16. Memorandum from Mr Stephen Pattison
I attended the public evidence session of the
Joint Committee on Human Rights on 19 January and found it most
interesting. During the questioning of the Commission on Racial
Equality (CRE) there was some degree of hesitancy when asked about
how effective the Government has been in combating racism against
asylum seekers. Whilst in no way wishing to be critical of the
CRE, I found myself in a position of being able to answer the
question in some form.
I recently completed an MA Human Rights at UCL
and for my dissertation wrote about the effect of the Human Rights
Act on the provision of social support for people seeking asylum.
As part of this project I undertook an in-depth study of the case
of Newcastle upon Tyne, mostly based on interviews with local
officials and people involved in asylum support services. Although
it is just one city, the case of Newcastle is of great interest
as there has been a perceived backlash against the influx of people
seeking asylum who have been relocated to Newcastle. This has
in turn been stirred up by far right groups giving it racial overtones
and increasing levels of racial abuse and violence in certain
areas of Newcastle. I have enclosed a full copy of my dissertation
for your attention[175],
but would like to briefly summarise my own personal findings on
governmental action to combat racism against asylum seekers—
— The sudden influx of asylum seekers
into Newcastle and the grouping of them together created an easy
collective target. The non-individualisation of the asylum process
also helped form this diverse group of people into a perceived
homogenous group that was easy to direct hostility against.
— The housing policies of National
Asylum Support Service (NASS) through the allocation of private
housing contracts contributed greatly to the development of racial
tensions. Many of the private housing contracts were taken out
in the most deprived areas of Newcastle with hugh social problems
in themselves. This led to the widespread propagation of myths
against asylum seekers and a feeling that they were receiving
special treatment above that of the indigenous residents. The
initial housing policies and rush to relocate people seeking asylum
to the regions created the situation within which racism could
develop.
— This feeling was in particular created
and nurtured through far right groups and the perceived homogonous
nature of people seeking asylum made them a collective target
for abuse.
— The response to this was left largely
to the city council. The regional Asylum and Refugee umbrella
organisation—The North East Consortium for Asylum and Refugee
Support Services—produced a Myth Buster to try and combat
the hostility against people seeking asylum. However, it was left
to the city council to try and create their own solutions. Such
was the local feeling that at early public meetings to try and
reassure the public that council workers feared for their own
safety.
— NASS was seen as being very dictatorial
and unwilling to compromise at first, or listen to alternative
view points regarding good practice. The private contracts meant
that the City Council had little or no knowledge of where many
people were being housed outside of the large accommodation centres—limiting
their capacity to help them when situations of abuse occurred
and preventing the abused individuals from effectively accessing
support services. The asylum unit in the housing agency "Your
Homes Newcastle" has a very good reputation, but has always
been playing catch-up after the initial relocation of people seeking
asylum to Newcastle because of the use of private contracts.
— The housing authority did appoint
an asylum issues community support officer, but she has had to
resign on ill-health grounds due to the stress of her position.
She suffered regular abuse in the community because of it. She
also noted that because her position was created, many people
working in the community for the Council felt that asylum issues
were her remit and took no notice themselves.
— Government policy, in conclusion,
has created problems through the need to rapidly disperse individuals
during the late 1990s and the early years of this decade. The
local authority has been left largely to develop the solutions
itself, but now feels that Government is becoming more responsive
to its requests and proposals. For a while it was felt that NASS
in particular was very dictatorial and acted in a way that at
times was contrary to the needs of people seeking asylum and in
turn allowed the conditions for local hostility and racism to
develop.
I hope my own observations are useful to the
JCHR and not seen in any way to be attempting to cast the CRE
in a negative light.
Stephen Pattison
25 January 2005
175 Not printed here.
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