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Latin immigrants in the UK suffer from hunger and other needs because they cannot access public funds UK Lack of documentation. Before the third prison LondonMany of them have turned to friends, family, charities, community support networks and food banks.
London, like other parts of the UK, is in its third prison, a move that comes after a dramatic increase in new corona virus infections in late 2020 and early 2021.
It is estimated that there are more than 2,000 food banks in the country, of which 1,200 are run by the Trust Trussell Trust and more than 900 are independent.
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The Indo-American Refugee and Immigration Organization (IRMO) is a charity that has focused on the empowerment of Latin Americans in London for 30 years. In an interview with BBC Mundo, its director Lucia Vinson said, “We have our own ‘fund for suffering’, which allows us to provide supermarket and food bank vouchers to people who have no access to public funds.”
On the other hand, many Latin women suffer from the situation in the British country. Sylvia, 50, told the BBC: The South American woman has no job, commenting, “I had to go to the markets to collect food, throw away the little things, I take the bad, I cook and eat.”
Like her, there are many illegal immigrants, and Dolores Modern, coordinator of Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS) labor rights policies and communications, recognizes some of the opportunities.
“We can explore the many benefits of the government to a woman with a European passport, but an undocumented woman can access none of that.”
Extreme point
A 2016 study by Queen Mary University estimated that there were 250,000 Latin Americans in the UK, 145,000 of whom were in London; However, it is not certain how many shortage documents there are.
Similarly, Lucia Visan, who has been working at IRMO for ten years, noted that there is still an issue of concern and that it is a small access to food for immigrants. Many of them have to choose whether to pay rent or buy food to eat.
In February, the IRMO released a report on the impact of COVID – 19 on the lives of Latin American immigrants, which, according to the expert, “is the lack of official data on the community and how it has affected international coverage.”
“Low-income Latin American immigrants living in London are at the most critical stage of the crisis,” the study notes.
The study was based on a survey of 170 participants in the first lockout between April and May. In an analysis of 262 cases and data collected by the organization from March to the end of June, 31% of those surveyed said they had difficulty paying for food, while 49% were out of work due to infection.
Other requirements
On the other hand, there are Latin people working in cleaning services and poorly organized fields. However, since there are zero-time contracts, they also suffer from difficulties, one of which is that the employer is not obligated to provide a minimum number of hours of work.
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It is a corona virus employment retention program started by the government at the beginning of the epidemic, which can accommodate affected businesses. This allows employers to put their workers on leave and access a subsidy that covers a portion of the cost of wages.
In this way, employees receive 80% of their salary while on leave. But the process must be done by the employer and, therefore, depends on their good will.
Similarly, the need to go for any symptoms due to corona virus or any other condition is nil because they are GP, the UK’s primary health care service. (General Practitioner) is not registered and they fear being discovered by immigration. Sylvia mentions this in an interview with BBC Mundo.
In 2011 it was estimated that 1 in 5 Latin Americans is not registered in GP. Ten years later, the IRMO study promises a 1 in 7.
Vaccine for COVID-19
There is no accuracy on how many irregular immigrants there are in the UK, only estimates from someone from the Pew Research Center that there may be between 800,000 and 1,200,000 unauthorized immigrants in 2017.
The British government said in February that immigrants who were in a state of disarray when vaccinated against COVID-19 were not at risk of deportation. So, he asks you to register in GP.
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“Vaccines against the corona virus will be provided free of charge to all people living in the United Kingdom, regardless of their immigration status,” a government spokesman told BBC Mundo.
NGO assistance
VOASES Amigas de Esperanza (VOADES) is a charity that provides telephone support for Latin people with mental health problems, and during epidemics, “although they came from cultures with high levels of regression, some developed panic attacks were prevented by fear and had anxiety disorders,” said its director, Nancy Liskano. Tells the BBC Mundo.
The staff of these NGOs are trained to provide guidance on different topics in Spanish and Portuguese languages (for the Brazilian community) and to handle information confidentially. Between October and December 2020, the service received 1,464 calls and 466 reports on the Internet, according to the organization.
