"Campaigners will then bed down for the evening in Piccadilly train station just as several refused asylum seekers from Darfur (Sudan) have been doing on a regular basis throughout the winter. "
MANCHESTER - 7 February 2007 - 300 words
Manchester: campaigners sleep out in solidarity with destitute asylum seekers
Campaigners from Church Action on Poverty, the Boaz Trust and other charities working with refugees in Manchester will be sleeping out in Piccadilly on Monday 19 February in support of the growing numbers of destitute asylum seekers on Manchester's streets.
The sleepout is timed to coincide with an event being organized by the Refugee Council in Parliament Square, on the eve of the publication of the latest Government asylum statistics.
The sleepout will highlight to the public, politicians and the media that destitute asylum seekers have no home - and that destitution is not working as a policy. Asylum seekers whose claims are turned down are not leaving the UK they are here and they are homeless and hungry.
The event will start with a vigil outside Piccadilly railway station from 5pm 7pm, followed by a vigil and music in Piccadilly Gardens from 7pm 8pm. Campaigners will then bed down for the evening in Piccadilly train station just as several refused asylum seekers from Darfur (Sudan) have been doing on a regular basis throughout the winter.
Niall Cooper, national coordinator of Church Action on Poverty said: "In 1999 the Prime Minister said "It is a scandal that there are still people sleeping rough on our streets. This is not a situation that we can tolerate in a modern civilised society." Destitution is now being used as a tool of public policy and it is time to put an end to it."
Source: CAP
© Independent Catholic News 2007
Contact Independent Catholic News tel/fax: +44 (0)20 7267 3616 or email
Back to top of page
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment