The cost of human misery

"THESE ARE just ordinary people - in an extraordinary situation." The city's newest residents are also among its most disadvantaged.

The first batch of asylum seekers to arrive in Bradford - ten single men aged 18 to 35 - will be followed by up to 650 more over five years.

Driven to flee their countries by civil war or repressive governments, the asylum seekers who arrive in Bradford will have endured a long and arduous journey.

Most will have chosen to come to Britain because family or friends are here already.

But on arrival, under the Government's new dispersal scheme, they will be put straight on a bus and driven up the M1.

Instead of heading to London - the aim of many asylum seekers - and a hoped-for reunion with friends or family, they find their new home is a Northern city they may never even have heard of.

Often with no belongings other than what they stand up in, they arrive confused, disoriented - and not necessarily delighted to be miles from where they wanted to be.

Liz Westmorland, regional co-ordinator for asylum seekers in Yorkshire and Humberside, said: "People in London don't know where we are, never mind the poor refugees. At the moment there is quite a lot of resistance by the asylum seekers to the idea of dispersal but that will change as refugee communities are established around the country."

The last thing they need is hostility from the locals and the Refugee Council is concerned at the way some politicians in Bradford have seized on the issue.

Conservatives on Bradford Council have questioned the cost of taking in asylum seekers - pointing out that existing council tenants are waiting for housing repairs and thousands of local children are being taught in temporary classrooms.

The council's ruling Labour group insists that every penny it spends on the operation to look after the asylum seekers will be reimbursed by the Government.

"Local government finances are very complicated but we are sure that at least 80 per cent of the costs they are incurring now will be reimbursed between now and April, while after April, 100 per cent will be reimbursed," said Jessica Yudilevich of the Refugee Council.

"Obviously our view is that they should be able to recoup all of the money.

"What is very, very sad is that this issue is being used as a political football in Bradford.

"When people are living in areas of high unemployment and high poverty, they can get the idea that asylum seekers are taking the bread out of their mouth but that isn't the case.

"Dispersing them around the country is common sense but it will be frustrating for the asylum seekers themselves - they will feel vulnerable and there will be very few people around to help them. We want local people to understand that asylum seekers are basically people like you and me - they are not criminals.

"Local politicians of all parties have a special responsibility to ensure this process goes ahead smoothly for the sake of good race relations.

"It would be appalling if local people felt the newcomers are a drain on their system, which is just not the case."

In fact, asylum seekers face a scant existence. Those who pay for their journey to England and then present themselves to immigration officers, get Income Support - but not the full amount.

Those who sneak in on the back of lorries do not qualify for state benefits. Instead they get food vouchers and £10 cash a week - adding up to 70 per cent of an average Income Support payment.

As well as poverty the new arrivals will suffer from boredom.

Legally barred from working for their first six months, and with possible language barriers, the asylum seekers could find their Bradford days pass slowly.

People of similar ethnic backgrounds, languages and nationalities will be placed together as far as possible in 'clusters' of accommodation and some will be sharing flats.

"We will talk to people in our recreation department and try to make sure people aren't kicking their heels," said David Kennedy, director of regeneration at Bradford Council.

And there are plans to arrange for English language classes and computer training.

Meanwhile officials have had offers of help from the District Tenants' Federation and local church and voluntary groups.

The process of seeking asylum can take two years, due to an enormous Home Office backlog. Asylum seekers are initially screened to see if they are eligible to make a claim. There can be a long wait for this first interview. They need to seek advice from a specialist immigration solicitor who will help with their claim.

Decisions take months - and if they are knocked back, claimants are entitled to appeal, which is heard by a tribunal.

If granted asylum people can be given Extended Leave to Remain (ELR) or Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) - from which they can eventually apply for citizenship.

The latest figures - for 1999 - show that 54 per cent of decisions were made in favour of the asylum seeker. A further 15 per cent were granted protection on appeal.

Council that was left £3.5m out of pocket

Bradford Council insists it will get every penny it spends on asylum seekers back from the Government.

But that has not been the experience of Kent County Council which spent a whopping £24.5 million this year.

An estimated 6,000-7,000 asylum seekers are living in Kent which until recently has shouldered most of the burden along with London.

It has been able to recoup most of the money from the Government but is still £3.5 million out of pocket.

"We were £4.5 million adrift and the Home Office will pay £1 million, but £3.5 million is money we will have to get back from the Department of Health," a Kent council spokesman said.

"We have had a number of meetings with the Home Office to get this money back. There are associated costs of health and education - asylum seekers have got to have a GP and if they have children, their child has got to be enrolled in a school. There are a lot of costs involved, which people haven't quite thought about yet."

Other well documented problems in Kent came when some of the local population turned on asylum seekers and public opinion turned against them.

Graham Tutthill, chief reporter of the Dover Mercury, recalls: "The problem was that all the asylum seekers were placed in B&Bs in Folkestone Road, they were concentrated in a very small area which caused problems.

"There were more than 1,000 staying in this one, long thin road. They congregate in the street, chatting - they've got nothing else to do because by law they're not allowed to work for six months - and the locals find it intimidating. Some acquired mobile phones and one or two even acquired cars which led to rumours that they were not insured and that the police were doing nothing about it. In fact the police were doing something. One or two were caught shoplifting and were up in court.

"We tried to give a balanced picture in our paper - so we reported the problems, but we also reported the good side, for instance there was one 13-year-old girl from the Czech Republic who was an excellent violinist and got into the local music centre.

"Some local people were very upset about it, one woman put barbed wire around her house and the National Front had a march, but they were outnumbered by Anti-National Front people and there were more police than both groups put together. Thanks to the dispersal scheme there are now far fewer asylum seekers here - about 600-700 - and things have quietened down."

A major influx of asylum seekers proved a culture shock to townsfolk in Dover who had never been used to having immigrant populations, Mr Tutthill added.

"There's never been any great numbers of other races living in Dover - these issues have passed us by and this came as a bit of a shock to Dover. Bradford is very different."

Our proud tradition of offering shelter

Bradford has a proud tradition of welcoming refugees and people of different nationalities.

In the city's centenary year, 1997, two books were published commemorating the contributions made by different ethnic communities - Bradford City of Peace, and Our Stories.

More recently a group of Kosovan refugees were welcomed to Shipley where 12 families are still staying in a former elderly residential home - anxiously waiting to find out when they can return to Kosovo.

Locals rallied to help with youngsters putting on a dance show, and the Briggate branch of McDonalds inviting the Kosovar children down for a free meal. The group was inundated with hospitality and good wishes with schoolchildren even being moved to donate their teddies.

And everyone celebrated when baby Art was born to parents Myrvete and Ibrahim Jashari at Bradford Royal Infirmary in July.

Unlike the Kosovan group who were photographed and interviewed in the Telegraph & Argus, the most recent arrivals are too fearful to be identified.

"There have been cases where refugees have been pursued from the countries they have been fleeing from and have actually been murdered here," said David Kennedy of Bradford Council. "I don't want to give away more detail about their backgrounds, because it could put them at risk. Bradford has a fine tradition of taking refugees and we hope local people will welcome them, as people in distress."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.