Students' support for asylum seekers (From Malvern Gazette)

Students' support for asylum seekers

4:20pm Wednesday 9th March 2011 in News

Raising awareness of asylum seekers in the UK, from left, Tom McKenzie, Millie Austin, and Paris Tittley.

ELEVEN students from the Chase in Malvern camped outside to raise awareness of the destitution faced by thousands of refused asylum seekers in the UK.

They were among 1,000 students across the country who slept out during the National Student Action Week, organised by Amnesty International and Student Action for Refugees.

They are calling on the government to allow people to work and support themselves if they have been waiting for more than six months for their cases to be concluded, or have been refused asylum but cannot be returned.

Poppy Walter, of the Chase Amnesty Youth Group, said: “The way that refused asylum seekers are being treated in this country is disgusting. These men and women are being reduced to penniless poverty. They are forced to sleep on the streets.

“For us, enduring a night in the cold is the least we can do if it helps bring some attention to their situation.

”We’re calling on MPs like Harriett Baldwin to support a declaration calling for this small group of vulnerable people to be allowed to work and support themselves, until they are granted protection here or can safely return home.”