Children asylum seekers together at the Mosses Community Centre, Bury

Every Child Matters
We believe that EVERY child has the same right to:
Be Healthy
Stay Safe
Enjoy and achieve
Make a positive contribution
Achieve economic well-being

Please help us to get a new "Family Amnesty" for our children
These children are all members of the Mosses Centre in Bury. They go to local schools, attend nursery or play group, have fun, fall out with each other, play games together and grow up happy to be safe in Bury. In all these ways they are indistinguishable from any other group of youngsters in our town.

But they are not quite the same. Nearly all of them are in grave danger of being forcibly returned to a country they know very little of and from which their parents have fled.

Eagles Wing, a mutual support group which meets at the Mosses Centre Bury is asking for support in our campaign for another "family amnesty", which will enable our children to remain here safely, without fear of being forcibly returned to their parents' country of origin.

About the Castaway Campaign Children
Their parents came here years ago as a direct result of war. They fled fighting and violence from neighbours or government soldiers, lost family members, jobs and homes, and braved terrible conditions to reach a place of safety here. Some of their parents, and the children themselves are now safe because they were covered by the previous "family amnesty" which was available to some families where the main applicant arrived in the UK before October 2000. The others live in great fear of being refused. They have to sign on at the reporting centre in Salford either weekly or monthly, and each time they do, they are terribly afraid that they will be detained, imprisoned and deported. All their parents feel this great anxiety and it is wearing away at their mental health.

As for the children themselves: many have been born here and know no other place to live. The ones who came here as small children may have a traumatic memory of their former life but have settled now into a routine of being a "British" child with all the interests, habits and values that brings. They all, without exception, speak English to their friends at school, and can use their parents' language as well.

At the Mosses Centre, we love and value these children highly. We have fun with them and regard ourselves as privileged to know them. They bring life and pleasure to all our events. We are horrified at the prospect that any one of them might some day be forcibly removed from us and deported to a country they know little about, have no home to return to and no prospect of family support. Like any close friend, we want to protect our children from danger. In their case, the danger may be life threatening, either from destitution, homelessness, lack of medical care or actual violence.

Each of their families has a heart breaking story to tell, of why they came here to safety in the first place, and why they are unable to face returning, despite the £3000 package offered them by the Government.

We are anxious that we should do something to protect our child members. We need to protect them now from the anxiety and constant fear their parents feel. We do this to some extent by including them in our fun activities and by encouraging them to join in all aspects of our centre life. They come to the centre as a home from home, to meet friends and enjoy themselves.

But in addition, their parents come for advice, support, guidance and protection. We are unable to protect them from their biggest fear: of being forcibly returned to potential State harassment or death at the hands of family, neighbours or government agents. Unless we can achieve for them the right to stay here permanently through a new Family Amnesty.

They want to be able to settle in Bury, to work for a living and to enable their children to achieve at school and work to be independent themselves. They already make a fantastic contribution to our centre, to the sporting achievements and the life of the schools they attend. Many of them have lived here for more than 5 years, and all of them know Bury as their home. They want to be able to work and make a contribution to every aspect of local life.

Please support us in asking that they should be allowed to settle here for good. Join us in asking the Government for a new "FAMILY AMNESTY" where the main applicant arrived after October 2000.

What you can do to help
1. Sign the Statement and return to the Castaways Campaign
2. Circulate the Castaways Campaign leaflet
3. Help promote the campaign to other groups and towns across the UK

Contact the Castaways Campaign
C/o Eagles Wing, The Mosses Centre, Cecil Street, Bury, BL9
Tel: 0161 761 2079
Email: sue@arnall.co.uk