Worried And Confused

[poliphilo]

The Home Office granted Peter a work permit a few weeks back and he's been applying for jobs. Odi rang at lunchtime yesterday to say he needed a suit for an interview in London - which he was leaving for in a couple of hours- and could we help? So we did. Later, having done some shopping of our own, we rushed him to Manchester coach station and got him there with six minutes to spare.

In the midst of all this kerfuffle a letter came through Peter and Odi's door to say their application for asylum has been turned down.

I wish I knew what was happening. Is it normal to give asylum seekers work permits? Does the work permit imply a right to stay in the country? Is the rejection of the asylum plea a game changer? Are the authorities making it up as they go along?

On top of everything else, Odi is expecting her second child in just under a week.

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

No need to apologise. It would be better if Peter and Odi were political refugees. The British authorities don't seem minded to take stepmama seriously.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

cool, I'm glad - there's been a lot of hateful shit going on in Ireland recently and given I've done voluntary work alongside a woman who is making a claim for asylum, as well as knowing other people who have migrated here, and who are family, about whom ill-minded and ignorant people might make racist assumptions, I don't want to be in that number.

Recently a holiday camp converted to an asylum centre in North Dublin closed and there was a Facebook campaign to re-open it as a holiday camp again - and the amount of racist, vile shit on that webpage had to be seen to be believed. It was disgusting.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I live in Oldham, which is about to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its "race riots". We have a splendidly mixed population- and racism is in the air we breath.

One thing I'm proud of is that- in spite of trying hard- the BNP has never managed to get elected to anything in the Borough.