Gateway Protection Programme
Encyclopedia
The Gateway Protection Programme is a scheme operated by the UK Border Agency
in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), offering a legal route for a quota of UNHCR-identified refugee
s to settle in the United Kingdom
. The programme was established in March 2004 with a quota of 500 refugees per year, later increased to 750, but the actual number of refugees resettled in each year has been fewer than the quota permitted. Liberian
, Congolese
, Sudan
ese, Burmese, Ethiopian
, Mauritania
n and Iraqi
refugees have been resettled under the programme. The programme enjoys cross-party political support in the British parliament
. Evaluations of the programme have praised it as having a positive impact on the reception from local communities received by refugees, but have also noted the difficulties those refugees have faced in securing employment.
vulnerable by the UNHCR are assessed for eligibility under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
by the Home Office
. if they meet the eligibility criteria they are then brought to the UK and granted indefinite leave to remain
. The International Organization for Migration
helps facilitate pre-departure medical screening
, counselling, dossier preparation, transport
and immediate arrival assistance. Once in the UK, refugees are entered into a 12-month support programme which aims to aid their integration
. The programme involves local authorities and NGOs including the British Red Cross
, the International Rescue Committee
, Migrant Helpline
, Refugee Action
, the Refugee Arrivals Project, the Refugee Council
, Scottish Refugee Council
and Refugee Support. These organisations have formed the Resettlement Inter-Agency Partnership in order to pool their resources.
The programme is distinct from and in addition to ordinary provisions for claiming asylum
in the United Kingdom.
More Plan, established by UNHCR in 1973 and administered in the UK by the British Red Cross, is for refugees requiring medical attention not available in their current location. During the 1990s, 2,620 refugees were settled in the UK through these two programmes. In 2003, the UK's Ten or More Plan had a resettlement goal of 10 people and the Mandate Refugee Scheme 300. Refugees have also been resettled through specific programmes following emergencies. For example, 42,000 Ugandan Asians
expelled from Uganda
during 1972–74, 22,500 Vietnamese
during 1979–92, over 2,500 Bosnians
in the 1990s, and over 4,000 Kosovars
in 1999.
A new resettlement programme was proposed by the then British Home Secretary
, David Blunkett
in October 2001, having been hinted at by the previous Home Secretary, Jack Straw
, in his 'Lisbon Speech' to the European Conference on Asylum in June 2000. The legal basis for the programme's funding was established by Section 59 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002
, which was passed by the House of Commons by 362 votes to 74 in June 2002 and by the House of Lords
, at the ninth attempt (following concern about the introduction of measures allowing for the detention
of asylum seekers in rural
areas), in November 2002.
The Gateway Protection Programme was subsequently established in March 2004. Initially, the programme quota was set at 500 per year. The British government has faced criticism from academics
and practitioners over the small number of refugees it has resettled in comparison with other developed states. For example, in 2001 the countries with the largest quota schemes were the United States
(80,000 refugees), Canada
(11,000) and Australia
(10,000). Initially, David Blunkett had intended to raise the quota to 1,000 in the second year of the programme's operation, but local councils'
reluctance to participate in the scheme meant that it was slow to take off. It has been argued that their reluctance showed that hostile attitudes towards asylum seekers had carried over to affect the most genuinely needy refugees. The quota remained at 500 per year until the 2008/09 financial year, when it was increased to 750 refugees per year. The number of refugees resettled under the scheme is small in comparison to the number of asylum seekers offered protection in the UK. For example, in 2009, 24,285 initial decisions on asylum claims were made by the Home Office, of which 4,190 (17 per cent) determined the applicant to be a refugee and granted them asylum, 95 (fewer than 1 per cent) granted humanitarian protection, 2,460 (10 per cent) granted discretionary leave and the remaining 17,545 applications (72 per cent) were refused. Worldwide, there were 42 million forcibly displaced people at the end of 2008, 15.2 million of whom were refugees. Nonetheless, existence of the programme has maintained cross-party support in Parliament since its inception.
The number of refugees resettled under the programme has been consistently under the quota. Refugees resettled have included Liberians
from Guinea
and Sierra Leone
, Congolese
from Uganda
and Zambia
, Sudan
ese from Uganda, Burmese from Thailand
, Ethiopians
from Kenya
, and Mauritania
ns from Senegal
. Provision was made for 1,000 Iraqi refugees to be resettled in the UK between 1 April 2008 and the end of March 2010. In 2008, 236 Iraqis were resettled and as of 18 May, a further 212 had been resettled in 2009. However, in May 2009 the programme was shut down for those Iraqis resettling due to having worked in support of British occupying forces
and therefore at risk for reprisals. This decision was criticised as premature and "mean-spirited" by some members of Parliament.
On 17 July 2009, three Congolese men resettled in Norwich
under the programme were killed in a car crash on the A1 road.
, which was the first city to join the scheme. Others have been housed in cities and towns including Hull
, Norwich, Bolton
, Bury
, Rochdale
, Motherwell
, Brighton and Hove, and the Manchester area
including Tameside
.
In 2007, North Lanarkshire Council won the "Creating Integrated Communities" category in the UK Housing Awards for its involvement in the Gateway Protection Programme. In April 2007, Bolton Museum
held an exhibition of photos of Sudanese refugees resettled in the town under the programme. A film, titled Moving to Mars has been made about two ethnic Karen
families resettled from Burma to Sheffield under the Gateway Protection Programme. The film opened the Sheffield International Documentary Festival in November 2009 and was aired on the television channel More4
on 2 February 2010.
Andy Burnham
, when asked about how the programme fitted in with community cohesion
strategies, stated in the House of Commons that:
A report into the experience of refugees resettled in Brighton and
Hove under the scheme between October 2006 and October 2007 was published by the Sussex Centre for Migration Research at the University of Sussex
in December 2007. The report found that the refugees had struggled to gain employment and English language
skills.
In February 2009, the Home Office published a report evaluating the effectiveness of the Gateway Protection Programme. The research it was based upon focused on refugees' integration into British society in the 18 months following their resettlement. The research found that refugees showed signs of integration, including the formation of social bonds through community group
s and places of worship
. The report noted that low employment rates and slow progress with acquiring English language skills were particular concerns. Younger refugees and children had made the most progress.
The Home Office released a promotional video in October 2009 that highlighted the success of the programme in resettling 15 Congolese families into Norwich in 2006. That city has had a record of success with the programme, with new families being supported by ones previously resettled there.
UK Border Agency
The UK Border Agency is the border control body of the United Kingdom government and part of the Home Office. It was formed on 1 April 2008 by a merger of the Border and Immigration Agency , UKvisas and the Detection functions of HM Revenue and Customs...
in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...
(UNHCR), offering a legal route for a quota of UNHCR-identified refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s to settle in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The programme was established in March 2004 with a quota of 500 refugees per year, later increased to 750, but the actual number of refugees resettled in each year has been fewer than the quota permitted. Liberian
Demographics of Liberia
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Liberia, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
, Congolese
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
, Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
ese, Burmese, Ethiopian
People of Ethiopia
Ethiopia's population is highly diverse. Most of its people speak a Semitic or Cushitic language. The Oromo, Amhara, and Tigreans make up more than three-fourths of the population, but there are more than 80 different ethnic groups within Ethiopia. Some of these have as few as 10,000 members....
, Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
n and Iraqi
Refugees of Iraq
Throughout the past 100 years, there have been a growing number of refugees fleeing Iraq and settling throughout the world, peaking recently with the latest Iraq War. Most of Iraqi Jews, some 120,000, fled the country in mass exodus of 1950-1952. Tens of thousands of Kurds turned displaced and fled...
refugees have been resettled under the programme. The programme enjoys cross-party political support in the British parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. Evaluations of the programme have praised it as having a positive impact on the reception from local communities received by refugees, but have also noted the difficulties those refugees have faced in securing employment.
Programme details
The programme is the UK's "quota refugee" resettlement scheme. Refugees designated as particularlyvulnerable by the UNHCR are assessed for eligibility under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
The United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees is an international convention that defines who is a refugee, and sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum and the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum. The Convention also sets out which people do not...
by the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
. if they meet the eligibility criteria they are then brought to the UK and granted indefinite leave to remain
Indefinite leave to remain
Indefinite leave to remain is an immigration status granted to a person who does not hold right of abode in the United Kingdom , but who has been admitted to the UK without any time limit on his or her stay and who is free to take up employment or study, without restriction...
. The International Organization for Migration
International Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration is an intergovernmental organization. It was initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration to help resettle people displaced by World War II....
helps facilitate pre-departure medical screening
Screening (medicine)
Screening, in medicine, is a strategy used in a population to detect a disease in individuals without signs or symptoms of that disease. Unlike what generally happens in medicine, screening tests are performed on persons without any clinical sign of disease....
, counselling, dossier preparation, transport
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
and immediate arrival assistance. Once in the UK, refugees are entered into a 12-month support programme which aims to aid their integration
Social integration
Social integration, in sociology and other social sciences, is the movement of minority groups such as ethnic minorities, refugees and underprivileged sections of a society into the mainstream of societies...
. The programme involves local authorities and NGOs including the British Red Cross
British Red Cross
The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom branch of the worldwide impartial humanitarian organisation the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with over 31,000 volunteers and 2,600 staff. At the heart of their work...
, the International Rescue Committee
International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee is a leading nonsectarian, nongovernmental international relief and development organization based in the United States, with operations in over 40 countries...
, Migrant Helpline
Migrant Helpline
Migrant Helpline is a charity based in the South East of England dedicated to helpling Refugees and Asylum Seekers....
, Refugee Action
Refugee Action
Refugee Action is an independent national charity founded in 1981 that provides advice and support to refugees and Asylum seekers who wish to live in the UK...
, the Refugee Arrivals Project, the Refugee Council
Refugee Council
The Refugee Council is the United Kingdom's leading organisation working with refugees and asylum seekers. The organisation provides support and advice to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as support for other refugee and asylum seeker organisations...
, Scottish Refugee Council
Scottish Refugee Council
Scottish Refugee Council was formed in 1985 to provide advice and assistance to refugees and asylum seekers seeking protection in Scotland. The charity has grown considerably since then, and has its headquarters in Glasgow, and outreach work in Edinburgh....
and Refugee Support. These organisations have formed the Resettlement Inter-Agency Partnership in order to pool their resources.
The programme is distinct from and in addition to ordinary provisions for claiming asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
in the United Kingdom.
History
The Gateway Protection Programme is not the first British refugee resettlement programme. Other, informal, resettlement programmes include the Mandate Refugee Scheme, and UK also participates in the Ten or More Plan. Refugees must have close ties to the UK to qualify for the former, which is for so-called "mandate" refugees who are granted refugee status by UNHCR. The Ten orMore Plan, established by UNHCR in 1973 and administered in the UK by the British Red Cross, is for refugees requiring medical attention not available in their current location. During the 1990s, 2,620 refugees were settled in the UK through these two programmes. In 2003, the UK's Ten or More Plan had a resettlement goal of 10 people and the Mandate Refugee Scheme 300. Refugees have also been resettled through specific programmes following emergencies. For example, 42,000 Ugandan Asians
Expulsion of Asians in Uganda in 1972
On 4 August 1972, the then President of Uganda, Idi Amin, ordered the expulsion of his country's Indian minority, giving them 90 days to leave Uganda...
expelled from Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
during 1972–74, 22,500 Vietnamese
Vietnamese people
The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
during 1979–92, over 2,500 Bosnians
Bosnians
Bosnians are people who reside in, or come from, Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the modern state definition a Bosnian can be anyone who holds citizenship of the state. This includes, but is not limited to, members of the constituent ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and...
in the 1990s, and over 4,000 Kosovars
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
in 1999.
A new resettlement programme was proposed by the then British Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, David Blunkett
David Blunkett
David Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...
in October 2001, having been hinted at by the previous Home Secretary, Jack Straw
Jack Straw
Jack Straw , British politician.Jack Straw may also refer to:* Jack Straw , English* "Jack Straw" , 1971 song by the Grateful Dead* Jack Straw by W...
, in his 'Lisbon Speech' to the European Conference on Asylum in June 2000. The legal basis for the programme's funding was established by Section 59 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002
The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It received Royal Assent on 7 November 2002....
, which was passed by the House of Commons by 362 votes to 74 in June 2002 and by the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, at the ninth attempt (following concern about the introduction of measures allowing for the detention
Immigration detention
Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorised arrival, and those subject to deportation and removal in detention until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a visa and release them into the community, or to...
of asylum seekers in rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
areas), in November 2002.
The Gateway Protection Programme was subsequently established in March 2004. Initially, the programme quota was set at 500 per year. The British government has faced criticism from academics
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
and practitioners over the small number of refugees it has resettled in comparison with other developed states. For example, in 2001 the countries with the largest quota schemes were the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(80,000 refugees), Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(11,000) and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(10,000). Initially, David Blunkett had intended to raise the quota to 1,000 in the second year of the programme's operation, but local councils'
Local government in the United Kingdom
The pattern of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements. Legislation concerning local government in England is decided by the Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom, because England does not have a devolved...
reluctance to participate in the scheme meant that it was slow to take off. It has been argued that their reluctance showed that hostile attitudes towards asylum seekers had carried over to affect the most genuinely needy refugees. The quota remained at 500 per year until the 2008/09 financial year, when it was increased to 750 refugees per year. The number of refugees resettled under the scheme is small in comparison to the number of asylum seekers offered protection in the UK. For example, in 2009, 24,285 initial decisions on asylum claims were made by the Home Office, of which 4,190 (17 per cent) determined the applicant to be a refugee and granted them asylum, 95 (fewer than 1 per cent) granted humanitarian protection, 2,460 (10 per cent) granted discretionary leave and the remaining 17,545 applications (72 per cent) were refused. Worldwide, there were 42 million forcibly displaced people at the end of 2008, 15.2 million of whom were refugees. Nonetheless, existence of the programme has maintained cross-party support in Parliament since its inception.
Refugees resettled under the programme
| Year | Quota | Refugees resettled |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 500 | 150 |
| 2005 | 500 | 70 |
| 2006 | 500 | 355 |
| 2007 | 500 | 465 |
| 2008 | 750 | 640 |
| 2009 | 750 | 855 (provisional) |
The number of refugees resettled under the programme has been consistently under the quota. Refugees resettled have included Liberians
Demographics of Liberia
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Liberia, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
from Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
and Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, Congolese
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
from Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
and Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
ese from Uganda, Burmese from Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Ethiopians
People of Ethiopia
Ethiopia's population is highly diverse. Most of its people speak a Semitic or Cushitic language. The Oromo, Amhara, and Tigreans make up more than three-fourths of the population, but there are more than 80 different ethnic groups within Ethiopia. Some of these have as few as 10,000 members....
from Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, and Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
ns from Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
. Provision was made for 1,000 Iraqi refugees to be resettled in the UK between 1 April 2008 and the end of March 2010. In 2008, 236 Iraqis were resettled and as of 18 May, a further 212 had been resettled in 2009. However, in May 2009 the programme was shut down for those Iraqis resettling due to having worked in support of British occupying forces
Operation Telic
Operation TELIC was the codename under which all British military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the Invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on 22 May 2011...
and therefore at risk for reprisals. This decision was criticised as premature and "mean-spirited" by some members of Parliament.
On 17 July 2009, three Congolese men resettled in Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
under the programme were killed in a car crash on the A1 road.
Resettlement locations
, out of the 434 local authorities in the UK, 15 were participating in the programme. The first refugees resettled under the programme were housed in SheffieldSheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, which was the first city to join the scheme. Others have been housed in cities and towns including Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, Norwich, Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, Bury
Bury
Bury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...
, Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
, Motherwell
Motherwell
Motherwell is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, south east of Glasgow. The name "Moderwelt" appears on a map of Lanarkshire made by Timothy Pont some time between 1583 and 1611 and printed in the Netherlands in around 1652, although the settlement was probably little more...
, Brighton and Hove, and the Manchester area
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
including Tameside
Tameside
The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after the River Tame which flows through the borough and spans the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge. Its western...
.
In 2007, North Lanarkshire Council won the "Creating Integrated Communities" category in the UK Housing Awards for its involvement in the Gateway Protection Programme. In April 2007, Bolton Museum
Bolton Museum
Bolton Museum is a public museum and art gallery in the town of Bolton, Greater Manchester, northern England, owned by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council....
held an exhibition of photos of Sudanese refugees resettled in the town under the programme. A film, titled Moving to Mars has been made about two ethnic Karen
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
families resettled from Burma to Sheffield under the Gateway Protection Programme. The film opened the Sheffield International Documentary Festival in November 2009 and was aired on the television channel More4
More4
More4 is a digital television channel, run by British broadcaster Channel 4, that launched on 10 October 2005. It is carried on Freeview, on satellite broadcasters Freesat and Sky, UK IPTV broadcaster TalkTalk TV and on UK cable network Virgin Media and in the Republic of Ireland cable networks...
on 2 February 2010.
Programme evaluation
Resettlement has been presented as a means of the UK fulfilling its obligations towards displaced people in the context of hostile public attitudes towards asylum seekers. Research has shown that members of the British public are generally well disposed to providing protection to genuine refugees, but are sceptical about the validity of asylum seekers' claims. A report published in 2005 states that "some participating agencies have been reluctant to pursue a proactive media strategy due to local political considerations and issues relating to the dispersal of asylum seekers". However, in February 2006, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home DepartmentUnder-Secretary of State for the Home Department
-Non-permanent and parliamentary under-secretaries, 1782-present:*April 1782: Evan Nepean*April 1782: Thomas Orde*July 1782: Henry Strachey*April 1783: George North*February 1784: Hon. John Townshend*June 1789: Scrope Bernard*July 1794: The Hon...
Andy Burnham
Andrew Burnham
Andrew Murray Burnham is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Leigh since 2001. He served in the Cabinet under Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010 as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Culture Secretary and Health Secretary. He was a candidate in the 2010 Labour...
, when asked about how the programme fitted in with community cohesion
Community cohesion
Community cohesion refers to the aspect of togetherness and bonding exhibited by members of a community, the "glue" that holds a community together...
strategies, stated in the House of Commons that:
"The early evidence from areas in which authorities have participated in the programme shows that it has been successful in challenging some of the attacks on the notion of political asylum that we have heard in recent years. In Bolton and Sheffield in particular, the towns have rallied around the individuals who have come to them. The programme has been a positive experience for the receiving community and, of course, for the vulnerable individuals who have benefited from the protection that those towns have offered".
A report into the experience of refugees resettled in Brighton and
Hove under the scheme between October 2006 and October 2007 was published by the Sussex Centre for Migration Research at the University of Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....
in December 2007. The report found that the refugees had struggled to gain employment and English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
skills.
In February 2009, the Home Office published a report evaluating the effectiveness of the Gateway Protection Programme. The research it was based upon focused on refugees' integration into British society in the 18 months following their resettlement. The research found that refugees showed signs of integration, including the formation of social bonds through community group
Community Group
Community Group are a British political party in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, founded in 2001. The Community Group has four councillors serving on Doncaster Metropolitan Borough council....
s and places of worship
Place of worship
A place of worship or house of worship is an establishment or her location where a group of people comes to perform acts of religious study, honor, or devotion. The form and function of religious architecture has evolved over thousands of years for both changing beliefs and architectural style...
. The report noted that low employment rates and slow progress with acquiring English language skills were particular concerns. Younger refugees and children had made the most progress.
The Home Office released a promotional video in October 2009 that highlighted the success of the programme in resettling 15 Congolese families into Norwich in 2006. That city has had a record of success with the programme, with new families being supported by ones previously resettled there.