Asylum seekers from countries including Iran and Syria have been taking part in a conservation project in the Harrogate district.
The participants have no right to work in the UK while their asylum claims are assessed so they undertook volunteering at Nether Timble Farm, Swinsty to get exercise and regain a sense of purpose.
Those taking part are skilled workers, such as software programmers, digger drivers, electricians and farmers, in their own countries.
Abdul Aziz, Hysni Latif, Ali Reza, Imran and Salih from Syria, Iran, Turkey and Sudan took part in coppicing work at the farm with Josh and Rowan from Leeds Coppice Workers.
Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland rejuvenation that is both productive and good for nature. The group worked hard creating a number of coppice products, including stakes and weaving rods for hedge-laying and bean poles for the garden.
The scheme is part of Nidderdale AONB’s farming in protected landscapes funded project. It is the first of six outings planned to take place throughout the next year. Future visits will offer opportunities to take part in hedge-laying, dry-stone walling, as well as visits to working farms.
Matt Trevelyan, farming in protected landscapes officer at Nidderdale AONB, said:
“Being outdoors is proven to boost mental and physical well-being, and the group really appreciated the day out in the AONB, which despite being a rather grey day in November saw the sun peek out from behind the clouds — the landscape looked its moody best!”
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County council criticises Home Office again over ‘dumping asylum seekers’
North Yorkshire County Council has criticised the Home Office for its treatment of those seeking asylum after it scrapped plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers at a former RAF base in Linton-on-Ouse
Conservative Cllr David Chance, executive member for stronger communities, said despite having repeatedly been made aware of the complete unsuitability of a hotel near Selby as bridging accommodation for Afghan refugees, the Home Office had announced it now intended to use it for asylum seekers instead.
The move has emerged just weeks after the Home Office revealed it no longer intended to send asylum seekers to Linton on Ouse, which is four miles from Great Ouseburn and Little Ousburn in the Harrogate district, not far from Knaresborough and Boroughbridge.
It also comes just three weeks after the final Afghan refugees left the hotel near Selby. After leaving the accommodation, Marwa Koofi, 21, who fled Kabul when the city fell to the Taliban last year, said she had since “wasted a year because my hotel was in a location where I couldn’t do anything”.
A meeting of the executive of the county council, which in partnership with a range of agencies continues to provide support to the Afghan refugee families in another bridging hotel in Scarborough, heard families at the Selby hotel had been moved to other hotels.
Read more:
- Ouseburn councillor welcomes decision to scrap Linton asylum centre
- Village on fringes of Harrogate district to house asylum seekers
Cllr Chance said he was unaware of the proposed number of asylum seekers at the hotel.
He said the hotel had written to the government asking to be considered as bridging accommodation for refugees, “much against our better judgement”.
Coun Chance said:
“We said that to the Home Office at the time. We do not believe this hotel is suitable for this purpose and I can’t support it.
“You are putting individuals in the middle of a motorway complex with nothing to do and it’s totally wrong, but out of our hands.”
After the meeting, Selby councillor and leader of the council’s Labour group Councillor Steve Shaw Wright said as the hotel was on the side of the former A1 those staying there would face having to walk miles to get anywhere.
He said while Selby Town Council had funded buses to get the Afghan refugees into the town so they could mix with people of their own faith, local councillors had been “really pleased” when they heard the government would close it for refugees.
Cllr Shaw Wright said:
“We hoped they would go to somewhere more suitable, but it was announced it would be a hotel for individual asylum seekers. That’s even worse because how are they going to cope in the middle of nowhere and, if they’re waiting asylum seekers, some of them might go walkabout.
“It’s an example of the government not having a clue what they are doing with these people and it’s not fair on the asylum seekers and refugees and it’s also not fair on the local community.
“It seems like a knee-jerk decision to dump refugees in the middle of nowhere.”
A Home Office spokesman said the response to the crisis in Afghanistan last August was one of the most challenging, intense and complex overseas operations undertaken by the UK, and the largest air evacuation operation in recent memory.
He added:
Ouseburn councillor welcomes decision to scrap Linton asylum centre“While hotels do not provide a long-term solution, they do offer safe, secure and clean accommodation. We will continue to bring down the number of people in bridging hotels, moving people into more sustainable accommodation as quickly as possible.”
Ouseburn councillor Arnold Warneken has welcomed today’s announcement that plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers at Linton-on-Ouse have been scrapped.
The government planned to create a reception centre at the former airfield, which is close to villages in the Harrogate district including Great Ouseburn, Little Ouseburn and Nun Monkton.
The airfield is also just nine miles from Boroughbridge and 13 miles from Knaresborough.
But Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said today he had withdrawn the offer to the Home Office for the site.
Green Party councillor Arnold Warneken, who represents Ouseburn on North Yorkshire County Council, said withdrawing the offer was the “right thing to do”. He said:
“It was an ill-thought plan that caused distress and sleepless nights for residents. The consequences would have been huge.”
Read more:
- Ripon refugee charity joins calls opposing 1,500 asylum seekers at Linton
- Home Office accused of ‘disgraceful actions’ over Linton asylum plan’
Cllr Warneken said the episode revealed was a concerning lack of consultation by the government.
He said he suspected the reason was because a consultation “would have provided a different answer to the one they wanted to hear” but nevertheless this was not the right way to proceed.
Linton on Ouse Action Group, which was set up to campaign against the Home Office’s plan, welcomed the news.
Group member Kelly Kirby said it was “absolutely delighted” but also concerned that the same scheme could be dropped on another community soon.
She said action group members has spent “tens of thousands of hours” opposing the scheme.
By no means a victory but some movement. We will continue to hold @ukhomeoffice to account for their failings in processing and their hostile treatment of asylum seekers. It is by no means over.
— Linton on Ouse Action Group (@LintonAction) August 9, 2022
Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton, also welcomed the news that Conservative leadership candidate Rishi Sunak had no plans to revive the Linton scheme.
Wonderful News! @RishiSunak Sunak pledges to axe 'inappropriate' Linton-on-Ouse asylum centre plan @LintonAction https://t.co/O0EwPCc3QS
— Kevin Hollinrake MP (@kevinhollinrake) August 9, 2022
Home Office asylum centre near Harrogate district an ‘abuse of power’, says MP
A Conservative MP has described plans by his own government to build an asylum centre in Linton-On-Ouse as an “abuse of power”.
Kevin Hollinrake, who represents Thirsk and Malton, called a debate in the House of Commons on the matter yesterday.
The government is pressing ahead with plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers for up to six months in a ‘reception centre’ a former RAF base in the village, which is four miles from Great Ouseburn and Little Ouseburn in the Harrogate district, nine miles from Boroughbridge and 13 miles from Knaresborough.
However, the plan has been widely criticised by residents and politicians.
During the debate yesterday, Mr Hollinrake said:
He said:
“I said right at the start that this is an abuse of power, and I do not think that is putting it too strongly. The Home Office is using its emergency powers, with a Q notice, so it did not have to go through the planning process for this material change of use, which it undoubtedly is.
“The reason for those powers—why is it an emergency?—was, we were told, covid. Well, we thought that covid was actually largely behind us, especially at this time of year.
“I do not think it is right to say that covid can be one of the reasons why we are using emergency powers in this way.”
Read more:
- Ripon refugee charity joins calls opposing 1,500 asylum seekers at Linton
- Village on fringes of Harrogate district to house asylum seekers
Mr Hollinrake went on to question what support and funding would be in place ahead of asylum seekers arriving at the centre.
Police car and CCTV to be deployed
He said he had been told a double manned police car would be located in the village 24/7 and CCTV would be installed.
However, Mr Hollinrake said it was unclear when those plans would be put in place.
He said:
“Those potential mitigations would help, but it is not clear that those plans will be in place on May 31 when service users move in. I have also not seen a clear plan anywhere.”
He added that there has been “an indication” by the Home Office that next week’s first set of arrivals, which includes 60 people, may be delayed.
Last week the chair of Ripon City of Sanctuary joined calls to pause plans for the centre.
Residents in Linton-On-Ouse ahead of a public meeting over the planned asylum centre. Picture: Linton-On-Ouse Action Group.
Nicola David, chair of the sanctuary, told the Stray Ferret the centre was not suitable for refugees or the village.
She said there would be too many asylum seekers to residents at the site.
She said:
“Everybody is in agreement. Everybody is saying it is completely unsuitable.
“The only people who are saying it is [a good idea] is the Home Office.”
Why are refugees being sent to Linton?
The controversial proposal for Linton-on-Ouse is part of a wider plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims processed.
Before potentially being flown out to the African country, asylum seekers will be held in ‘reception centres’ across the UK for up to six months, with the first announced being at Linton-on-Ouse.
Ms Patel said:
Ripon refugee charity joins calls opposing 1,500 asylum seekers at Linton“The global migration crisis and how we tackle illegal migration requires new world-leading solutions. There are an estimated 80 million people displaced in the world and the global approach to asylum and migration is broken.
“Existing approaches have failed and there is no single solution to tackle these problems. Change is needed because people are dying attempting to come to the UK illegally.”
A Ripon refugee charity has joined calls to pause plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers at a former RAF base in Linton-on-Ouse.
Nicola David, chair of Ripon City of Sanctuary, attended a public meeting in the village last night which saw Home Office officials jeered on arrival.
The government is pushing forward with its plan to house 1,500 asylum seekers for up to six months in a ‘reception centre’ on the site, which is four miles from Great Ouseburn and Little Ousburn in the Harrogate district and not far from Knaresborough and Boroughbridge.
At the meeting, Ms David described Priti Patel, the home secretary, as a “hypocrite” because she comes from a Ugandan refugee family but shows little compassion for other refugees.
She said the Home Secretary had “pulled up the ladder” behind other refugees.
Ms David told the Stray Ferret:
“How can you put people fleeing war on a military base?”
“It’s a troubling thing to do to asylum seekers.”
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- Village on fringes of Harrogate district to house asylum seekers
Ms David, who discussed the issue on BBC Breakfast today, added that it was only the Home Office which wanted the scheme to go-ahead. She pointed out that there would be too many asylum seekers to residents at the site.
She said:
“Everybody is in agreement. Everybody is saying it is completely unsuitable.
“The only people who are saying it is [a good idea] is the Home Office.”
Home Office were not living their best life last night – from the moment they arrived, they took a pounding. I put it to them that Priti & Rishi are hypocrites who, as children of immigrants, have had every opportunity in this country but have pulled up the ladder behind them. https://t.co/t8hygkNlRY pic.twitter.com/jdjmgXL5iT
— Ripon City of Sanctuary (@RiponCoS) May 20, 2022
Residents at last night’s meeting were told that 60 asylum seekers will arrive at the site by the end of the month and will be mostly men.
Home Office officials also said Ms Patel planned to visit the village to speak with residents about the centre.
The controversial proposal for Linton-on-Ouse comes as part of a wider plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims processed.
Before potentially being flown out to the African country, asylum seekers will be held in ‘reception centres’ across the UK for up to six months, with the first announced being at Linton-on-Ouse.
Ms Patel said:
Village on fringes of Harrogate district to house asylum seekers“The global migration crisis and how we tackle illegal migration requires new world-leading solutions. There are an estimated 80 million people displaced in the world and the global approach to asylum and migration is broken.
“Existing approaches have failed and there is no single solution to tackle these problems. Change is needed because people are dying attempting to come to the UK illegally.”
The former RAF base at Linton-on-Ouse will be used to house asylum seekers, the government has announced today.
It’s part of a controversial Home Office plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their asylum claims processed.
Before potentially being flown out to the African country, asylum seekers will be held in ‘reception centres’ across the UK for up to six months, with the first announced being at Linton-on-Ouse.
The site closed in 2020 after being used by the RAF for almost a century. It was most recently used as a jet training facility and Prince William trained there.
Although located in Hambleton, it is only about a mile from the Harrogate district, on the other side of the River Ouse. It’s close to villages Thorpe Underwood, Little Ouseburn and Nun Monkton.
Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton, said in a statement he had been assured by the immigration minister that the time limit for any asylum seekers to remain at the site will be 180 days
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The government said it hopes the changes will help it “crack down” on people-smuggling gangs.
According to the BBC, 28,526 people are known to have crossed the channel in small boats in 2021, up from 8,404 in 2020.
Home Secretary, Priti Patel, said:
“The global migration crisis and how we tackle illegal migration requires new world-leading solutions. There are an estimated 80 million people displaced in the world and the global approach to asylum and migration is broken.
“Existing approaches have failed and there is no single solution to tackle these problems. Change is needed because people are dying attempting to come to the UK illegally.
The proposal has been criticised by human rights groups and opposition political parties.
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called the proposals a “shameful announcement meant to distract from Boris Johnson’s recent law-breaking”.
She added:
Myth buster: Afghan refugees in the Harrogate district“It is an unworkable, unethical and extortionate policy that would cost the UK taxpayer billions of pounds during a cost of living crisis and would make it harder not easier to get fast and fair asylum decisions.”
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan earlier this month, four families have been resettled in Harrogate through the government’s Vulnerable Persons and Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme.
Our story on Harrogate Borough Council pledging to house refugees fleeing the country provoked a big reaction on social media, both positive and negative, and we wanted to answer some of the questions raised in the responses.
Refugees are people fleeing armed conflicts or persecution and are protected in international law.
An asylum seeker is someone who claims to be a refugee but whose claim hasn’t been evaluated.
We put several questions to Belinda Goode, chair of Harrogate District of Sanctuary, a charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the Harrogate district.
Who is coming to Harrogate?
These are Afghan families and their arrival was planned. They knew Nato forces were withdrawing and there was a deal with the Taliban in 2020. They are interpreters who worked for the British Army and their families who were in a vulnerable situation in Afghanistan. They’ve been here a couple of weeks self-isolating in hotels then arrived in Harrogate.
Do refugees jump the social housing queue?
There are a very small number of people coming through the resettlement scheme and they will be given accommodation [in council housing]. North Yorkshire County Council approached Harrogate Borough Council for that.
Housing is sourced and they are supported by the Refugee Council who makes sure they have access to the healthcare that we take for granted. We support them with this.
In the last five years, we’ve not had 20 families and not all of them live in local authority accommodation.
If they don’t come through this planned resettlement scheme they won’t be entitled to social housing. They will be placed in private rental accommodation but it’s usually substandard.
Can refugees work — and do they want to?
Yes, they’ve been given the right to remain here and contribute to society.
Often people come here with great skills but can’t find work. I met a woman who was an engineer in Iran. She couldn’t work and she found it incredibly frustrating and odd that she couldn’t pay her taxes and contribute. She’s doing a course to eventually become a doctor. It’s not that people don’t want to work, they want opportunity.
Read more:
- Ripon and Nidderdale are ready to support Afghan refugees
- Harrogate council pledges to resettle Afghan refugees under new government scheme
Are asylum seekers coming to the UK illegally?
One of the biggest issues is people understanding that asylum seekers are not illegal. It is a legal right to seek asylum. There’s no such thing as a bogus or illegal asylum seeker.
Asylum seekers are experiencing the same struggles as refugees, but an asylum seeker flees the country on their own and not through an organised resettlement process. They have to apply for asylum once they get here.
Does Harrogate have the space to house refugees and asylum seekers?
We’re not in the top 10 countries that take Syrian refugees. It’s countries like Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Germany, Iraq and Egypt.
The idea that people will always come to England through other countries isn’t factual. Often they will stay in nearby countries.
It’s easy to find these statistics if you look in the right places. We take a very small proportion of refugees. We see the boats coming over and the media use words like “hoards” and “flooded” but in Syria, the statistics are scary. Five million people live without direct access to water. These are often children who are desperate.
Is Harrogate a ‘welcoming, tolerant and diverse’ place, as suggested by the council leader?
That is aspirational but people’s hearts have been wrung out by the scenes in Afghanistan and at Kabul airport. The majority of people have that humanitarian pull to ask what can we do to help.
There are another group of people who will never change their minds, equally you’ll never change my mind about the situation.
Our culture in Harrogate is not multi-ethnic and in that sense, it’s more of a challenge. It’s not a big city where naturally there are people from all sorts of races but I’ve seen some wonderful kindness in Harrogate.
There have been some issues [with racism], but that’s not just Harrogate it’s everywhere.
The refugees bring a huge richness of culture with them. What I’ve learned about Syrian food and culture is brilliant. And how welcoming a culture it is. You’re always offered food and these are people that don’t have a lot.
If you visit a refugee family, leave plenty of time, you’re not going to get away with a quick cuppa like you would in the UK. They enjoy life and they want to share it.
Ripon and Nidderdale are ready to support Afghan refugeesRipon City of Sanctuary and Nidderdale Community Welcome (NCW) have called on the government to ‘open doors wider’ to people fleeing Afghanistan.
The refugee resettlement groups welcome news that the UK is committed to resettle up to 20,000 men, women and children.
However, they want to ensure that the selection criteria is not limited exclusively to those associated with Western organisations – including the military and diplomatic missions.
The groups believe the programme should also be open to women and ethnic minorities who have already been targeted by the Taliban.
They are also concerned about the possible impact on the current resettlement programme for refugees from war-torn Syria, that has been in place since 2016.
The tranquility of Nidderdale – a far cry from the troubles that the Afghan people are facing
Nicola David, chair of Ripon City of Sanctuary, told the Stray Ferret:
“We are concerned that the government’s new Afghan programme will probably slam the doors on further Syrian resettlement.”
Ripon City of Sanctuary, has been fundraising since April, anticipating that it would be bringing another Syrian family to the city.
It has raised 85 per cent of the money needed and a has a house in prospective.
Ms. David, pointed out:
“We have been trying to build a little Syrian community here.”
Afghan interpreter families are already being supported locally, as part of the government’s Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP)
Ms. David, added:
“Some Afghan interpreter families are currently being assisted to resettle in the UK, and a very small number arrived in the Harrogate district last week.”
In June, the Stray Ferret reported that Harrogate Borough Council was set to provide homes for four of the families.
In 2015, former prime minister David Cameron announced the programme for Re-settlement of Syrian refugees in the UK.
Read more:
- North Yorkshire to provide re-settlement for Afghan families
- Nidderdale hopes to provide homes for refugees by Christmas
With homes already found for some in the Harrogate and Ripon areas, NCW hopes to provide similar support for a family in the Dales by Christmas.
Peter Wright, who heads the Nidderdale group, said:
Knaresborough woman steps up for asylum seekers on doorstep“The first refugees from Afghanistan are starting to arrive in the area. Maybe we will get a family in Nidderdale, we don’t know at this point, but we should all do as much as possible to support those fleeing for their lives.”
A teacher from Knaresborough says she needs more support to help those seeking asylum settle into the Harrogate district.
Anne Morley has spent her free time in recent months taking supplies like shoes and mobile phones to asylum seekers in Leeds.
There are currently around 130 asylum seekers living in a hotel in Leeds. The coronavirus pandemic has meant that they are not able to go into detention centres.
Ms Morley has won the support of some people in Knaresborough but she needs more help. Asylum seekers are not entitled to any benefits before they have gone through a legal process and gained refugee status.
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She says it is a life in limbo for the asylum seekers after a treacherous journey from war-torn countries like Syria, Iraq and Sudan. Many are not able to tell their families that they have arrived safely in the UK because they have no working phones.
That is something that Ms Morley and charity Care4Calais has tried to change. Ms Morley told the Stray Ferret that asylum seekers want to come to the UK and contribute:
“Some people have this view that asylum seekers want to come here and claim benefits but it is simply untrue. They all want to work and build better lives for themselves. I know people who have gone onto work in Harrogate’s hospital or as carers or even as mechanics.”
Her plea for people to donate to the Care4Calais emergency appeal comes as the body of 16-year-old Sudanese boy attempting to cross the English Channel was found earlier today.