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Zimbabwe refugee in Catch 22 over job, says judge
A JUDGE has condemned a bizarre "Catch 22" situation which led to a failed Zimbabwean asylum seeker being given a suspended prison sentence for getting a job.
Mother-of-two Theophila Makate-Seremani was prevented from securing employment when her bid for asylum was rejected by this country's immigration authorities.
She had fled to England from her homeland with her children after her husband exposed evidence of electoral fraud in Zimbabwe, before disappearing.
However, secondary school teacher Makate-Seremani, 40, was left living in limbo and was ordered to survive off benefits when immigration officials refused to deport her back to Zimbabwe because of political unrest in the African country.
Desperate to avoid living off benefits while staying in Hull, she used forged Home Office documents to obtain a job as a care assistant in nursing homes.
But she has now ended up in court, where she admitted working illegally – and faces jail if she finds another job in the UK.
During a hearing at York Crown Court, Judge Stephen Ashurst spoke out over the conflicting legislation which had prevented Makate-Seremani from seeking employment in England.
Judge Ashurst told her: "It is one of those unusual cases where the criminal law, immigration laws and the reality of international politics collide.
"Many members of the public will find it quite perplexing that you had to remain completely idle when you could be doing useful work. You were in a Catch 22 situation."
Makate-Seremani worked often unsocial hours as a care assistant for several years, but she was eventually caught out when her last employer queried her forged Home Office paperwork before calling in the authorities.
Rob Galley, prosecuting, told the court that Makate-Seremani's illegal work had earned her about 17,500 over a three-and-a-half year period.
During that time she also received 24,000 in subsistence payments and her 50,801 housing costs were met by the Government.
Makate-Seremani had worked for the Wilf Ward Family Trust, which is based in Pickering in North Yorkshire and runs
care services throughout the region.
She pleaded guilty to seven offences including obtaining a job by deception, using false identification and securing asylum seeker benefits without revealing she was working.
Judge Ashurst said: "I hope in the interim that the political situation does improve so that you can return to Zimbabwe and be able to use your undoubted skills in your own country."
He handed Makate-Seremani a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered her to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Ashurst also warned Makate-Seremani that she faces jail if she gets paid employment in the UK again.
Simon Kealey, defending, said Makate-Seremani was now in Doncaster, was undertaking a training course to become a pastor and worshipped with the Pentecostal Church.
A spokeswoman for the UK Border Agency, which is responsible for immigration, said: "We consider every individual case with enormous care and whenever someone needs our protection we grant it.
"If anyone wants to go home voluntarily we will help them to.
"We do not agree that those judged by the independent courts not to need protection in the UK should be allowed to work.
"Asylum seekers who need support to avoid destitution are given it from the time they arrive in the UK until their claim is fully determined and our policies ensure that no person who has sought protection needs to be destitute whilst they have a valid reason to be here."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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