Greens call for fair treatment of asylum seekers

The Green Party called for fairer and more humane treatment of asylum seekers in a rally held on Saturday (28th November) by South Yorkshire Migration And Asylum Action Group. Sheffield was unanimously voted the country’s first "City of Sanctuary" by the Council in 2007. But Green Party spokesperson Graham Wroe, who campaigns on asylum seeker rights, said that if the Green Party would like to see more by Government to help them.

Mr Wroe said, "Not only asylum seekers are they not allowed to work,but the Government has further reduced their benefits, and now they are forced to travel all the way to Liverpool to put in a fresh claim. Many are completely
destitute, relying entirely on charities like Assist for all their needs.

"The Greens would do things very differently to the Labour Government. People who flee regimes that deny their human rights must be protected and helped to settle in this country. Instead of locking them up in so called detention centres, the Greens would give them the right to work so that they can be useful members of our society.

"The Greens would ensure applications for refugee status are dealt with quickly and fairly, normally within three months. After three months, an applicant would receive equal rights with residents in access to public services until a decision is made. Making people wait for years in destitution to get refugee status would be a thing of the past.

"We would also do everything in our power to stop the circumstances that lead to people having to claim asylum. We would clamp down on the arms trade, stop promoting war in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq and help countries be more self reliant by promoting fair trade and sustainable agriculture."

Pictures from the rally here

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