Bibby

'When you get status the struggle doesn’t end': what it's like to be a new refugee in the UK

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
People, Home Office, Pressure, Poverty, Organic, Food, Homelessness, British Red Cross, Policy, Clothing, Research, Government, Bibby, School, Panic, Risk, Refugee, Child, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Home, Letter, Trauma, Jobcentre Plus, Legislation, Grocery store, Hospital, Nursing, Guardian

Up to 77% of applications have been granted refugee status since 2021, a substantial increase from the pre-pandemic years, when only one-third of applications received a positive decision.

Key Points: 
  • Up to 77% of applications have been granted refugee status since 2021, a substantial increase from the pre-pandemic years, when only one-third of applications received a positive decision.
  • But approval of an asylum application is not an instant guarantee of a safe and secure life in the UK.
  • On the contrary, new refugees are immediately thrust into another period of limbo that puts them at risk of poverty and homelessness.
  • When awarded refugee status, they must leave their accommodation and are cut off from government support.

The ‘destitution gap’

    • Their comments reveal how this 28-day period often results in homelessness, labour exploitation and financial destitution.
    • During this time, new refugees frequently turn to food banks and charities, or take on exploitative jobs.
    • New refugees are not allowed to work while awaiting a decision, and therefore are unable to save money, effectively meaning many cannot support themselves straight away.
    • Many new refugees become homeless, and are moved into hostels, bed and breakfast accommodation or end up on the street.
    • I need to leave this property, I need to apply for universal credit, I need to leave everything.

Hotels and employment aren't major 'pull factors' for refugees – here's what really draws people to move

Retrieved on: 
Friday, August 25, 2023
People, Refugee, Poverty, Unemployment, Employment, Food, Violence, Refugee Action, Research, Language, Government, Bibby, Income, Family, Nursing, Hunting, Online shopping, Drug, EU

People make decisions about where to live, when to leave and where to move based on several complex factors.

Key Points: 
  • People make decisions about where to live, when to leave and where to move based on several complex factors.
  • Like many other countries, the UK also prevents asylum seekers from entering employment until their application is decided.
  • The government has said that work restrictions are necessary to keep employment from being a pull factor.

Why do people migrate?

    • In other words, people are likely to go where others from their family or community have gone.
    • Personal contacts can provide information to other asylum seekers about the destination country, as well as offer help on arrival.

Economic factors

    • The generosity of the welfare system, economic factors like income level and unemployment rate, and cultural factors such as language also have modest roles.
    • The processing time of asylum applications and the success rate of first-time asylum applications are significant factors but not the main drivers of destination choice.

The right to work

    • This, then, raises an important question about whether asylum seekers should be allowed to work when they reach the UK.
    • There has been an ongoing campaign, led by the charity Refugees Action, to lift the ban on asylum seekers being allowed to work.
    • On the contrary, the evidence shows that not allowing asylum seekers to work is a loss for the economy.

'Performative cruelty': the hostile architecture of the UK government's migrant barge

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Home Office, Pressure, Hostility, Housing, LBC, Face, Bed, Tempelhof, Electricity, Jesuit Refugee Service, GP, Fire, Research, Privacy, Claustrophobia, Government, Bibby, Man, Assault, Non-governmental organization, Refugee, Grenfell, Water, Radio, Home, Trauma, News, Berlin, Safety, Tourism, Road, Hotel, Pacific Ocean, Moria

The arrival of the Bibby Stockholm barge at Portland Port, in Dorset, on July 18 2023, marks a new low in the UK government’s hostile immigration environment.

Key Points: 
  • The arrival of the Bibby Stockholm barge at Portland Port, in Dorset, on July 18 2023, marks a new low in the UK government’s hostile immigration environment.
  • The vessel is set to accommodate over 500 asylum seekers.
  • My research shows that facilities built to house irregular migrants in Europe and beyond create a temporary infrastructure designed to be hostile.

Precarious space

    • Journalists Lizzie Dearden and Martha McHardy have shown this means the asylum seekers housed there – for up to nine months – will have “less living space than an average parking bay”.
    • This stands in contravention of international standards of a minimum 4.5m² of covered living space per person in cold climates, where more time is spent indoors.
    • Locals are concerned already overstretched services in Portland, including GP practices, will not be able to cope with further pressure.
    • The difficulty of escaping a vessel at sea could turn it into a death trap.

Performative hostility

    • In 2015, Berlin officials began temporarily housing refugees in the former Tempelhof airport, a noisy, alienating industrial space, lacking in privacy and disconnected from the city.
    • French authorities, meanwhile, opened the Centre Humanitaire Paris-Nord in Paris in 2016, temporary migrant housing in a disused train depot.
    • Nicknamed la Bulle (the bubble) for its bulbous inflatable covering, this facility was noisy and claustrophobic, lacking in basic comforts.
    • Like the barge in Portland Port, these facilities, placed in industrial sites, sit uncomfortably between hospitality and hostility.
    • Rather than deterring asylum seekers, the Bibby Stockholm is potentially creating another hazard to them and to their hosting communities.

Bibby Transportation Finance EVP, Managing Director Mary Ann Hudson Named a Top Woman to Watch in Transportation

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Women, Transport, Trucking, Professional services, Consulting, Finance, Consumer, Bibby Financial Services, BFS, Bibby, Vice president

Bibby Financial Services (BFS) is proud to announce that Mary Ann Hudson, EVP, Managing Director of Bibby Transportation Finance, has been recognized as a Top Woman to Watch in Transportation by Redefining the Road magazine.

Key Points: 
  • Bibby Financial Services (BFS) is proud to announce that Mary Ann Hudson, EVP, Managing Director of Bibby Transportation Finance, has been recognized as a Top Woman to Watch in Transportation by Redefining the Road magazine.
  • Mary Ann Hudson earned her spot in this esteemed group of women through her work with Bibby Transportation Finance.
  • As the EVP, Managing Director, Mary Ann handles the daily operations and the expansion of the company's presence in the transportation industry.
  • To find out more about Bibby Financial Services USA and Bibby Financial Services Canada, please visit www.bibbyusa.com or www.bibbycanada.ca .