Asylum seeker family wins �150,000 compensation

[Gromit]

A family of asylum seekers who have had three claims for shelter turned down have been awarded �150,000 damages after being detained.

The compensation is believed to be the largest payout for such a case and has been handed to a Congolese family after the Home Office accepted their detention was unlawful.

The family's barrister, Stephanie Harrison, told Mr Justice Mackay that the Home Office now conceded that their detention was "unlawful from the outset".

Children's Commissioner for England Sir Al Aynsley-Green said: "I am particularly pleased that the two children have also been awarded compensation by the court. It goes some way to righting this wrong.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/pol itics/lawandorder/4606367/Asylum-seeker-family -wins-150000-compensation.html

Isn't it good to see justice done in the end?

[VHG]

So the mother had her asylum claim turned down in 2005.

The father arrived here in 2005, and his asylum claim was also turned down.

They claimed asylum again in 2006 and that was also turned down.

Makes you wonder what they were still doing here after their claim being turned down so many times.

Or is it just a case of this country being so soft we just keep turning asylum claims down, and eventually the people stay here anyway.

Which in effect means we have almost no control over who arrives here and who stays here.

Which a lot of us have suspected for a while.

Welcome to the asylum !

[rov1200]

Britain to the rest of the wprld must seem a compassionate caring place to live. Not only can you get free handouts and accommodation on arrival but they bend over backwards to kiss your a*rse. The human rights act gives us carte blanche to ignore the plight of the home grown population who are denied jobs so that others can do our work. Compensation is easy to dish out as the taxpayer will always foot the bill without any qualms. I wonder why the illegal immigrants don't settle in France before landing here. France must be under the same European Human rights bill?

[dot.hawkes]

and my brother-in-law has been a self employed joiner for 32years and he has never been out of work until 2 minths ago, and he has had 3 interviews at the benefit agency but isn't entitled to anything after 32 years of paying tax and insurance because his wife earns �16.000 a year . he is furious!!!!! His constributions in those 32 years must have counted for nothing.

[dot.hawkes]

But then I guess it's his own fault for trying to provide a better life for his family, he has 10 years left on his mortgage but they can't afford it and there is no sign of work ahead, I wonder if they come to losing their home will they be housed immediately in a 5 bed detached house like the one he has poured his life into?

[Emu2005]

Hi Dot.
Can he not get contribution based job seekers allowance? I know it's not much but I thought you could get this based on what you had paid in, irrelevant of what savings you have or what your partner has? The whole system seems so unfair and I feel very sorry for your brother in law and his family.

[dot.hawkes]

Nope they told him there was nothing he could claim, I told him to get a doctors appointment and tell the doc he is depressed, get a sick note then he'll get Incapacity benefit

[Kathyan]

dot, it annoys me that when you're working and paying tax, it's done seperately, but when you claim benefits you're classed as a couple!

[Oneeyedvic]

The reason he can't claim Job Seekers Allowance is because he didn't pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions - he would have paid a lower rate being self employed http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/nic.htm

So you suggest that he should commit benefit fraud instead.

Hope he gets caught and sent to prison.

[dot.hawkes]

Trust me Vic, with a �1100.00 month mortgages to pay he will not be committing fraud if he tells the doc he is depressed. In 1980 he went to Germany to work for 3 months cos there was nothing in the UK, he's never ever not paid his class4 and always paid his taxes. I have seen how worried he is, he is in the depths of despair. It's alright the woman at the benefits agency saying he's had the good times and now he must weather the bad, in the good times the bills were paid by him not the state, he's done all he can to make sure his family lived well, he didn;t just sit at home expecting hand outs. He has waited weeks before asking the benefit agency for help. If he gets �80 a week incapacity how will that matter when people who have never worked a day in their lives have lived off the state for generation.

[puss_boots]

I agree with dot 100% I know someone who works at Manchester Airport who's job it is to give all immigrants details and information of benefits they can get.

[Oneeyedvic]

And I know plenty of accountants whose job it is to make their client pay as little as possible in tax / NI etc.

If you brother in law is really depressed, then fair enough, but it sounds to me like you are asking him to commit fraud.

If he is worried has he spoken to his bank and asked them to freeze payments? Has he talked to any other creditors and explained the situation?

There is plenty of help out there at the moment - but it is always easier to blame everyone else. Let's blame the immigrants - it must be there fault.

This case is about people who were held illegally. It has nothing to do with whether or not they were seeking asylum, economic immigrants or UK citizens. They were held illegally and thus are entitled to compensation.

Typically the right wing press report this and others change this into something that it is not.

A report a couple of weeks ago had some interesting findings - benefit cheats cost this country around �8 billion a year.

Tax dodging costs the country �80 billion a year.

But of course, that doesn't really count as it is 'white collar workers' who do that (and the right wing papers who set up trust funds etc)

[dot.hawkes]

Vic you can't dodge tax when it is on SC60 vouchers and taken out before you get paid.
i know what you are saying though and understand the opposing views, but i was really digressing with my scenario, he still doesn't know what his class 4 contributions for the last 32 years were for though.

[chinadog]

Its no wonder immigrants call the UK the land of milk and honey,makes me wanna puke!!!