Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) runs a drop-in advice clinic every Tuesday morning. This starts at 8am but there is often a queue of people waiting for them to open. On Tuesday 20th September, there were 3 caseworkers and between them, they held 15 consultation sessions plus one emergency. They were assisted by a volunteer who is training to become a paid caseworker. There is always at least one emergency case, sometimes more.
GMIAU knows that just 20 minutes of good advice about the immigration system and processes provided early can make a huge difference to the outcome. Some people may have education or language barriers but even good English means nothing if you can’t understand the system you have to work through. Smaller firms of solicitors and law centres used to be able to help with this sort of thing but since Legal Aid was reduced, they have largely stopped being able to provide this. GMIAU have seen the demand for advice increase and have managed to gain funding for caseworkers but can only offer the drop-in every Tuesday morning. There’s demand for much more.
It’s not just the impact on individuals, it’s the families and the wider community. People who come here want to be with their families and this support often helps reunite them, giving people a new life in a safer place. After one case in which they helped, GMIAU received a card drawn by a family’s young daughter which said “Thanks for bringing our Dad here. Now we are happy.”