NICO

Nico has lived in Britain for twelve years and claimed asylum in 2010. He is also a friend and supporter of the Refugee Survival Trust. A few weeks ago we launched our RST animation and Nico spoke about his first-hand experience of destitution within the asylum system.

Although Scotland is now his home, Nico hails from Zimbabwe. When Nico was in his early teens he was forced to flee the country due to persecution of his tribe at the hands of supporters of the President, Robert Mugabe, and his Zanu-PF party. This repression took the form of acts of violence that left thousands dead; Nico’s relatives and tribe were amongst those killed. Nico fled to South Africa to escape this political tyranny. Nico carved out a tenuous life in South Africa and worked for seven years. He eventually saved enough money for a plane ticket to Britain, and secured a promise of work from a contact.

Nico arrived legally in Britain with a visitor's visa, but due to a lack of knowledge of the British asylum system was unaware that his circumstances would fit such a claim. Nico got by on low paid work, until the agency requested that his wages be paid into a bank account. The bank flagged Nico up as suspicious. He was arrested by police outside the branch, charged with attempted fraud and sent to Edinburgh’s Saughton prison for 3 months. After his three month incarceration Nico was found innocent by a court that recognised he was merely working in order to survive. He was then transferred to immigration detention at Dungavel.

“I knew that it was dangerous to go to the bank. They could ask questions that I didn’t have answers for. I did it because I was very tired of hiding. When you are living and working illegally there is so much you can’t do, so many limitations and you don’t feel free. I was very tired of this.”

At Dungavel Nico proceeded with his application for asylum in Britain. He felt his claim was strong since he couldn't return to Zimbabwe for fear of persecution or to South Africa since he had been living and working there unofficially.  Nico describes his Home Office interview to claim asylum as one of the worst experiences of his life: 

“You have to relive the experiences that forced you to leave while also being interrogated about the truth of every aspect."

Upon his release from Dungavel, Nico was given a small amount of asylum support but this was quickly cut off. He then relied entirely upon the generosity of friends and the good work of Scottish charities. Nico testifies that the work of an organisation like the Refugee Survival Trust can be vital to somebody in this position, the money we provide:

“Allows vulnerable asylum seekers to keep going at the hardest time.”

His asylum claim and his appeal were both refused. During his appeal Nico got to see the statement he reportedly gave during his initial asylum interview, there was a lot in it he didn’t recognise:

“It wasn’t what I had said, parts had been added and other parts missed.”

For Nico, the uncertainty is ongoing. The Home Office’s inability to return him to Zimbabwe or South Africa and their refusal to accept that he is a legitimate refugee has left him in a tragically common asylum system limbo.

 Nico’s story highlights the important work that must go on with numerous other asylum seekers and refugees. People left homeless or without any money, as Nico was, need somewhere to turn when they have nowhere else to go; the Refugee Survival Trust provides this crucial money when people slip through the asylum net and there is no-one to support them. 

You can become a member of the Refugee Survival Trust for only £2 per month (with concessions available). Click through or email communications@rst.org.uk.

You can also make a one-off £5 donation by txting DEST01 £5 to 70070.

Meadows Marathon - The Aftermath

We came, we ran, we’re knackered. The Meadows Marathon was a big success. Our team were kitted out with their suitcases, full of all the things they would take if forced to flee the country. I played the part of someone forced to flee with nothing, admittedly not a massively illustrative portrayal since I was dressed for bed (dressing gown and all) but you get the idea.

We managed to hand out lots of leaflets to unwitting passers-by, talk up the Trust to other runners and two of us finished joint 50^th out of about 170 runners; not too shabby since we were carrying a placard and a suitcase between us.

Huge thanks go out to all who have donated through our Virgin Giving page. If you want to do some ‘retrospective sponsorship’ head over to the page, we’ll keep it open for a bit longer.

You can find us on Twitter @RefugeeSurvival; we use the hashtag #refugeedestitution. Here we are on Facebook too: http://on.fb.me/y1PHfl.

It's All Happening!

My frantic (see occasional) training for the Meadows half marathon will prove worthwhile, but not for the reasons I assumed. I thought I would need all my stamina for a long run round the Meadows. I still will do, but it is now going to be more of a team effort and over a shorter distance.

In short, the half marathon is out and the 5.6k 'fun run' is in. But hold on there! Before you condemn our laziness, we're planning to do something a bit more interesting.

The RST running team - you could say the 'refugee runners', go on, say it - will be packing up our suitcases with all the things we would try and take if forced to flee at short notice. Since refugees are generally able to take almost nothing when forced to flee we aim to illustrate the hard journey that they face and all that they must leave behind.

We'll be making frivalous selections to weigh us down and increase the challenge. We'll also have some signs explaining what we have in our bags and nice new RST t-shirts. We're going to look the business.

We will also be asking what YOU would take and why.

So, if you want to join our team, with your fully loaded rucksack in hand, drop me an email at communications@rst.org.uk.

If you want to support our fundraising, take a look at our virgin giving page: http://bit.ly/xLWER6. The money will go straight to supporting refugees in Scotland forced to leave everything behind.

And please let us know what items you would most want to take. You can find us on Twitter @RefugeeSurvival and use the hashtag #refugeedestitution.

The Beginning

by Alistair - Communications intern at RST,

Progress! I have ran. It wasn't pretty but there's no denying that it happened, particularly because my huffing and wheezing was audible for miles around. I made Arthur's Seat my first challenge and circumnavigated (a grand word for a grand achievement) the damn thing.

Reality Check. I started to feel guilty watching the first half of the rugby on Sunday. Scotland were still looking somewhat promising and all that effort spurred me to go for a run. I arrived back half the man I was when I left, and I only did 3 miles! I crawled to the tv and discovered that Scotland were well on the way to defeat. Definite low point. More training is needed.

The Team. One of our volunteers, Tom, is getting on board. We also have our development manager, and serial runner, Michelle on board. It's a three person wolfpack so far; I'll try and enlarge our sweaty trio over the next few days. Note to self - don't call it a 'wolfpack' or 'sweaty trio' when trying to recruit runners.

If you want to join our dedicated team of runners or keep us at arms length but raise some sponsorship for the Refugee Survival Trust, please get involved! You can sign up to run for RST on the MEADOWS MARATHON WEBSITE or you can email me at communications@rst.org.uk. If you raise £30 for us we'll give you back your registration fee!

Welcome to the new Refugee Survival Trust blog. We will use this platform to give people a greater insight into the work of all our staff and volunteers; we also want to publicise the small acts that can make a big difference in the lives of refugees and asylum seekers. Our first posts will focus on our ‘bus passes for destitute asylum seekers’ scheme.

Bus Pass Case Study: Solomon

By Alistair

Communications and Fundraising

I have been doing a lot of work recently to promote our new bus pass scheme. We have been getting a really good response and it has been very satisfying to see the money from our generous donors turning into £4 day bus passes that are making a real difference on the ground.

I have just read a case study one of our volunteers recently collected about Solomon (real name changed). Solomon’s story illustrates the desperate need for bus passes and the big positive effect they can have on asylum seekers’ lives.

Solomon is disabled and uses a wheelchair. He claimed asylum in 2009 and only received full asylum support for his first three months in the UK.  Since then he has gone through sporadic periods receiving small levels of financial support broken up by periods of destitution. Currently Solomon has accommodation but no financial support. He relies totally on two women, volunteers from a local church, who help meet his health and travel needs. Solomon’s poor health means he must undertake weekly hospital visits while also finding a way to report, monthly, to the UKBA and visit his solicitor whenever is necessary.

For Solomon every new appointment is stressful; his dependence on others is humiliating. Solomon says he is exhausted by the pressure of his ongoing claim for asylum, the fear of being sent back to the West African country he fled and the sense of hopelessness that stems from destitution.

Giving Solomon a weekly bus pass would have a significant positive effect on his life. He would finally have some capability to attend his appointments without relying on others and it would rid him of one of his biggest financial burdens.

Our bus pass scheme is very simple. BY texting FARE02 4 to 70070 you donate £4. This money will then buy a day bus pass for a destitute asylum seeker. Every penny you give will go directly to buying bus passes.

Over the coming weeks we will have posts from other RST volunteers and associates who have spoken to asylum seekers benefiting from the bus pass scheme. In typical RST style we have also seen this project as an opportunity to gain insight into the volume and demography of the people who need support; we will have some early statistics to share with you soon. Keep your eyes on this blog to hear how the program is developing.