• Professor Aneez Esmail on why people of BAME heritage are being differentially impacted
• ​​A current and candid workplace description following a RAPAR member's discussion with a BAME care home worker in Greater Manchester
• Another Trade Union leader, Manuel Cortes of TSSA, signs our Open Letter: "No one who lives within our shores should be left destitute or without access to comprehensive healthcare."

​Plus

• Positive developments across the Irish Sea to end Direct Provision AND a call comes, from beyond Hadrian’s Wall, for Leave to Remain for all migrants

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​​ITV published short sharp research findings last week revealing the nature and extent of racism and racist discrimination in the NHS and posing some questions about how that relates to the deaths among front line workers.  We asked the Professor of General Practice at the University of Manchester, Professor Aneez Esmail, who is also a hands on GP and who heads up our campaign for the Registration of Medical Professionals in the UK for his immediate reaction to the research findings:

“The findings from the ITN survey concur with my own experience and understanding of why BAME staff in the NHS seem to be differentially impacted by the effects of Covid-19. As a practising GP I have numerous examples of colleagues who have approached me about their concerns regarding the lack of support by management and being forced to work in risky situations.

The NHS is a microcosm of society more generally and research is increasingly showing that BAME people are adversely affected by Covid-19 because they are over-represented in low paying jobs where they have less power and agency to manage their working conditions. Inevitably they are pushed into front lines roles more often than their white colleagues and are therefore more exposed to the risks of contracting the disease. There is no gene for being an ethnic minority and when an enquiry will be finally held I will not be surprised to find that proportionally more BAME died - whether they worked in the NHS or in roles in the social care sector - because of their working conditions and their lack of agency within these organisations."

On the social care side of this same equation, a RAPAR member composed  this account about their friend who works in a dementia care home.

Mr B (he does not want to be named even though he is happy to share his experience)
works 12 hour shifts in a private dementia care home and he is feeling exhausted.  He is experiencing racism from some of his white colleagues and managers:  some of his colleagues are off sick or on leave and there are very few carers left to look after the 100 patients, some of whom are infected with Coronavirus.  Some white staff refuse to serve those patients because they are scared they might get the virus and management send him to do the job: he has been with a few of them when they took their last breath. This affected him so much that he started writing about it, and he is thinking of leaving the job after Corona is over. His wife is in high risk groups, only recently recovering from cancer but Mr B's manager won't allow him to reduce his working hours . He said wearing masks for 12 hours makes him sick. He is a healthy man but I can see he is getting unwell mentally.  The most shocking thing is, after working for almost 10 years in this job, he receives the minimum wage of £8.50 an hour and has never had a bonus or pay rise. 

Obviously workers who are organised in the Trade Union movement have a critical reach out role here.  Most recently the General Secretary of TSSA, Manuel Cortes signed our Open Letter in the wake of the death of frontline Transport Worker Belly Mujinga.  Manuel explains:   "The hallmark of a civilised society is how well it looks after its weak and vulnerable. No one who lives within our shores should be left destitute or without access to comprehensive healthcare. That's why I support this campaign."

And another of our signatories to the Open Letter calling for Status Now, MASI, sent this latest update from the Republic of Ireland:

‘It has been an uphill battle between ourselves as people living in direct provision and the Department of Justice. As of last Wednesday, we saw a sudden rise of people infected with Covid19 to 149. This is attributed to the fact that people cannot observe social distancing due to overcrowded living arrangements: direct provision residents share bedrooms, bathrooms and dining rooms.

We wrote to all leaders of all political parties in Ireland to raise this issue at Government level. It was encouraging then to see time allowed at the Dáil for the Deputies to pose questions directly to both Minister Charlie Flanagan and Minister David Stanton. This has never happened before in the Irish State; that the Parliament would discuss the issues about Direct Provision so passionately and, this time, residents felt well represented.

The following day we heard the two Leaders of the ruling parties admitting that they would like to focus on ending the direct provision system and creating a system whereby people have their own front doors and cook their own meals. The positive thing here is that they are acknowledging that this system is wrong and needs to end. What needs to clear is how it will end, in line with what people seeking asylum  want:
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1. Amend HAP criteria to include people seeking asylum so that people can move out of Direct Provision and live in the community.

2. Lift restrictions on the right to work for people seeking asylum and allow everyone in Direct Provision, and people seeking asylum not in Direct Provision, to work legally.

3. Extend access to Jobseekers Allowance to people seeking asylum, and extend child benefit to every child in the State, irrespective of immigration status. This is money that is currently paid to the operators of Direct Provision Centres who make millions annually.

4. Grant permission to remain to all non-EU/EEA nationals irrespective of current immigration status: there is no reason to import labour when there are thousands of undocumented people in the country who are very happy to contribute.

And, finally, North of the English border, the Scottish Government is offering an(other) example of  how progressive they can be as, today, the make the call that ‘all migrants should be granted Leave to Remain (LTR)’.  Yes indeed...

...If anyone can explain to RAPAR why, at their daily briefings, the British Government still do not have a signer who communicates information to deaf people using sign language to interpret, please email admin(at)rapar.org.uk. We are wondering if the reason is the same or perhaps similar to the one that accounts for why our Open Letter calling for Status Now #healthandsafetyforall has yet to be acknowledged, let alone acted upon.  You though, can sign it here.  

“I cannot go back with my new baby to my friend’s house. I would have to sleep on the sofa.  It’s a two bed council flat and my friend has two children herself. I need help”.

​On May Day Maria (not her real name), 35, gave premature birth to a beautiful baby girl.  She was admitted to hospital from a two bed-roomed council flat where she had been sleeping on a sofa.  Unlike Maria, her friend is a British citizen.  Like Maria, she is also a single parent: her two children are aged nine and four.  

Maria came to the UK in August 2015 under the special category of domestic worker visa.  She left her job when it became clear to her that she was being exploited: not being paid on time or regularly, being fed with only left over food and expected to be available 24/7.  When she left her employer informed the Home Office, at which point they cancelled her visa. Since then Maria has continued to work in the care industry as an undocumented care worker.

Yesterday, staff at the hospital where Maria gave birth asked her to leave but Maria said “I cannot go back with my new baby to my friend’s house. I would have to sleep on the sofa,  it’s a two bed Council flat and my friend has two children herself. I need help”.

​At this time, the helping organisation who contacted RAPAR is negotiating with Social Services to provide Maria and her baby with appropriate accommodation. The father of the child, a British citizen, has refused to support them.  As far as we know, the hospital is aware that Maria is undocumented but we do not know if the hospital authorities have alerted the Home Office about Maria’s undocumented status. 

According to yesterday’s Office of National Statistics report the difference between ethnic groups in COVID-19 mortality is partly a result of socio-economic disadvantage and "other circumstances, but a remaining part of the difference has not yet been explained. "

When and where will being undocumented or being denied your benefits and thereby treated unlawfully, as reported in yesterday’s Guardian appear on the list of "other circumstances ... {and/or }... differences previously unexplained?

For more information contact: Dr Rhetta Moran, [email protected]/ 07776264646

COVID19 and social distancing in the Cameroon jails
 
Cameroon is one of the prosperous countries in Central Africa. As of 2020 she has a population of about 26.55 million and a total surface area of about 475.440 square kilometers.  The country is made up of ten divisions, each of which is responsible for its own criminal jurisdiction.

However, most of the people arrested within different regions are taken to the Kondenqui Yaounde Central Prison for trial. The Yaounde Central Prison is currently overcrowded with inmates from all over the ten regions of Cameroon.
 
Kondengui​

​The Kondengui prison has outnumbered its capacity and it is full of inmates from Ambazonia (Southern British Cameroon) who, if affected with COVID 19, may stand little chance of surviving.   

On several occasions the prisoners have staged protests about both the prison conditions and the war in the Anglophone regions. Recently, the protest soon escalated into a riot, with over 600 Ambazonian and Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) inmates taking over the prison yard, forcing the guards to pull out. The rioters also made a failed attempt to breach the special quarters.

The riot was live-streamed on Facebook by several inmates. In some videos, separatist inmates could be heard singing the Ambazonian national anthem. In one video, a political prisoner from the CRM stated that "We no longer want to eat maize porridge".

Through the poor conditions in which inmates are forced to live some of them die: from diseases such as malaria, lower respiratory infections, and diahorrea. This situation has never been redressed by the Cameroonian.
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The coronavirus, so feared by the world has not as yet had any cases reported in this prison but a lot of worries are arising from loved ones and family members about what could happen if one of the inmate comes in contact with the disease, especially given the manner in which they are concentrated in jails.
 
Buea
One of the Prisons located in the Ambazonian Chief town of Buea is very similar.  It has an overcrowded population. On July 24 2019, around 100 inmates at Buea Central Prison, acting in solidarity with their fellow detainees at Kondengui, staged a protest of their own. There, as in Kondengui, security forces used live ammunition while quelling the riots. 

Following the Kondengui riot, Amnesty International called on Cameroon to improve the prison conditions in Kondengui, and to allow an independent investigation of the crackdown on the riots.  Human Rights Watch was later able to document that many of the detainees had been tortured. Many were brought to court and charged for rebellion, and in some cases their lawyers were not allowed to enter the courtroom.
​
Recently, , in an attempt to decongest the prison, the president of the Republic of Cameroon, making his first appearance to the public after his long disappearance, granted amnesty to some prisoners including those who have embezzled state funds and some other inmates charged with terrorism.  

Critics say this is not a brilliant step by the president: his intention should be on decongesting the prison and reducing the spread of the corona virus, but this does not appear to be his motivation as the majority of the prisoners who remain in Prison and are not granted amnesty are from the north west and south west region of the country (Ambazonia), having been arrested as part of the ongoing war in Ambazonia.
These individuals are highly at risk from COVID19. They cannot observe social distancing and  the government has taken no measures to keep them safe.

Many people have speculated that if strict measures are not taken to safeguard the prisoners against the Corona Virus many will die if they are affected.

This report has been written by a RAPAR member in the UK who is currently destitute.  Most recently, their case has been even further delayed.  
​

@Two Part Report about Coronavirus in DRC-Kinshasa as at Monday, April 27, 2020
(English version for RAPAR)
 
Part 1  459 People infected - 381 People in care - 50 People healed – 28 People dead
Since the Coronavirus pandemic emerged in the DRC, a lot of effort has been made by the response team to try to control it. For three days, the figures have been growing sharply, enough to suggest that what Dr Jean-Jacques Muyembe - Secretary of the response committee – feared, is coming to pass: the month of May could be one of great danger.
On March 24, 2020, the Head of State declared a state of health emergency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Immediately, teams from the Ministry of Health were deployed on the ground to quarantine Kinshasa, erecting barriers in Kasangulu, Mitendi (Kongo Central) and Mongata on the border of the provinces of Kwango, Kwilu, Maindombe and Kasaï Central, to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
44 health workers, including a team leader, were deployed to Ngobila beach for a period of 30 days: 21/03 to 20/04/2020;
60 health workers, including a team leader, deployed at N’Djili airport for a period of 30 days: 21/03 to 20/04/2020;
44 health workers, including a team leader, a data manager, a supervised worker, a driver and health officers deployed for a period of 15 days: 06/04 to 20/04/2020.
Buses have been made available. However, once the teams arrived at the various areas, no provision was made for their return and their care.
The agents are abandoned at the areas without accommodation or mission costs.
Today, day for day, it has been a month since the agents benefited either from the mission expenses, or from accommodation (they spend the night under the stars), but the Ministry of Health reports them as deployed on the ground and as part of the fight against the spread of Coronavirus. The agents are put in a position of not being able to produce a good result.
There is, for example, a lack of materials for disinfection, the rupture of travelers' registration forms, inventory shortage of liquid soap, pens, nose pads (masks), gloves, chlorine (bleach) for disinfection, fuels for the generator, water for washing hands and ruptured batteries to power the thermo flashes.  
In short, the agents are abandoned. How can it be then, that such agents be relied on to prevent the spread of COVID-19?
"Today, we are starting the second month and families are abandoned without means of food. Agents who are now sick ground are not being supported. Likewise for those recently deployed to the Gombe commune", complains an agent of the Ministry of Health deployed to Mongata.
There is terrible unease and, if conditions are not improved, many of the Agents are announcing a work stoppage soon.
​ 
Part 2  Deplorable conditions of detention in prisons in the DRC
The Congolese NGO "Bill Clinton Peace Foundation" is sounding the alarm, denouncing the conditions of detention, notably in Makala prison in Kinshasa.  The "Bill Clinton Peace Foundation" denounces the lack of food and adequate medical care which is said to have been the cause of the deaths of at least 17 prisoners there have died in Makala central prison in Kinshasa. This Makala prison hosts more than eight thousand detainees, 94% of whom are still awaiting trial.
Our correspondent on the spot who cites prison sources reports that, for two months, Makala has not received its endowment in food rations intended for the imprisoned.
According to this source, the prison is overcrowded, with more than 500 prisoners in particular in the establishment. The conditions of detention are so bad that the NGOs estimate that 100 or so people are seriously ill.
The Deputy Minister of Justice has declared to the local media that funds have been released to deal with the situation. He has promised to gradually mobilize more money to address the lack of food and medicine for the residents of Kinshasa central prison.
These reports are by Jenny DAKOSTA VAN MPUTU is the Directeur Exécutif National, Human Rights Activist-Founder and National Executive Director of ‘No Impunity for the Congolese State’ (NICS) based: C/O RAPAR. 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS.
Email:[email protected]/ [email protected]
Phone: 00447405082590 / 00447490875889

• ​​This MAY DAY! MAY DAY! MAY DAY!

• Undocumented people are NOT being counted anywhere, about anything.

​
Who we are:  Women? Men? Children? Elders? People with disabilities?

Where we are from: East? West? North? South?

Where we live: London?  Birmingham? Manchester? Glasgow? Anywhere?

How many of us live there: Single room? Family in a room? Community cluster in a house or a flat?

Our health status: Healthy? Sick? Dying? Dead?

The jobs we had before COVID19 arrived in the UK: manual labour as builders, careworkers, childminders, cleaners, decorators, prostitutes, sauna workers, seasonal workers, and security guards?

The jobs we still have:  Careworkers? 

How many more of us will die before 7th May?  That’s the next time the Home Affairs Select Committee will sit to hear  oral evidence session for its ongoing enquiry into Home Office preparedness into Covid-19.

The causes of our deaths: the systematic exploitation and oppression of working class people all over the world that results in Malnutrition, Overcrowding, Poverty, and Stress all of which compromise our physical abilities to stay well and fight any and all infections and diseases, including COVID19? Today's Guardian is telling us that COVID19 deaths are twice as high in poor areas.

One of the signatories to our 27th March 2020 Open Letter that was received on that date and remains UNacknowledged by the Prime Minister, is Positive Action in Housing.  This morning they advised us that, currently, they assist 2,500 families a year, 92% of whom are living below the poverty line or in destitution.

Within the last 6 hours, RAPAR has been contacted by an NGO describing the sequence of events that have culminated this morning with a woman carer, known to them for 15 years, presenting herself for committal at a mental health institution:

Emily (not her real name) came to Britain on a work permit 15 years ago.  She worked as a carer in the private sector, looking after the elderly.  When the visa rules for migrant care workers changed in 2007 Emily became undocumented.  When the campaign led by Kanlungan Filipino Consortium won concessions in 2008, she became redocumented, at which point she trained, became registered as a nurse and began to work in the privatised care home sector. 

​Since COVID19 emerged she has been expected to work without PPE.  As the pressure mounts for PPE to be supplied, Emily, alongside many other frontline workers, has asked for PPE to be made available to her. Two weeks ago, one of the Filipino carers working with Emily died with COVID19 and, at the same time, Emily  started to suffer with fever and cough.

The company that employs Emily  has told her that if she does not present for work she will be dismissed. 

She told us, via text overnight last night, “I don’t want to go back to work but the company is threatening staff to dismiss them if they won’t return to work”.   

​This morning, Emily has presented for mental health services and been admitted as an inpatient.  One of her last texts before admission read: “Regardless of color, skin or race we should be treated with dignity.  I don’t want to die but to live.”

For further information contact:
Rhetta Moran at rhetta.moran(at)rapar.org.uk / 0777-626-4646
Susan Cueva at info(at)kanlungan.org.uk/ 0739-779-6238