Greece is in crisis. But the economic crisis is not the only one. An asylum crisis has gripped the country at this time of severe austerity. And it hits the most vulnerable: Refugees, including minors, who have left everything behind fleeing their countries to find safety.

In Greece, they are left destitute and on the streets, unable to apply for asylum and threatened by escalating racist attacks. Trapped in Greece, they have one message for Europe and the rest of the world: Let us leave!

Into the Fire is an investigative documentary looking at the situation of refugees and migrants in Greece, as they become the victims of severe austerity measures and rising racism.

Into the Fire was made by filmmakers Guy Smallman and Kate Mara who have chosen to crowd-source the distribution of their film in order to increase it’s audience and impact. On 21 April Into the Fire is being released simultaneously on various websites and platforms on the internet and you can participate by embedding or sharing the film on 21 April and afterwards. To find out more go to the Into the Fire website.

Contacted by a teenage refugee

In April 2012 Guy and Kate went to Athens to make a series of short films about austerity. Before they left, they were contacted by a teenage refugee from Somalia. He emailed them with a list of problems that he and his friends were facing. Guy and Kate met them and filmed a short series of interviews about their deeply shocking experiences in Greece. Guy and Kate said:

What we discovered during our one day of filming on the situation of refugees in Greece was unsettling. Once we got back to London, we secured additional funding, to be able to go to Greece a second time and take a closer look at what was happening. From that starting point, the film grew in an organic fashion that surprised us. It seemed to have a life of its own and drag us along in its wake.

We witnessed the aftermath of a racist attack that left a family’s livelihood in ruins and a young man in hospital. We were invited into the crowded home of undocumented refugees. We spoke to refugees who have been waiting for months or even years to apply for asylum. We witnessed a prayer vigil for a young man stabbed to death. We spent a morning with homeless refugees in a park.

Along the way, we were impressed by the hospitality, passion and spirit of the people we met. We were saddened and shocked by the stories we were told. We were delighted at the support we received, many people have donated their time and their skills to make this film happen. We made this film on a shoestring. No one has been paid for their work. But we felt this story needed to be told.

To find out more go to Into the Fire and please help to share this powerful documentary.

Film by Marishka Van Steenbergen and Joe Bream

(as published in the Guardian, 11 January 2013)

Clayton said:

Once I realised about the injustices of the system. I also realised that if I move into fiction, using accounts of these young people, I can show the snatch, I can show the detention centre. That’s where my imagination still is, in the parts of the process that are secret.

So I’m doing a very large scale thriller fiction film, a really mass market big thriller about a kid who just happens to be an asylum seeker.

Watch another clip from our interview with Sue Clayton about Hamedullah: The Road Home here

Film by Marishka Van Steenbergen and Joe Bream

Wood claims that this is the first documentary to expose detention without a time limit being exercised on thousands of immigrants in Britain every day.

The film follows the lives of three people caught in immigration limbo and detained for almost four years between them. They cannot be removed from the UK, yet they remain detained in prison at an average cost of £40,150 each, per year to the taxpayer.

You can read more about the How Long is Indefinite?  here

Film by Marishka Van Steenbergen and Joe Bream

Unheard Voices interviews UK director and screenwriter Sue Clayton about her latest documentary  Hamedullah: The Road Home, which claims to highlight injustices in the UK asylum and immigration systems.

Hamedullah: The Road Home, which won Best Short Documentary at the London Independent Film Festival, tells the story of a young Afghan who claims asylum in the UK, and his struggle to cope after being deported on a ‘ghost’ charter flight back to Afghanistan.

Sue Clayton filmed Hamedullah and his friends up to the day he was deported. Clayton gave Hamedullah a small video camera when he was deported, hoping to find out whether he would survive in Afghanistan.

Clayton has made over 20 award-winning films for BBC and Channel 4, including The Disappearance of Finbar with Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Clayton said:

A lot of my films are about people who go on journeys, and what people are looking for in their lives and how they change. Are they running to something or from something and who do they become when they go on a journey?

Clayton talks about her inspiration for the film and the growing impact it is having on raising awareness and trying to change immigration policy. She said:

The government has a policy of sending young people back when they turn 18 years old. Nobody tracks what happens to them. The home office won’t do it or allow anyone else to do it.

Clayton said that Hamedullah the Road Home is a unique and very human record of the real life of someone who has been sent back. She believes that its power lies in the ability of film to allow you to see into the truth of something, the human detail that goes beyond statistics and facts.

Film by Marishka Van Steenbergen and Joe Bream

Read more about what NCADC thinks about the UK Border Agency’s reluctance to track those they send back here

An NCADC protest

You can read about NCADC and listen to more interview clips about the organisation here and here

What happens when an asylum seeker applies for asylum and what criteria does the UKBA use?

Lisa Matthews, coordinator of NCADC, says there needs to be a culture change within the UKBA. She says there is very little training of those making asylum decisions and that they do not use the expert country reports avaliable to help them determine whether a country is safe or not.

Matthews claims that the UKBA make it harder for a case worker to give someone asylum than to refuse them asylum:

They should be given the confidence to make the right decision, rather than seeming under pressure to refuse people asylum.

Matthews also talks about the new rules on the use of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to a private life:

Part of the weighing up decision had to be, ‘how would the public feel, knowing that this person had their Article 8 rights recognised and we hadn’t deported them’.

This is hugely worrying, as it isn’t a legal decision. We need to change that tabloid perception, not make court decisions that pander to that fear mongering.

You can read about how this rule was applied to an asylum seeker’s claim here and Matthews tells us more in a skype interview from her London office…

Unheard Voices approached the UKBA about the allegations made by NCADC

A UK Border Agency spokesperson said:

The UK has a proud record of offering sanctuary to those who need it. But those who we and the courts have found do not have a genuine need for our protection must return to their home country.

Mr Donkersley answers questions about how the asylum process works, how the immigration system can be improved and what criteria judges use to determine whether an asylum seeker is in need of protection.

(We apologise for the unfortunate background noise due to the fact it was recorded on an iphone and in an office near a busy street.)

How does the asylum process work and what happens to someone once their asylum claim has been rejected?

Listen to John Donkersley’s answer in this audio clip from our interview…

How can the immigration system in the UK be improved?

Listen to John Donkersley’s answer in this audio clip from our interview…

What criteria does a judge use to determine whether an asylum seeker should be given leave to remain and why do so many cases get rejected?

Listen to John Donkersley’s answer in this audio clip from our interview…

Find out more about statistics around asylum claims, detention and deportation here

Clayton talks about how she believes the UK immigration system criminilises asylum seekers, which makes it hard for them to integrate back into their communities when they are returned to their country of origin.

Yes Hamedullah went back, and no, no one killed him or forced him to join the Taliban. But he kind of doesn’t fit, he doesn’t really belong. He doesn’t really know who he is anymore.

Clayton believes we need to think about an asylum system that respects other cultures and helps asylum seekers integrate back into their own countries if they need to be returned.

Watch another clip from our interview with Sue Clayton about Hamedullah: The Road Home here

Film by Marishka Van Steenbergen and Joe Bream

Matthews talks about the lack of knowledge about what happens to asylum seekers who are returned to their country of origin and about how the immigration system can be improved. Matthew also talks about a UKBA practice of using chartered flights to deport asylum seekers back to their country of origin.

You can read about NCADC and listen to more interview clips here and here

Can we trust the UKBA to make the right decision?

Matthews claims that even the home office and other government departments criticise UKBA. She says that UKBA is an embarrassment and that they arent doing a very good job. Matthews says her biggest concern is that the UKBA are not tracking those they send back:

The area of most concern is that the UKBA’s standard line is; ‘we do not remove anyone in need of protection’. But the thing is , they don’t do anything to monitor people after they have been removed.

Matthews claims that it is impossible to know if the people sent back are in need of protection, without monitoring what happens to them.

Matthews tells us more in a skype interview from her London office…

How can the immigration system in the UK be improved?

Matthews believes that there needs to be better decision making and better access to legal advice right from the start of an asylum claim. She says that there is a culture of disbelief at the UKBA which needs to be addressed and that better access to justice is paramount.

Listen to this clip from our skype interview to find out more…

What are charter flights and why does UKBA use them to return asylum seekers?

NCADC and other asylum campaigners claim that the UKBA carry out mass deportations through private charter flights. Matthews talks about the lack of transparency in the operation of these flights and about the potential for violations to occur on these flights without anyone knowing.

Matthews claism this is an inhumane and shady practice, brought in because of successful resistance to deportation on commercial flights; and the increase in deportations to more dangerous countries.

Listen to this clip from our skype interview to find out more…

Unheard Voices approached the UKBA about the allegations made by NCADC

A UK Border Agency spokesperson said:

“The UK has a proud record of offering sanctuary to those who need it. But those who we and the courts have found do not have a genuine need for our protection must return to their home country.

“We provide a range of support to help people return to their home countries but where they refuse, we will remove them. Detention is only ever used as a last resort after all attempts to return a failed asylum seeker voluntarily have been refused. No-one is detained for any longer than necessary however there are those who prolong detention because of their attempts to frustrate the removal process. They must take responsibility for that.

All failed asylum seekers and detainees are treated with dignity and respect. We expect the highest level of standards from our staff and contractors and will investigate any allegation that those standards are not being met.”

You can read about NCADC and listen to more interview clips about the organisation here

Who is responsible for the immigration system in the UK?

Lisa Matthews, coordinator of NCADC, talks about an increasingly restrictive immigration system and her concern that everyone is lumping the blame on UKBA and forgetting about the policiticians who are the ones with the power to change attitudes.

Matthews claims that politicians take a cowardly approach to immigration, using anti-immigration rhetoric as a vote winner instead of engaging in discussion and debate about the real issues.

Matthews tells us more in a skype interview from her London office…

Why is immigration good for the UK?

Matthews explains why she believes that immigration benefits the UK. She claims that the 2012 London Olympics is an example of why we should be proud of the diversity in the UK:

This was the first modern olympics where the host city had a representative from every participating nation.

Listen to this clip from our skype interview to find out more:

How can policiticians and the mainstream media act differently to change attitudes?

Matthews believes that parliamentarians and the mainstream media should take more responsibility for how they shape attitudes towards immigration. She says that politicians make headline statements about immigration targets, which would actually damage the economy if they were achieved.

Its a kinda of vicious cycle of politicians making hardline statements on immigration, the media reporting that and encouraging that and then the public listening to that and then expecting further tough measures. And there not being any flexibility in that vicious circle for what the country actually needs.

Listen to this clip from our skype interview to find out more on Matthews suggestions for policy change: