John Leech MP sleeps rough to highlight asylum seeker plight

11.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 27th Jun 2007

Many failed asylum seekers are forced to sleep rough.

Manchester MP John Leech joined other campaigners on Friday to highlight the plight of failed asylum seekers by sleeping on the streets of Manchester city centre.

The government forces failed asylum seekers into abject poverty by removing all their benefits leaving many to sleep rough. Campaign groups have condemned the treatment as "inhumane" while many in government privately accept that it is also completely ineffective.

"If failed asylum seekers can't work, aren't receiving benefits and are living on the streets then they are hardly going to be able to return to their own countries by their own means," said John Leech MP.

The event, which was part of Refugee Week, has clearly had an effect. The government today announced a u-turn on the policy of taking children of failed asylum seekers into care if they refuse to leave the country.

"This isn't about encouraging failed asylum seekers to stay in the country," said John Leech MP. "What we're trying to show is that, in a civilised country, we should not be treating people like this.

"We need to create a fair, transparent and humane asylum policy and this is clearly not the way to do it," he continued. "If people's asylum applications have failed then we are never going to force them back to their countries of origin by leaving them homeless and destitute.

"I deal with hundreds of asylum cases every month and the government's treatment of many is appalling and shambolic," John added.

<<ENDS>>

Refugee week ran from 18-24 June 2007.

The Manchester Sleepout was organised by Amnesty International UK as a part of the Still Here, Still Human campaign in conjunction with Refugee Week.