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27/07/2018

Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking - Hidden Crimes

Alister Bull works with the charity Hope for Justice. Here he reflects on modern slavery in Scotland and his efforts to change lives.

Hope for Justice exists to change lives and end slavery. I work for this charity in Scotland as their training and development officer – because human trafficking exists in Scotland too.

In 2017, it was recorded that victims of slavery in Scotland originated from 32 countries. Significantly, out of all these countries, Vietnam accounts for 43% of those who came to our nation that year. Also, the United Kingdom had the highest figures in Europe for human trafficking victims from Vietnam. Scotland, as a home nation, has proportionally the highest figure for Vietnamese victims of human trafficking.

When we become attuned to this issue we become more alert to the proliferation of nail bars in the high streets, which have amongst them unscrupulous traffickers posing as legitimate businesses. They undercut competitors, use harmful chemicals and pay young women little or no wage.

A hidden crime such as cannabis cultivation is another way Vietnamese victims are used as slaves. This accounts for nearly 60% of recorded cases in the UK. It is an issue on our streets and behind closed doors and yet a Scottish Government survey revealed that less than 4% of us considered it a local problem. Hope for Justice believes there is a need to change that perception and by doing so help others see that action for justice starts on our doorsteps. It is one reason why Hope for Justice offers a free training awareness session to other charities so we can raise awareness of the signs and indicators.

When I discovered an increasing link between Vietnam and Scotland I developed a deep conviction to make a difference not only where I live, but also to the world in which I live. However, it is hard to know how to direct that conviction so something can be achieved. So when I heard that Hope for Justice was running an Extreme Challenge: Vietnam in order to raise funds for a Safe House in Vietnam to support girls who are victims of modern slavery, I volunteered.

Hope for Justice already do remarkable work in Cambodia in its Lighthouse project and through the support of the Vietnamese Government we are replicating this successful model in Vietnam.

The figures above indicate how Scotland and Vietnam are inextricably linked through human trafficking. In order to raise awareness and raise funds I will cycle 240 miles from Phnom Penh in Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. It is a privilege to represent Scotland and contribute in some way to changing lives and ending slavery both in Scotland and Vietnam.

I have cycled at many stages in my life for different reasons, whether as a child free to play, cycling with my family, as a middle aged man trying to stay fit, or to exercise and relieve the stresses of life's pressures. One thing common to them all, I have been free to do so. What a gift!

Now in this Extreme Challenge, I would like to ride my bike so others could be free.

If you would like to hear more, please reach out to me so together we can raise awareness and raise funds. Please follow the link: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AlisterBull to help change lives and end slavery.

20/07/2018

Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre

Chris Afuakwah reflects on his work as a visitor with Scottish Detainee Visitors to Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre.

Our destination is a 19th century hunting lodge in the Scottish countryside. A group of men stand outside smoking as protection against the midges in the cool June air, looking out over the vast landscape from behind a barbed wire fence.

Welcome to Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre, Scotland’s indefinite detention centre, deep in the back of nowhere.

Barbed wire and grey fencing surround the forgotten lodge. We wait a little too long for a guard to let us in. There are locked doors at every turn. We’re fingerprinted and patted down before entering the visiting room.

There’s a coffee machine. The guards are nice enough - just doing their job. We call some people down to make sure they have lawyers; to make sure they’re ok. There are over 200 people currently being held here, with women considerably outnumbered by men.

Immigration detention is designed as a holding facility for administrative purposes. It may be to facilitate a person’s removal from the UK, to ensure that they don’t run away while a claim is being resolved, or to establish somebody’s identity. It is an administrative process rather than a criminal procedure, and so it is the Home Office, not judges, that have the power to detain.

The UK has one of the largest detention estates in Europe, and is the only European country with indefinite detention. You don’t know when you are going to get out - it could be days, weeks, months, years.

Detention was designed as a last resort, but is increasingly being used as a holding facility for people who don’t even need to be removed from the country. Of the 27,809 people who left detention in 2017, 52% were released back into their communities. For around 14,000 individuals, detention was probably not justified.

And the other 14,000? They included victims of trafficking and slavery, sent back to home countries; homeless European nationals; students who overstayed their visas, or arrived on the wrong one; people who just showed up for a standard check-in at the Home Office, as they have to do every week or sometimes every day, or those who missed a check due to lack of funds or illness. Some sought asylum, some were transferred into detention after serving the punishment of a prison sentence.

The mental strain is palpable. People don’t know how long they will be held or whether they’ll be taken from their families and lives. Some feel that prison would be better – at least they’d know when they would be getting out. Tears burst to the surface easily. Increasingly, people are released into homelessness and destitution, with no support.

A small number of people have been held in detention for over three years, but any length of time is too long. Dungavel may be better than other such facilities, but we must end indefinite detention and the need for these centres.

Diane Abbott has called for a time limit on detention, which hopefully will get that ball rolling. Caroline Lucas takes a stronger stance, naming Yarl’s Wood – the women-only indefinite detention centre – as a place of psychological torture. But we need practical community-based alternatives that work for individuals caught up in this broken system, which eventually remove the need for detention at all.

13/07/2018

No Welcome For the Humanitarian

Justice and Peace Commissioner for the Diocese of Aberdeen, Jill Kent, reflects on President Donald Trump’s visit to the UK.

Sixteen months ago I wrote a blog declaring that it isn’t easy being an American under the leadership of President Trump. The ensuing months have made my position even more difficult. As President Trump visits Scotland this week I have been reflecting on his immigration policies and what they have meant for my family.

Over the past year and a half, my husband has used his experience as a doctor to spend time working in Mosul helping with the humanitarian crisis that existed when ISIS was finally “cleared” from the city. Temporary field hospitals were set up on the outskirts of Mosul and casualties from the fighting were transferred in for emergency treatment. He spent more than two months on the edge of this warzone with a UN appointed international medical team.

They worked long hours in austere conditions to treat and save many people. The security was tight while they lived in a small compound surrounded by guards and barbed wire fencing. He endured long days and hot dusty living conditions. He was there because of his expertise on treating gun shot wounds.

One day he had to treat a baby whose bullet narrowly missed her heart. He operated on men, women and children. He listened to heartbreaking stories of people who lost family members and their homes. Almost everyone was malnourished and starving. These patients had to make terrible choices while living in Mosul about whether to leave or stay - both dangerous options. Many of these casualties were injured from landmines or snipers as they chose to flee. At least they were offered medical treatment to save lives and limbs.

After his six weeks he arrived home exhausted but satisfied he was able to make a difference and save innocent lives. And that was that. He returned to his day job with the idea that one day he may do something like that again.

Then we went to book our summer holiday to America. We have a big family reunion planned for my mother’s 80th birthday this summer. My children and I are American citizens so we were straightforward. But as my husband is a British citizen, he had to apply for a temporary visa, know as an ESTA. We have done this many times in the past and it is usually a ten-minute process.

Not this time. They have added a line which now reads, “Have you been in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan…“

He applied for this ESTA in January and was given the response, “PENDING DECiSION. We will get back to you soon.” That was January. No decision has been made and there is no way to contact the department of Homeland Security to explain why he was in Mosul for six weeks on two occasions.

We are just another separated family, which seems to be of little consequence to the Trump administration. But we know we are the lucky ones. We have choices. When we feel it isn’t fair, it just brings us a bit closer to those who really are caught in unfair systems.

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