Brexit and EU Customs Update

We start this month’s update unfortunately with not much of an update!

As a charity that is UK based and acquires most of its aid in the UK and exports it all from the UK, the rules, customs duties and VAT charges are essential to how we operate.

Given that this is the case it is essential that we work within these rules, but understandably if there are financial implications to our operations we need to take very careful consideration as to how we operate.

We have been working very hard since the last newsletter alongside many other NGO's both small and large to work out how we can all continue to provide much needed humanitarian aid to the many thousands of individuals who need our help across the EU and in some cases further afield.

We will continue to work on this until a solution becomes available, however in the meantime we are in constant touch with our partner NGO's in Greece and other parts of Europe. Currently they have enough stocks of aid to provide what is needed, based currently on limited access to refugees, but this will not last forever so this issue is being dealt with on a daily basis and is of course being given the highest priority.

The Promised Land

We were recently contacted by Paul Hutchinson, one of the top accordionists in the country and a member of the much-loved duo Belshazzar’s Feast.  En route back from a music festival in 2016, Paul was on a train going through Calais and saw the camps there from the train. 

The sight of this inspired Paul to write a track for his new album.  Paul contacted us to get some video footage to accompany this track called 'The Promised Land'

You can see the result by clicking on the video below which will open a 'web based' newsletter and can be viewed from within that version. Alternatively it can be found on the Hope and Aid Direct website.

As with all things such as this, we urge you to share this among your contacts.  We need to continue to highlight the plight of the many thousands of refugees who are searching for 'The Promised Land' but only finding refugee camps and other accommodation that could only be described as prisons.

Penally Camp and Napier Barracks

On a related subject, many of you will have seen or been following the accommodation that was being used by the UK to house asylum seekers.

There have been many reports in the press about the quality of the accommodation.  To add to this, on the 8th March a report was published on the UK government website based on a visit to the sites in February and early March, conducted by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration. 

The full report should be viewed to fully understand the terrible conditions that people were kept in, however some highlights (or lowlights in reality) are:

• Opening Penally Camp and Napier Barracks as contingency asylum accommodation, particularly doing so safely during a pandemic, presented substantial logistical and other challenges. Despite this, the Home Office gave its accommodation contractors less than two weeks to make each site operational.
• In September/October 2020, Public Health England had advised the Home Office that opening multi-occupancy dormitory-style accommodation at Napier was not supported by current guidance, and both they and Public Health Wales expressed concerns about the COVID-safety of the accommodation. Both sites were opened before Public Health Wales and Public Health England recommendations had been actioned.
• The Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate (CPFSI) informed us of serious concerns about fire safety at Napier that had not been fully addressed at the time of the ICIBI/HMIP inspection visit. The work recommended by CPFSI at Penally had been largely completed.
• The resources, skills and assurance systems required to support long-term communal accommodation were inadequate at both sites:
• There were serious safeguarding concerns in relation to Napier. There was inadequate support for people who had self-harmed. People at high risk of self-harm were located in a decrepit ‘isolation block’ which we considered unfit for habitation.
• Residents who may have been children were also housed in the same block pending an age assessment; in one case we were told that this had been for up to two weeks.
• The environment at both sites, especially Napier, was impoverished, run-down and unsuitable for long-term accommodation.
• Cleanliness at both sites was variable at best and cleaning was made difficult by the age of the buildings. Some areas were filthy.

To put all of this into context, one of the trustees of Hope and Aid Direct stayed at Penally Camp 35 years ago when he was in the army and he commented that it was in terrible condition then!  A lot can happen in 35 years to buildings if they are not looked after so We dread to think what sort of conditions were being used to house refugees and asylum seekers. 

2021 Fundraising Events

In somewhat lighter news, the UK now has a roadmap out of lockdown. 

This means that major fundraising events can come back online and Hope and Aid Direct have secured charity fundraising places for the London Marathon, The Bath Half and The Vitality Big Half, a half marathon in London. 

Places are limited and subject to minimum fundraising requirements. 

Due to COVID-19 curtailing many fundraising events over the past year we are looking to maximise fundraising through these events, so if you feel that you would both like to take part and have the ability to raise a substantial sum that will help with our ongoing operations, you know what to do!

Lastly this month we return to one of the biggest stories of 2020, the destruction of the Moira Refugee Camp in Lesvos.

On the 9th March, two minors were found guilty of arson and sentenced to 5 years in prison, espite the lack of any evidence. There was no trial.

• The prosecutor requested an intermission of 10 minutes to deliberate whether or not he would permit lawyers from the Legal Centre to represent the defendants or whether they would be represented by state provided lawyers, despite the fact that is an undeniable right of defendants to be represented by the lawyer of their choosing.
• The prosecution called 17 witnesses against the defendants, while the defence was only allowed one witness each, despite having more than ten people present at the court and willing to testify in their defence.
• Two police officers testified that they identified  of the defendants. The first testified that the defendant was “tiny and short”, however, when the defendant he had just ‘identified’ stood up at the request of one judge, he was taller than the police officer by half a head.
• The only witness who provided individualised evidence didn't appear. However, the prosecutor was permitted to read out his written declaration, despite lawyers’ objection that this violated the defendant’s right to cross examine any witness against him, a fundemental right confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights.
• The trial constitutes a gross miscarriage of justice. Despite lack of credible evidence presented against them, both were convicted & sentenced to 5 years in prison. This has been appealed by Lesbos Legal Lawyers. 

The full trial report can be found on the Legal Centre Lesvos website