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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/28/government-terrorise-uk-residents-britain
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| Long-term UK residents are being denied their basic rights | |
| (8 days later) | |
| Imagine you are a 60-year-old who has just been referred to the hospital for vital treatment by your GP. You are nervous and worried about your health situation. Then, out of the blue, you are told by the NHS that they can’t treat you because you don’t have your passport from 50 years ago. | Imagine you are a 60-year-old who has just been referred to the hospital for vital treatment by your GP. You are nervous and worried about your health situation. Then, out of the blue, you are told by the NHS that they can’t treat you because you don’t have your passport from 50 years ago. |
| Or that, after a lifetime of working here in the UK, you are made redundant. You get a new job, and then your new employer tells you they can’t offer you the position after all because you can’t prove your right to work in the UK – despite having lived and worked here lawfully for decades. | Or that, after a lifetime of working here in the UK, you are made redundant. You get a new job, and then your new employer tells you they can’t offer you the position after all because you can’t prove your right to work in the UK – despite having lived and worked here lawfully for decades. |
| In fact, you arrived in the UK as a teenager to join your parents, and your life is not different from the lives of your neighbours born and raised here, but suddenly you are told you don’t have the right to work or even rent your home any longer, and find yourself destitute and homeless. You try to get in touch with the Home Office to find out what you need to do to solve this situation, but it takes them over six months to get back to you. And when they do, they tell you to seek legal advice, which you cannot afford – especially since you’ve lost your right to work and are now homeless. | In fact, you arrived in the UK as a teenager to join your parents, and your life is not different from the lives of your neighbours born and raised here, but suddenly you are told you don’t have the right to work or even rent your home any longer, and find yourself destitute and homeless. You try to get in touch with the Home Office to find out what you need to do to solve this situation, but it takes them over six months to get back to you. And when they do, they tell you to seek legal advice, which you cannot afford – especially since you’ve lost your right to work and are now homeless. |
| In some cases it is left to the individual to produce evidence for each and every year they have been in the UK | In some cases it is left to the individual to produce evidence for each and every year they have been in the UK |
| At Praxis Community Projects, a charity I run, based in east London, we work with a steadily increasing number of people experiencing this surreal nightmare, particularly individuals who moved to the UK from Commonwealth countries in the 1960s and 70s, and who now find themselves, as they age and are at a point of crisis, denied support from a country that has been their home – and where they’ve paid taxes – for most of their lives. | At Praxis Community Projects, a charity I run, based in east London, we work with a steadily increasing number of people experiencing this surreal nightmare, particularly individuals who moved to the UK from Commonwealth countries in the 1960s and 70s, and who now find themselves, as they age and are at a point of crisis, denied support from a country that has been their home – and where they’ve paid taxes – for most of their lives. |
| While this group of people moved here lawfully and were generally granted “settlement”, as it used to be called, if they’ve lost the passport with which they arrived almost 50 years ago, they might have no way to prove their rights. | While this group of people moved here lawfully and were generally granted “settlement”, as it used to be called, if they’ve lost the passport with which they arrived almost 50 years ago, they might have no way to prove their rights. |
| In some cases we have been told that the Home Office keeps records for only 15 years. In these instances, it is left to the individual to prove their rights by producing official documentary evidence for each and every year they have been in the UK. The Home Office might not accept this evidence, and in many cases such evidence no longer exists. It is even harder to produce for women who have stayed at home to look after their families, or people who have been unable to work owing to illness. | In some cases we have been told that the Home Office keeps records for only 15 years. In these instances, it is left to the individual to prove their rights by producing official documentary evidence for each and every year they have been in the UK. The Home Office might not accept this evidence, and in many cases such evidence no longer exists. It is even harder to produce for women who have stayed at home to look after their families, or people who have been unable to work owing to illness. |
| Thousands of individuals who have lived lawfully in the UK for decades are now potentially facing an astonishingly high burden of proof to demonstrate their status. In the meantime, they remain locked out of the system. | Thousands of individuals who have lived lawfully in the UK for decades are now potentially facing an astonishingly high burden of proof to demonstrate their status. In the meantime, they remain locked out of the system. |
| This is the result of recent “hostile environment” measures introduced by the government designed to prevent undocumented migrants from accessing services, and so forcing them to leave the UK. | This is the result of recent “hostile environment” measures introduced by the government designed to prevent undocumented migrants from accessing services, and so forcing them to leave the UK. |
| But these measures are having a much wider impact, hitting those who are legally resident but unable to prove it. They have created an atmosphere of fear – as people are threatened with deportation and face discriminatory requests at every turn to prove their entitlement to services. | But these measures are having a much wider impact, hitting those who are legally resident but unable to prove it. They have created an atmosphere of fear – as people are threatened with deportation and face discriminatory requests at every turn to prove their entitlement to services. |
| The full impact of the situation is emerging gradually, as people are encountering this only when they hit some barrier – for example being refused access to a service, or in some cases being refused re-entry to the UK, having gone on holiday. | The full impact of the situation is emerging gradually, as people are encountering this only when they hit some barrier – for example being refused access to a service, or in some cases being refused re-entry to the UK, having gone on holiday. |
| We are calling on the government to take full responsibility for this situation and to implement a fair, fast system to recognise the rights of those long-term residents who have become victims of its “hostile environment” policy. | We are calling on the government to take full responsibility for this situation and to implement a fair, fast system to recognise the rights of those long-term residents who have become victims of its “hostile environment” policy. |
| The stories of Albert Thompson and Sarah O’Connor have rightly provoked compassion and outrage from the public. People like Albert and Sarah must have their rights recognised and be given the treatment and support they need. The government must ensure that it takes measures to protect their rights, recognising that they are victims of a world that has changed around them. | The stories of Albert Thompson and Sarah O’Connor have rightly provoked compassion and outrage from the public. People like Albert and Sarah must have their rights recognised and be given the treatment and support they need. The government must ensure that it takes measures to protect their rights, recognising that they are victims of a world that has changed around them. |
| • Sally Daghlian is CEO of Praxis Community Projects | • Sally Daghlian is CEO of Praxis Community Projects |
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