The British Red Cross’s Refugee Support Team in Bristol is raising money for smartphones for asylum seekers who are destitute or placed in hotels across the city. It is working in partnership with Bristol Defend Asylum Seekers Campaign.
It comes as new figures obtained by the Refugee Council show the asylum backlog has increased fourfold in the past five years, with over 40,000 people waiting a year or more for their asylum claim to be processed by the Home Office. Serious concerns have been raised over the safeguarding of children, who in the worst cases are stuck in hotel rooms or overcrowded accommodation for up to five years.
Those in hotel rooms have a weekly allowance of £8.25 and do not legally have the right to work. In Bristol the British Red Cross currently supports 200 asylum seekers and most of them do not have mobile phones.
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Qerim Nuredini arrived in Bristol in 1999 to seek asylum after escaping the genicide in Kosovo. He is now the refugee service manager in Bristol for the British Red Cross and decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign after seeing first-hand how everyday difficulties are exacerbated by ‘destitute’ asylum seekers living in the city.
He said: “The British Red Cross supports more than 200 destitute asylum seekers, as well as asylum seekers placed in hotels by the Home Office. Most people we see in the hotels do not have phones, either because they have been retained by the Home Office as evidence for their asylum claim, or because they simply did not have one.
“Destitute asylum seekers – people who have no recourse to any public funding and for whom it is illegal to obtain any paid or unpaid work - cannot afford to buy mobile phones. They are also unable to get a contract for one because they have no fixed abode.
“The phones which we are fundraising for are vital for people to keep in touch with the Home Office, solicitors and Migrant Help (an organisation that is contracted by the Home Office to provide assistance on asylum support and accommodation). They also help people to contact doctors, dentists, emergency services and - most importantly - to keep in contact with their families in their home country through social media such as Whatsapp, Facebook, and Skype.
“It is also important for them to have a basic smartphone to use Google Maps for orientation and to be able to use translation apps. Mobile phones also play an important role in reducing peoples’ isolation as they help them to connect with their family, friends and other services which are available to them.”
The charity is planning to raise £2,250 through an online fundraiser to buy 50 refurbished second-hand mobile phones at £45 each. Any additional money raised will be used to buy more phones and support more people. To view the fundraiser, click here .
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