Our August Update: Standing with asylum seekers and Migrants

Summer’s ending, the attacks on refugees continue
For the second summer running, far-right racists spent August attacking hotels housing asylum seekers. A hotel in Epping has been at the epicentre, with the local council challenging its use as asylum accommodation in the High Court.
 
Ultimately, last week the court overturned an injunction stating that the government must remove all residents by mid-September. The legal battle over the hotel’s future continues though.
 
To be clear, RAMFEL supports the closure of these hotels. They are awful places, vermin infested, unsanitary and serving inedible food. We’ve been saying they should be closed for years, yet it seems the government is only interested when Nigel Farage’s lapdogs are targeting these hotels.
 
Our Head of Campaigning spoke about the harm these hotels cause on LBC, Radio 5 and on ITV News, and was also quoted in the Financial Times and the Washington Post.
 
Afghan data breach – let affected families reunite
In July, it was revealed that a catastrophic data breach saw the UK government expose the details of more than 18,000 Afghan nationals and their family members. This put these peoples’ lives at risk from Taliban reprisals.
 
In the aftermath of the Taliban’s 2021 takeover, the British government evacuated Afghans who had supported UK efforts, and has since resettled more such people. However, as these people have not been granted refugee status in the conventional sense, they are not eligible for family reunion, meaning many remain separated from their loved ones.
 
We coordinated a letter signed by 54 organisations calling on the government to confirm that all Afghans resettled in the UK are eligible for family reunion. This letter can be viewed in full on our website and was covered in The Independent.  
 
We want to hear from you
Do you know how much it costs to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK? Whether you do or you don’t, we want to hear from you.
 
Throughout August, we’ve been running a survey on the costs involved in securing permanent immigration status. If you want to have your say, you can do so here:

Click here if you are on the 10 year route

click here if you are part of the general public

​It only takes a few minutes, and your answers will help us campaign for a fee waiver for people who simply can’t afford this cost and are priced out of permanent immigration status.
 
August’s casework wins
As always, it was busy month and our caseworkers secured life-changing victories:
✅9 people were granted leave to remain
✅11 people secured permanent immigration status
✅3 people were given British citizenship
✅10 families overcame homelessness