I went with Dr Naomi Millner, chair of Bristol Hospitality Network to BBC Bristol to meet the immigration minister Mark Harper for the TV programme Sunday Politics West. (Watch here)
Esam marching with many others for Dignity not Destitution in June.
I told him that I am not an illegal person, I am a human being like you. I am an asylum seeker, my life is at risk, that is why I am here.
I hope he understood that I claimed asylum for my safety. I know my story is true, but his system didn't believe me and it has made me destitute. I can’t return to my country because it is too risky for me.
I asked him if he can imagine having £5 a day for food and everything, as this is the support he gives asylum seekers and I don’t even get that at the moment. I am lucky that I have friends helping me. Others are not so lucky, they are living outside or in bus shelters.
While me and Naomi didn't get a long time to speak, I hope we passed the message about asylum seekers being destitute and living a suffering life to Mark Harper and people like him. I hope he understands that asylum seekers are seeking a safe place in UK. Please watch the BBC programme on Sunday and tell your friends and leave your comments here.
You can watch the show at 11:15am on BBC One in the West only or watch online afterwards here. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019cfjw
What would Scott Morrison do
ReplyDeleteIf Malala sought refuge?
How would that man treat that young woman?
Would he look her in the eye and call her ‘illegal’?
Would he question her motives?
Would he try to break her spirit behind razor wire?
Would he ask to place his finger in the dimple of her wound for evidence?
Would he respond to questions about her with bluff smug arrogance?
Would he say that she had had her last supper before deportation?
If there was a contest between his quest for political success and basic human compassion,
What would Scott Morrison do?
greetings from the refugees protest camp in Berlin.
ReplyDelete