A CHILDREN'S rights campaigner has condemned the Government's controversial
policy on asylum seekers, after meeting a Bolton family facing deportation.
Professor Al Aynsley-Green claims the government is using the children of
failed asylum seekers to put pressure on families to leave the country.
Under new laws, people whose asylum claims have been thrown out by the Home
Office are prevented from receiving state benefits.
And, in some cases, children are taken into care as families struggle to provide
for them.
Professor Aynsley-Green, who is England's Children's Commissioner, made his
comments following a meeting with the Sukula family, who have made their home
in Bolton, but are now living in fear of deportation.
The Sukulas, who fled political persecution in the war-torn Democratic Republic
of Congo, are among asylum seekers who have fallen foul of Section 9 of the
Immigration and Asylum Act 2004.
Their state benefits have been stopped following the rejection of their application
for asylum.
Parents Ngiedi Lusukumu and Sukula Kiala and their six children now live on
donations from friends and aid from voluntary organisation.
And four of their children who are aged under 16 could be taken into care.
Mr Aynsley-Green said: "It is vital to ensure that the state should only
ever use its powers to take children away from their families where it is
clear that it is the best thing to do for the child and not simply to be tough
on failed asylum applicants.
"I am especially concerned about the effect of asylum policy and the
sliver of support offered to the children of families seeking asylum, particularly
those facing the possibility of being separated from their parents and taken
in to care."
A campaign, backed by the Bolton Evening News, is currently under way to persuade
the government to allow the family to stay in Britain.
Campaigners fear the family's lives would be in danger if they are returned
to their homeland.
Bolton Council says it will not evict the family - but two other failed asylum
seekers have been thrown out of their home elsewhere in the North-west.
Angolan Vanda de Graca, who has a four-year-old daughter, has been evicted
home by Rochdale Council, and Islida Santos, also from Angola, and her three-year-old
son, Erivelto, have been forced out of their home in Darwen and are now living
in a emergency hostel.
Leading campaigner for the Sukulas, Jason Travis, described the commissioner's
comments as "positive".
He said: "The commissioner is an influential figure and can raise this
new Government policy at the very highest level. What he has said contradicts
what the Government is doing.
"Although he cannot investigate the Sukula case, indirectly, a public
inquiry could help our campaign to stop the family from being deported."