What issues do the growing numbers of refugees and asylum seekers face in North Manchester and Salford, and are they being supported? Kathrin Ohlmann reports.
In the first of our series on how migrants have shaped Manchester, Kathrin Ohlmann reports on the changing face of Levenshulme high street.
A company which already detains and deports asylum seekers in the UK has been awarded a government contract worth £175m to provide and manage accommodation, as well as transport, for asylum seekers in Manchester and the North West over the next five years.
In 2010, the last year for which figures are available, just over 1,700 unaccompanied children claimed asylum in this country. A new report from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, released just this week, exposed a shadowy deal between Britain and France where for 15 years often sick or traumatised children were subjected to instant interrogation once they hit the UK border. Clare Sambrook explains.
Denied the right to work since 2002, destitution has soared among asylum seekers who seek sanctuary in the UK. Lawrence Carter speaks to one forced migrant about his experiences and takes a look at a campaign fighting to make a change.
A government body spent tens of thousands of pounds on barristers’ fees and used five members of staff to win a battle over funding against a local not-for-profit organisation which provides free access to legal services, MULE can reveal.
Public money is being ‘wasted’ while vulnerable people are denied access to justice, claim legal aid campaigners in Manchester. They are calling on the Legal Services Commission to back down from defending a challenge taken by two law centres to have their funding restored.
