With the Darfur region of Sudan in the news again as a cash aid appeal is launched by celebrities, this and other international crises are creating a flow of refugees to the West.
But what happens when asylum seekers, immigrants and refugees arrive on our shores?
The Bradford Immigration Advisory Service (IAS) is playing a front line role in protecting the rights of migrants to the region. It is a mammoth task with laws and legislation changing on an almost weekly basis.
The IAS is a charitable organisation with work divided almost equally between marriage and student visa applications and assisting those fleeing conflict and persecution.
The IAS in Bradford operates from the Carlisle Business Centre on Carlisle Road, Manningham. Ateeq Saddique, 29, is the Manningham-born supervisor for the Bradford and Leeds branches. He told the Telegraph & Argus about the work they do.
"We do a broad range of work including asylum and immigration assistance in the Bradford and Greater Yorkshire area. We would help with visa applications for students wishing to study here as well as tourist visas and marriage applications," he said.
"There is a lot of confusion at the moment. People who have been here for years and are under the assumption that they can stay are finding out that they can't. We had a case where one Australian lady who married here in the 1960s and had children here was told that she was unable to stay and had to re-apply for a visa. We deal with a lot of overseas embassy appeals, they often don't make very good decisions and we have to challenge them. It can take up to a year for an appeal which is very frustrating and upsetting for those involved."
Changes to immigration laws as well as a Home Office in apparent disarray compound the problem.
"There have been so many changes and it is difficult for people to understand whether this is a change set in stone or merely a ruling," says Mr Saddique, a qualified solicitor.
"Now with the home office splitting into two sections it is even more complicated. We would get a lot of referrals from the Home Office, particularly with asylum seekers. The new referral system known as the New Asylum Model which was tested in Birmingham is now being rolled out across the country. The new, faster system is good news for the Home Office but not necessarily for the applicant.
"Previously people were given the opportunity to make a statement in support of their application. They were allowed two weeks to do this and then some time afterwards they would be called for interview. Now the interview itself happens within one or two weeks of making an asylum claim."
In relation to those seeking asylum and refugee status in the UK the situation obviously varies as to the world situation at any given time.
"We are seeing quite a lot of people from the Middle East an Africa; also North Korea and Burma. The Burmese dictatorship has a very poor human rights record. Just for trying to leave the country these people could face 20 years in jail in terrible conditions. We are seeing an increase in Iraqi refugees with the upsurge in violence there.
"There is a major problem in that people only know anything about somewhere like Burma or Rwanda when something horrific happens and brings it into the news. Then, as soon as an international intervention force goes in the Home Office says the area is safe for people to return; then we find out later that it was not safe at all. There could well be cases where people were sent back to a country when they were at definite risk."
The IAS works independently from the Home Office and other government bodies. They can be contacted on (01274) 482588 or at the Carlisle Business Centre, Carlisle Road, Manningham, Bradford.
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