MPS Service Delivery to New Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees

Report: 4
Date: 22 July 2010
By: Director of Public Affairs on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report provides members with an overview of MPS service delivery specifically to new migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.

A. Recommendation

That Members

1. consider and note the content of this report
2. receive presentations of good practice.

B. Supporting information

Introduction

1. For the purpose of this report the following definitions have been used:

• New and Emerging Communities – People with social, political, cultural or economic reasons for coming into the UK and who may potentially change the dynamics of a neighbourhood.
• Refugee – A person who is outside his/her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion , nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion; and is unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country or to return there for fear of persecution.
• Asylum seeker – Someone who is awaiting a decision about their refugee status.

(Source - National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) 2010)

2. In addition to regular community policing, there are four specific focused areas of service delivery to asylum seekers, new migrants and refugees:

• Policing criminality by enforcing immigration laws
• Reporting and investigating crime within these communities
• Protection of vulnerable individuals
• Community engagement and reassurance

Who is responsible?

3. The first three of the above areas fall within the scope of Operations Maxim and Swale, which in April 2010 moved into the Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD9).

4. Operation Maxim focuses on Organised Immigration Crime and intelligence, while Operation Swale is a collaboration with the United Kingdom Borders Agency (UKBA) to develop an immigration crime partnership to tackle organised immigration crime. Maxim and Swale are intelligence led enforcement operations with the objective to reduce harm caused to communities by a small number of foreign nationals and other persons who benefit from immigration related criminality. An objective of Swale is to promote community cohesion by removing those who cause harm and reassuring the community that action is being taken. A report is to be presented to the Strategic Operational Policing Committee in October 2010 on joint working arrangements between the MPS and the UK Border Agency which will largely cover areas a), b) and c).

Community Engagement

5. Central to the MPS Diversity and Equality Strategy 2009 - 2013 is community engagement. The MPA and MPS Community Engagement Commitment 2010 - 2013 has now been endorsed by both parties but not yet formally approved by the MPA. This document outlines the commitment to improve community engagement and will be supported through action plans.

In practical terms, the Communities Together Strategic Engagement Team (CTSET), now part of Specialist Operations (SO15), is tasked to create an environment that enables the MPS to access and engage all communities in London and is responsible for supporting MPS engagement with community groups from all over the world. Work with communities is prioritized by either operational need, or by growth within the MPS area. Communication is done with mainly political contacts and community groups.

6. CTSET has a number of desk officers with a broad experience of community engagement activity. Work is currently divided between six desk officers who have responsibility for particular areas of the world. They monitor events around the world and engage with communities to assess how those events may impact on the communities in this country.

7. The six desks are currently divided as: Middle East, South Asia, Asia Pacific, South America, Eastern Europe and Africa.

8. Using commercially available data, CTSET is able to map communities in London enabling a more focused and effective engagement. Mapping has been used prior to major events in London such as the G20 summit and the 2010 World Cup to assess whether there are locations where public order or community tensions could be of concern.

9. CTSET ensures that it builds good relationships with trusted members of each community. Through these contacts, they are able to create a two way exchange of information, ensuring that 'hard to reach' members of the community are contacted by someone they trust.

10. Community Outreach Workers - there are 5 outreach workers in CTSET, drawn from the Tamil, Pakistani, Turkish/Kurdish, Somali and Bengali communities. These members of police staff provide cultural and language knowledge and are able to access these communities effectively. They have been working within their communities to improve engagement with the MPS and are also available for other operational units should the need arise - for example the Tamil outreach worker was instrumental in community relations during the Tamil protest in Parliament Square in April 2009. The Turkish/Kurdish outreach worker has also provided essential support to the local borough and Specialist Crime Directorate during investigations of Turkish/Kurdish criminality in Haringey.

11. Many local voluntary sector organizations in London are organized on the basis of country of origin, and as such provide excellent opportunities for engagement for CTSET officers. Examples of these organizations include:

• London Somali Youth Forum (LSYF) - this is a pan London charity, aiming to give young Somalis in London a voice. CTSET has worked closely with LSYF, supporting their engagement work with young Somalis and providing opportunities to discuss issues of concern such as terrorism/radicalization, foreign policy and stop and search. The first year anniversary event for LSYF was hosted and supported by CTSET at Empress State Building in January 2010. At this event, LSYF members representing 16 London Boroughs were given the opportunity to discuss their work with Senior Management from each Borough, thus improving MPS-community engagement with the Somali community.
• British Lithuanian Society - this organization represents Lithuanians living in the UK. They are a link to the community for the Eastern Europe Desk Officer and also provide information to CTSET about community concerns and tensions. The group and CTSET have held open discussion sessions at the Lithuanian Consulate.
• African Women's Welfare Group - the Africa Desk officer has been working with this group on the development of a North London Muslim Women's Network. The aim is to provide a support network for Muslim women who are working in their communities in the London Boroughs of Enfield, Camden, Islington and Haringey.
• GirlGuiding UK - CTSET has been working with the Development Team at GirlGuiding to promote the work of the organization among minority communities in London. CTSET is currently working on a project to set up Guide units in Stratford ahead of the Olympics and at St Hilda's East Community Centre in Tower Hamlets.

12. CTSET provides guidance for, and encourages local engagement with, new migrant, asylum seekers and refugee communities by:

• Providing community and cultural knowledge to officers investigating crime or working on operations affecting these communities.
• Work is currently being undertaken to provide a briefing for Borough officers to make them aware of issues within the Congolese community.
• Community Impact Assessments. Units investigating criminality that may be sensitive or have an adverse effect on certain communities will request a community impact assessment from CTSET prior to taking any executive action. This assessment will provide a resume of any tensions within the communities and draws on information from the weekly Community Tension Return, police crime and information systems, open sources and community contacts. CTSET will also provide recommendations for the units to implement prior to action being taken - these may include the preparation of press lines and organization of a Community Consultative Forum to discuss any concerns or issues.
• Bronze community - CTSET acts as Bronze community for pan-London events and mediates between community groups and the Gold Command structure in charge of MPS operations. CTSET provided vital cultural and religious advice to the Gold group dealing with the Harrow Mosque demonstrations and has recently provided support to the team dealing with right wing and religious demonstrations in London.

13. CTSET is at the forefront in developing Community Impact Assessments (CIAs). These assessments are completed as part of the planning process and exit strategy for many major Policing operations and community events. Additionally CTSET have become a point of knowledge for new and emerging communities around Equality Impact assessments (EIAs) which are required whenever developing policies and procedures and are required under various pieces of equality legislation. The results of these impact assessments, and intervention options that are identified, are shared with other Senior Investigating Officers (SIO's) and operation leads across SO15, and also across other business groups when requested. A prime example of CTSETs involvement in the development of policy and practice was the development of the High Profile release protocol which was developed following the release of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. This protocol was developed across several departments and boroughs that were being impacted by these releases and sought to address the local and corporate risks faced by the MPS and local community.

14. Examples of CTSET work with South American and Far Eastern communities

• CTSET and ABRAS (Associacao Brasileira no Reino Unido) organized a friendly football match at the MPS Sports club in Surrey bringing 11,000 people together. The event was directed towards the Latin American community and activities were arranged for the families and children by a group called FLAME (Friends of Latin American Expression) who assisted in these activities. The aim of the event was to break down barriers and improve relations between the Police and the community. This was one of many events put to try and improve relations in the community following the shooting in 2005 of Jean Charles de Menezes.
• CTSET identified the potential for demonstrations from a number of organizations and groups regarding the 2008 Olympic Torch as it passed through a number of London boroughs. CTSET used extensive contacts with community groups and organizations within the Chinese, Tibetan and Buddhist communities to assess the possible risk so that tactical planning could be considered. Direct liaison with protest groups was undertaken. Research revealed that the selected route passed through areas of London with dense Buddhist populations, close to 6 Buddhist temples, passed within 700m of the Chinese embassy (nearest point is Oxford Circus) and within 2.4km of Tibet House. This was managed and although there were a number of arrests valuable lessons were learnt which will be particularly useful in the 2012 Olympic torch run.

15. Examples of corporate community engagement with new migrants, asylum seekers and refugees through the Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate (DCFD):

• Migrant Domestic Workers (MDW) engagement
  In 2006 the DCFD established, and has continued to maintain relations with, the Migrant Domestic Workers Community (MDW) in London via their respective support organizations. In April 2007 the DCFD hosted a MDW awareness day at Empress State Building in West London for staff and colleagues whose duties and functions bring them into contact with MDW in London. The event included presentations from Kalayaan, (a registered charity that provides advice, advocacy and support services in the UK for migrant domestic workers. The DCFD continues to provide support and services to the community with advice and intervention in cases of miscommunication between MDWs and the police. In 2008 Kayalaan commended DCFD in its annual report.
• Refugee & Asylum Seekers Incident, and Migrant Domestic Workers Incident, Guidance notes published: The DCFD has published guidance notes on the MPS intranet site for Police Offices and staff dealing with incidents & crime reports relating to these communities.
• Roma Community engagement. The DCFD has established, and maintains relations with, the Roma Support Group (RSG) in East London. The Roma Support Group works with approximately 850 Roma families from Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland and Romania. The DCFD has published Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) with answers to provide basic information and guidance for police officers and staff working with the Roma Community. In February 2010 the Roma Support Group Annual General Meeting was addressed by a senior police officer from Newham OCU.

Working examples and partnership working

16. The MPA and MPS Community Engagement Commitment 2010 - 2013 seeks to ensure that we work with all communities and therefore does not specifically single out new migrants, asylum seekers or refugees. However, the following examples highlight some successful initiatives and future work:

• Officers from the Partnership Unit at Brent organised an event for members of the Afghan Women’s Society to talk about supporting the Afghan community in London
• Community Workers from CTSET are working in Haringey with the Turkish/Kurdish community
• Officers from Harrow are part of the Somali Interagency Taskforce helping to improve relations with the local Somali community
• The Eastern Europe officer from CTSET works closely with the Roma Support Group to improve engagement with Roma communities
• You (Youth Organisations Uniform) London is planning training for uniformed organisations, in Croydon initially, to establish groups in emerging communities, particularly asylum seekers, refugees and new immigrants

17. Although there is no generic training or support for officers and staff to aid their ability to deliver services appropriately to new migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, CTSET does provide awareness training with Safer Neighbourhood teams to assist them to identify their communities, how to engage with them and issues or concerns they may have.

18. The MPS is committed to delivering fair and responsive services to asylum seekers, refugees and new migrants. As part of that commitment the MPS helped to establish the ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) Supported Migrant Communities Group. Officers representing 16 Police services, the UK Trafficking Team and SOCA (Serious Organised Crime Agency) aim to share good practice of working with communities and identify practical methods of engagement, and agreeing areas of future work.

Challenges

19. A key challenge for the MPS is to build on and develop, existing work with new migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. Whilst the MPS, and partner third sector agencies, are under financial pressure to review services. In carrying out exercises to build equality impact assessments providers will be strongly encouraged to develop mid and long term action plans in support of target group needs. Mid and long term action plans will be developed to ensure services are delivered.

C. Race and equality impact

1. The MPS is under a statutory duty to have due regard for the:

• Elimination of unlawful discrimination and harassment
• Promotion of equality of opportunity for all
• Promotion of good relations between peoples of different groups
• Promotion of positive attitudes towards others

2. The MPS Equalities Scheme 2006 – 2010 is designed to ensure continuous improvement in service delivery by improvements in the standard of policing, staff awareness of the organisational strategy, and by community engagement. Effective governance is required to ensure improvements are achieved.

3. The MPS Diversity and Equality Strategy 2009 – 2013 provides the framework for monitoring progress, taking responsibility and being accountable for our performance.

D. Financial implications

The costs associated with the activities set out above are all covered by existing budgets as approved within the Business Plan.

E. Legal implications

1. S96 of the Police Act 1996 sets out the statutory duty on the MPA/MPS to obtain views of the community on policing. The Police Authority (Community Engagement & Membership) Regulations 2010 further supplements the provisions under the Act, by placing an obligation to consult with a wider range of people. In particular, Regulation 2 provides that views are to be obtained from people from diverse backgrounds and sectors, and from groups which are perceived as hard to reach.

2. This report demonstrates the MPS is taking positive steps to engage with a wide range of community groups, stakeholders and advisory groups. This will in turn, ensure the police force remains responsive to the very diverse population of London, provide reassurance, improve service delivery and lead to increased confidence in the police force.

F. Environmental implications

1. There are no direct environmental implications.

G. Background papers

None

Presentations:

• Afghan Community Engagement - Brent
• Turkish/Kurdish Community Engagement – CTSET
• Somali Community – Harrow
• Roma Community – CTSET
• Emerging Communities - YOU (Youth Organisations Uniform) London - Croydon

H. Contact details

Report author(s): John Wilson, Diversity & Citizen Focus Directorate, MPS

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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