The Asylum Support Appeals Project warmly invites you to attend our annual Conference:

 

Action Against Asylum Homelessness

 

Tuesday 24 February 2015

Civic Hall – Banquet Hall

Calverley Street, Leeds LS1 1UR

The event aims to bring together organisations supporting asylum seekers and irregular migrants, enabling participants to share information, ideas and strategies for tackling asylum homelessness. Talks and workshops will cover practical, legal, political and policy aspects of this important area. Please see the updated agenda for descriptions of each workshop.

Please RSVP before 23 January.

 In collaboration with:    

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Free Reasonable Steps workshop

Based on the findings of our 2014 report “The next Reasonable Steps” ASAP is running a free workshop on Section 4 Reasonable Steps appeals.

The workshop will take place in London on Monday 19^th January 2015 between 1-4pm.

This event is aimed at advisers who have pre-existing knowledge of the Section 4 support criteria and who make applications for asylum support. One place will be given per organisation on a first come first served basis. ASAP has a limited budget to reimburse travel costs to small organisations outside London. The workshop is free however we ask for a refundable deposit of £20 to guarantee a place.

To book a place or for further information please email marie-anne@asaproject.org.uk

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ASAP has carried out extensive research on the quality of Home Office decision-making, in particular on the content and application of its policy for Section 4 support under the “all reasonable steps” criteria. The research found that more decisions than is usual were overturned by the asylum support Tribunal and revealed concerns with the way in which the Home Office handle these complex cases.

View the report, The Next Reasonable Steps, here.

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Close the Protection Gap

 No woman seeking asylum should have to tell her story:
• in front of her children
• to a male interviewer or interpreter if she is not comfortable with this
• to someone who doesn’t understand how trauma affects memory
• without being given counselling
• without information about her rights as a woman in the asylum system

You can make a real difference to women seeking asylum in the UK, simply by signing a postcard to your MP.

Go to: http://www.asylumaid.org.uk/protectiongap/

 When Malaika is raped by soldiers during the civil war in her country she is protected by William Hague’s and Angelina Jolie’s international promises. But if Malaika flees to the UK for safety she isn’t guaranteed that help. Help like having a female interviewer or interpreter. Help like childcare at her asylum interview. And psychological support and counselling if she needs it.

We believe that women seeking asylum should have the same rights as other women facing human rights abuses. We want the Home Secretary to take action and put these rights in place.

But we need your help…

 Please take just a couple of minutes of your time to select and sign one of our Postcards for Protection, and it will be printed and delivered to your local MP.

Go to: http://www.asylumaid.org.uk/protectiongap/

Every postcard sent will help towards making sure the voices of women seeking asylum are heard. So, thank you in advance for taking part.

This is a Women’s Asylum Charter campaign supported by over 350 organisations including us.

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New briefing notes on Section 4 support available.  Please got to Research & Publications for more information.

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