Female asylum seekers’ plight to be raised at Bradford conference

7:00am Wednesday 28th November 2012 in Bradford By Dolores Cowburn, Bradford Chief Reporter

Fishane Nkhata

The issue of failed asylum seekers being deported back to countries where they risk being raped and tortured will be the focus of a Bradford conference this week.

Why Refugee Women?, an organisation created to help female asylum seekers, will launch a petition at the event at Kala Sangam, Forster Square, urging the Home Office to take women’s human rights into account more when deciding whether they can stay in the UK.

In Bradford there are 135 female asylum seekers and more than three-quarters of them have had their cases rejected, which means they could eventually be sent home to danger zones. Eighty asylum seekers from across the UK will talk about their experiences on Friday from 9.30am to 4pm.

Beatrice Botomani, the chairman of Why Refugee Women?, said that many asylum seekers were intimidated by the process and never told officials they had been raped and tortured because they were questioned in front of their children or were too frightened and did not think they had to go into too much detail to strengthen their case to stay. 

She is hoping a petition and more lobbying of the Home Office and the UK Border Agency will lead to changes.
“We have women from Iran, Iraq and Africa, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose homes were dangerous which is why they came here,” Miss Botomani said. “For some the choice of staying homeless here is better than going back where their lives are in jeopardy.
“They suffer in silence and on Friday we want to talk about the problems asylum seekers face in this country. The Home Office don’t believe the women’s stories which is why their cases fail.
“We want the Border Agency to trust and respect these women who need more legal advice which is scarce.”

Fishane Nkhata, 41, who lives in Bradford city centre, fled Malawi in 2002 after her refusal to enter a forced marriage led to death threats.
She had no choice but to leave her two sons, then aged eight and ten behind, and now lives on £45 a week benefit as she waits to see if her third asylum claim, being heard on December 4, is successful after two rejections in the past decade.
She said: “My husband had died and my step uncle tried to force me to marry someone else and said if I didn’t do it he would kill me. A friend helped me escape to the UK. To leave my children for ten years was really hard but I couldn’t do anything.
“Social services gave me accommodation, but I am not working and am just doing voluntary work.
“Sometimes when I speak to my children I am crying and just cannot take it. It is difficult when a woman comes here alone without her family or children.”

Bron: http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/local/localbrad/10073839.Female_asylum_seekers____plight_to_be_raised_at_Bradford_conference/




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