ASYLUM seekers have been told they can take part in voluntary work without breaching their applications after criticism of the treatment of a Scots-based pastor.
The Home Office clarified its advice to officials dealing with applications after Olivier Mondeke Monongo, who was granted refugee status several years ago, was denied British citizenship for his unpaid work with the British Red Cross.
The Congolese-born NHS mental health nurse, who lives in Glasgow, had been volunteering as an interpreter during his claim without realising it fell foul of the rules.
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Mr Mondeke Monogo said he was told by government officials it was considered a breach of his asylum application conditions and a sign of ‘bad character’.
Now the Home Office has made clear it is the UK Government’s “policy to support asylum seekers volunteering for charities or public sector organisations”.
Glasgow Central SNP MP Alison Thewliss, who highlighted Mr Mondeke Monongo’s case, had denounced the earlier application of the rules as “fundamentally flawed”.
She said: “This new guidance makes much clearer that volunteering should not be regarded as a sign of bad character and indeed encouraged. This will be of great comfort to individuals and to the organisations who value the contribution volunteers make.
“The previous rules were fundamentally flawed and led to an honest and upstanding member of the community being denied British citizenship, simply because he volunteered for the British Red Cross. That is absolutely ridiculous.
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Ms Thewliss called on the UK Government to allow Mr Monongo and his family to apply for British citizenship immediately.
She has now written to the Home Secretary Amber Rudd asking the Conservative MP to personally intervene in the case.
Ms Thewliss suggested that it would be ridiculous to make him wait another three years.
She also reiterated her call for asylum seekers to be able to take up paid work, a move she said would save taxpayers tens of millions of pounds.
The Glasgow Central MP said that a debate that she had held at Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament last week ‘highlighted the folly of this policy.
She added: I’m very glad to see revised policy being issued to Home Office decision makers. However, I went into Westminster Hall last week with two asks. One was to make sure people can’t be penalised for volunteering and the other was to lift the ban on asylum seekers working.
“Although I’m pleased that there has been progress on the first issue, I am still going to pursue the wider issue of allowing asylum seekers to take up paid employment, which we know would save the Government tens of millions of pounds.”
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Ms Thewlis is to ask Home Secretary Amber Rudd to set in motion the process that will allow Mr Mondeke Monogo and his family to apply for citizenship immediately, rather than have to wait until 2020.
A Home Office spokesman said: “There has been no change to policy.
"We have supported asylum seekers to volunteer with charities and public sector organisations for well over a decade.”
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