#EndDestitution: Dignity for all Greater Manchester Residents
#EndDestitution
No matter where we come from, we all have the right to live with dignity as members of our society, free to support ourselves and access an essential safety net when we need it. But today, thousands of people across our city region are forced into destitution, denied the right to work or access welfare - solely because of where they have come from. This violent exclusion forces people into lives of extreme poverty in our midst, with negative impacts on physical and mental health. Because people are forced to live in the shadows, we don’t even know the scale.
I pledge to support the #EndDestitution campaign – so that everyone in our communities in Greater Manchester can live with dignity, no matter where they come from.
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"Don't let other people suffer like I have suffered. This is not normal to be left for 22 years without support. This is a prison."
Many of those forced to endure destitution face ill-health – made worse by barriers to accessing healthcare.
Some are older adults.
Some have children – who will be cut off from everything their classmates take for granted.
Some carry past trauma from outside the UK – which is compounded by the Home Office’s ‘culture of disbelief’. Others without pre-existing trauma see their mental health deteriorate as months of enforced dependency on others turn into years, or even decades.
It doesn’t have to be like this.
We want the government to stop using destitution as a weapon of immigration control, so that everyone in our society can live with dignity, no matter where they come from.
What can I do?
1: Pledge to support our campaign
link here
2: Write to your MP
Ask your local MP and councillors to commit to #EndDestitution in Greater Manchester
Write a message of solidarity and welcome to people in our communities facing destitution. Messages will be posted on our website and shared with people accessing the Migrant Destitution Fund
Donate to the Migrant Destitution Fund to show solidarity with those forced into destitution amidst the Hostile Environment
What changes are needed?
Key changes to the immigration and asylum system are needed to prevent people being unnecessarily forced into destitution, including:
- Creating a just and humane asylum system
- Reducing the costs of visa applications
- Ending the use of the NRPF condition
And, for those currently trapped in destitution, we need to see a new, simplified route to regularisation, based on 5 years’ residence, to make it easier to escape destitution. As long as the government goes on forcing people into destitution, we need:
Better access to accommodation for Greater Manchester residents facing destitution
- Some of those facing destitution are street homeless – exposed to the wind, rain and cold, and increasingly exposed to racist violence.
- Others are ‘hidden homeless’ – staying with friends, relatives, chance acquaintances – often with little stability. People are forced to live with the indignity of being entirely dependent on others and, in the worst-case scenarios, exposed to abuse and exploitation.
Better access to stable accommodation will allow people to reclaim a degree of stability, with positive impacts on health and wellbeing – and, crucially, find the headspace to engage in the difficult process of escaping destitution.
"Don't let other people suffer like I have suffered. This is not normal to be left for 22 years without support. This is a prison."
Better access to legal advice to escape destitution
It is all but impossible to navigate the complexities of the immigration and asylum systems without expert advice – but there is a drastic shortage of legal aid immigration providers.
Far too many people are left to navigate the system with no legal representation. Others are let down by poor quality lawyers. Others feel forced to find a private lawyer – making them even more dependent on friends or family to fund it.
With better access to free immigration advice, fewer people will fall into destitution in the first place, and those who do find themselves destitute will be better supported to exit destitution.
"I didn’t know the steps to follow. Nobody told me about that process. Right now everything is so hard, it’s so hard to get a solicitor in the UK right now."