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Joy to the World! That’s the Christmas message, but winter in Scotland doesn’t always feel joyful. While so many of us rush around buying gifts for our parents, siblings and children, for those separated from loved ones it must be very hard to bear – even more so when there is no family around you to share and celebrate the birth of your baby. 

Winter is hard for all of us, but it’s particularly difficult for women seeking asylum in Scotland who are caring for a new born baby or just about to give birth. These young women face challenges much greater than the Scottish weather: poor living conditions, a tiny income to support themselves and their baby, the anxiety of not knowing what happened to family left behind and uncertainty over their future.

I heard a chilling tale from one young woman – I’m calling her ‘Mary’ - about her experience as a new mother that wouldn’t sound out of place in one of Charles Dickens’ Victorian novels.

Mary became homeless after her asylum claim was refused and although she was newly pregnant, she was not entitled to any benefits or Home Office support. She ‘sofa surfed’ with friends and acquaintances and when she had no place to stay, she found warmth and safety in the waiting rooms of some of Glasgow’s A&E departments.

Three months into her pregnancy, a local charity, Refugee Survival Trust, helped Mary with temporary accommodation until she moved back into a Home Office flat just before her daughter was born. When she returned home from hospital, the boiler broke - leaving Mary with no hot water.  Later, when carrying her daughter and shopping upstairs to her second floor flat, someone stole the baby buggy.  Mary and her baby relied on support from charities that provided her with extra food, toiletries and a 10-week bus pass, helping her get out and about during those difficult first weeks of motherhood.

She currently lives with her daughter in a tiny, ground floor flat. There’s damp in the cupboards, no heating in the bedroom and the washing machine is broken. Her future is still uncertain.

I felt angry and ashamed listening to Mary’s story, knowing that although shocking, other asylum seeker mothers are facing similar challenges and getting by with minimal support.

And what does Mary think about her tumultuous year? Is she angry or resentful about what happened to her?

“No,” she says. “Although I have difficulties and problems, I’m so joyful because my baby will soon be one year old and I’m just so happy. I just think about moving on, going forward.”

Mary’s story has taught me that even in the most difficult and uncertain moments of life, the birth of a child can bring joy and hope. I wish Mary and her baby a safe and peaceful Christmas.

Refugee Survival Trust's Christmas appeal is for our ‘Bumps to Babies’ bus pass scheme for women seeking asylum in Scotland who are pregnant or are new mothers. If you would like to make a donation, please click on the link. Thank you!
 https://localgiving.org/appeal/Bumps2Babies/

 

Most people don’t realise that it is not only people applying to come to the UK who have to pay fees to the Home Office. A significant number of people who are already in the country legally are subject to what I believe is an increasingly unreasonable fee regime.

 

This affects anyone who has “limited leave to remain”. They must renew their legal status, often as frequently as every 2.5 years. As well as the Home Office fee they have to pay the NHS surcharge of £400 per person per year. The political justification for the surcharge is that those subject to it have not “contributed” – but they are already here paying tax like everyone else. For a family with three children that’s more than £10,000 every 30 months, or £4,000 a year for ten years, until they have been here long enough to apply for “indefinite leave to remain”.

 

Many fees have risen tenfold in the last decade. The Home Office argues that, this way, migrants can fund the entire borders and immigration system without the need for British taxpayer contributions. But the government publishes the actual cost to the Home Office of processing of each type of application, so we know there’s a profit from each fee. For ‘Leave To Remain’, the profit is £900, for ‘Indefinite Leave’ it is £2,000.

 

A decade ago, fees were much more affordable and our immigration system was no less functional. Other European countries have much lower fees. But the Home Office has rejected even the smallest concessions to fairness suggested in an April 2019 report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration on the Home Office's politics and practices on immigration fees.

 

Most people in this situation are already poor, and many are under “no recourse to public funds” conditions that mean they can’t access benefits. They end up with several jobs to feed and house their families while also saving for these huge fees. Many parents have to choose between feeding their children and maintaining their right to stay. Others are never able to claim their rights - priced out of citizenship, often priced out of legal status. Most in this situation are women, especially BAME women. 

 

Many families suffer mental and physical health problems as a direct result of the financial pressure. Thousands of couples and families are being kept apart by the extortionate costs. The stress puts severe and lasting strain on relationships.

 

One lady, who must pay to renew her legal status every two and a half years, says: “We are living below the poverty line in a developed nation while trying to save money for the home office fees, but still never afford to meet the target. Everyone I have spoken to had to borrow money to pay or delayed to pay the fees for the home office.”

 

My question to the new government’s Home Office is - how about a fair system that cares for people, not profit?