- Let EMBRACE know about the good and the bad news from your local area – in congregations and in the community.
- Consider training in order to volunteer to teach English as a second language, become an adult literacy tutor, volunteer as a translator, or teach computer literacy.
- Undertake race awareness or cultural diversity training.
- Volunteer with other groups such as the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities (NICEM), Multi-Cultural Resource Centre (MCRC), or Red Cross.
- Think of fund-raising ideas for the EMBRACE emergency fund.
- EMBRACE needs volunteers from time to time to provide food for picnics and parties – make sure that we have your details if you would like to help.
- Raise small amounts of money for the EMBRACE emergency fund.
- There may be other appeals for practical assistance from time to time, e.g. for emergency packs for destitute migrant workers or new asylum applicants.
For some further ideas, look at Embracing Diversity, our information update, and keep an eye on the web site for forthcoming events and appeals, and to discuss volunteering options please phone 07969921328
About
EMBRACE is a group of Christians working together to promote a positive response to people seeking asylum, refugees, migrant workers and minority ethnic people in Northern Ireland.
