Worrying situation

Unfortunately there will always be some racist thugs in any society, causing trouble, and I guess some of the refugees may be shocked that council housing in Middlesborough is not as good as they had perhaps expected from 'the west', but at least they have running water, sanitation, electricity, food and no war raging around them.

I think the houses are all owned by the same private company providing the houses. At the weekend I read about someone who realised what was going on and repainted their door white. The attacks stopped almost immediately and it stayed that way for almost four weeks. Then agents came round and said he should not have done this because it's how they identify their properties. The agents sent someone the next day to repaint the door red and the attacks started again. Part of the problem is a lot of the houses are empty and boarded up, so the area attracts vandals and the red doors stand out.

Yes, petra, I usually find I am on the side of the underdog.

And anyone who thinks over things in a slightly different way, such as wondering why migrants didn't cover the wristbands when they were out if the bands were a problem*, is not on the correct side, apparently.

*Lots of people wear wristbands these days, of all sorts of colours. It does make me wonder how much the media reporting of this problem (and if people have suffered abuse because of the wristbands, of course that's a problem, and one we have to deal with effectively) has been blown it out of proportion.

Photo ID takes longer to prepare than putting on a wristband and it is more difficult to assess at a glance (you have to look more closely; most ID photos are quite small) which is all people serving food to migrants might have time for. As a temporary measure I don't think the wristbands were such a terrible idea.

And my comment about everyone adopting the wearing of red wristbands if racism against migrants became common would indeed have taken the stong out of it. I would do it gladly if it stymied the tactics of a bunch of racists.

sting

There was an article about it in today's Independent. There were two comments on it. This was one of them.

Ungrateful bunch of T****ts

I do not think it is being overthought. I did not say correct or incorrect; or right or wrong. I said underdog, the person who is being badly treated. I am not alone in thinking that.

"The Welsh Refugee policy officer Hannah Wharf said: "We raised the matter many times with the Welsh Government…It harks back to the Nazi regime with people being forced to wear a Star of David and stand out.

"It's absolutely appalling; it is treating people like lesser beings. It is treating them like animals lining up to feed." "

This is what was in the papers over the weekend.

"He said: "My time in Lynx House was one of the most horrible experiences in my life. I hated wearing the wristbands and sometimes refused to wear them and was turned away from food. "If we refused to wear the wristbands we were told we would be reported to the Home Office. Some staff implemented this policy in a more drastic way than others. I made a complaint about the wristbands to Clearsprings but nothing was done".

The wristbands entitled the asylum seekers to three meals a day provided by the company. People seeking asylum are not allowed to work and are only entitled to a £36.95 weekly payment card from the government."

The man who complained to the Guardian did so because nothing had been done about it. He was given refugee status in November 2015. Therefore it does not still apply to him. However, despite the Welsh refugee policy officer also complaining many times, nothing would have been done if the article had not been written in the Guardian.

Although it happened in Wales, the company is not Welsh. It does not have an office anywhere closer than Bristol. Its head office is on an industrial estate in Essex.

"My time in lynx house was one of the most horrible experiences of my life"
This was from someone who had supposedly fled from: war/ torture/ famine/persecution? I think not.

ONE of the most horrible experiences.
How do you know it wasn't? It was persecution, racism. If he did not wear the wristband and allow himself to be called names and spat on by those he passed, he would not get any food.
Perhaps you can tell us of your experiences as you obviously know better than he does.

Was he required to display the wristband prominently on his way, then, or to turn back the cuff of his jumper briefly when he received food?

Surely these refugees from a warmer climate are not reduced to wearing short-sleeved T-shirts in a British winter?

Would he be happy if the queue for food were full of freeloading British chancers after a free meal who knew that their credentials would not be checked? I suspect he would be up in arms at them for finishing it all before he got there, and please, dj don't start again about the British poor needing food too, this project is for the refugees.

I wouldn't go so far as to call him an ungrateful anything, but he must have the intelligence to see that some kind of identification is needed if he is getting fed as part of his reception here. Universal generosity is great, but so is efficient distribution of what you have.

Yes, why was the wristband visible when he was not at Lynx House claiming his entitlement to meals? That's what I don't understand. It simply doesn't add up.

Having some kind of identifying mark or symbol so that you don't give away food to people it is not intended for is not treating the beneficiaries like animals.

And as for complaining about having to queue, everywhere you go where there are a lot of people to give food to (fast food places, schools, etc) people have to queue for their food.

At least Clearsprings have realised that they were in the wrong. Why can't you?

How would you administer the distribution of food then dj ?

Photographic Id cards would be good, but take time to produce.

Stamping their hands with indelible ink (as they used to do when you got a "pass-out" from a dance) would be worse than a wristband. You can't hide an indelible stamp in your sleeve.

Getting every last one into a queue and count heads before starting to hand out food? That wouldn't go down well.

Don't just criticise how they did it, suggest how they could do it better and quickly.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/25/wristbands-red-doors-refugees-history-rhyming-holocaust-echoes-of-past

dj Posting links to a site comparing this to the holocaust doesn't contribute to the practicalities and just escalates the situation.

Of course dignity is paramount, of course publicly stigmatising those receiving help is wrong, of couirse they should not be exposed to jeers (and of course, also, those jeering should not be doing so - do we know exactly who they were? The public in general would not jeer at them, these must be troublemakers)

Let us return from rhetoric to basic administration.

How would a sensible person like you organise the equitable distribution of supplies to these refugees?

In order to be classed as an asylum seeker in the UK, a person has to have some papers. It cannot be beyond the wit of someone in that company to use written identification. After all, it's only a few people each month who stay there and then get moved on when their refugee status has been decided.

What do you mean, the equitable distribution of supplies to these refugees?
They are getting three meals a day, that's all. They are not given any money, can't buy any food, are not allowed to work. Their lives are humiliating enough.

The person who wrote the holocaust piece was Giles Fraser. Possibly many more people will have read that than read my link. It's holocaust memorial week this week. Perhaps you should read it.

Fortunately there are lots of caring people in this country, which is why Clearsprings have seen sense and stopped the use of wristbands. It's just a shame that they did not realise how it would be seen in the first place.

Did any of you go to holiday camps as a child?
I remember wearing a wristband at the 'camps' this was to show that you were a resident and couldn't just walk in off the street.
Good job the PC brigade weren't around then!

Don't be ridiculous, petra. You're talking about people who can still be sent back to war zones as if they are on holiday.

Did you have your photo taken, and fingerprints taken to go to this holiday camp?

I thought they got £39.50 a week.

They are queueing outside the centre for their food. Is it quicker to look at their papers or to glance at a wristband?

Do their papers have a photograph?

Ana Some are in self-catering with weekly supermarket vouchers and some in "full -board" accommodation with three meals a day provided

"The operations director of Clearsprings Ready Homes, said: “The UK has, over recent months, seen a larger population of asylum seekers. In turn volumes of people in initial accommodation sites, including Cardiff increased quickly."

"Clearsprings has taken steps, agreed with the Home Office to increase capacity in line with this demand in the form of additional self-catering accommodation."

“Those clients in the self-catering units receive a weekly allowance in the form of supermarket vouchers and those in full-board accommodation are issued with a coloured wristband that bears no other logo or text identifying its use or origin. Full-board clients are required to show their wristbands in order to receive meals in the restaurant.”

Oh we are such a horrible collection of people aren't we? We take in these refugees and only give them three meals a day and only 40 quid a week . All the while trying to sort out paper work and jobs. They' d be better off in the camps in France or on the inflatables in the Med wouldn't they? I have read the story of a Jewish schoolboy who was taken in here to school. I don't know if I can find the link but really comparing what is happening now to refugees in this country with the struggle of those who made it here on the kinder transport is insulting IMO to those who actually went through the holocaust.

Given that a LOT of people wear wristbands nowadays, for all sorts of reasons, many of them social conscious reasons, I don't think the wristband idea is a bad one for speedily recognising who qualifies for a meal. Looking at papers is simply impractical. For a start you'd need more people than you need to qickly check whether someone has a wristband.

Wristbands are not nasty badges. My daughter wears wristbands. So do her friends. I very much doubt if it's the wristbands that "set off" the horrid people who apparently abuse refugees.

I think this is a lot of fuss over a little, sensible, practical thing which, like refugee status, is a temporary, coping mechanism.

Anyone who thinks it was a terrible idea should come up with a better system. "Papers" is not a better system because it takes longer to assimilate the information. A wristband or other badge is like a graph: all the information you need in a very simple format.