Lift the Ban Panel Event

https://www.facebook.com/events/2478268802422091

Come along to our discussion and Q&A event to learn more about the Lift the Ban campaign. The panel will feature five incredible local speakers:

Thangam Debbonaire - Bristol West MP
Fleur Williams - independent researcher studying Migration and Mobility, also involved in freelance campaigning & policy work
Qerim Nuredini - Red Cross
Ahmed Bakaal - activist, and someone who has been impacted by the ban first hand
Jessie Seal - NACCOM

The Lift the Ban campaign is a nationwide effort aiming to secure changes to the restrictions that the Government places on the right to work for people who are seeking asylum in the UK. Under our current system, people seeking asylum are effectively banned from working. They can only apply to the Home Office for permission to work if they have been waiting for a decision for over 12 months and only for jobs that are on the Government’s Shortage Occupation List (which is incredibly restrictive!). The Lift the Ban coalition is proposing the right to work for people seeking asylum, and their adult dependants, after six months of having lodged an asylum claim or further submission, and unconstrained by the shortage occupation list.

We want Bristol City Council to pass a motion in support of lifting the ban, join and play an active role in the Lift the Ban coalition, and lobby other councils in the Southwest and Wales to join the coalition. We are currently petitioning across Bristol, and upon reaching over 3,500 signatures we can trigger a Full Council debate on the matter. This means that our campaign will culminate in a Bristol City Council meeting in which the council will decide whether or not the City of Bristol will pass a motion to lift the ban, and subsequently become a leading voice in urging parliament to create real legislation and change for asylum seekers.

Hosted by Bristol Student Action for Refugees.