Church Action on Poverty to Sleep Out for Manchester's Homeless

Church Action on Poverty (CAP) is calling on concerned Christians to take part in a vigil and sleep-out this month in solidarity with the growing number of destitute asylum seekers in Manchester.

The vigil will take place between 5pm on February 19 and 8.30am on February 20 outside Manchester's Piccadilly's railway station.

The station has become the closest thing to a home for a number of refused asylum seekers from Darfur over the winter.

CAP said the aim of the vigil and sleep-out was to highlight to the public, politicians and media that destitute asylum seekers have no home and "that destitution is not working as a policy", it said on its website.

The charity quoted a 1999 quote from Tony Blair in which he said it was a "scandal" that there are still people sleeping rough on the streets in the UK and that this was "not a situation that we can tolerate in a modern civilised society".

CAP responded: "Destitution is now being used as a tool of public policy - and it is time to put an end to it."

Ahead of the sleep-out, CAP said: "Asylum seekers whose claims are turned down are not leaving the UK - they are here and they are homeless and hungry.

The sleep-out is timed to coincide with a similar event being organised by the Refugee Council in Parliament Square on the eve of the publication of the latest Government asylum statistics.

CAP is providing churches and Christians with copies of the 20-minute film "Welcome" which tells the story of three homeless refugees who have become 'living ghosts'.

"My life is frozen", says a Zimbabwean maths teacher who's been living 'underground' since being evicted from his flat. "I'm existing, but it's not a life. I don't think people know we are being chucked on the street, or they would not allow it to happen."

To order a copy of "Welcome" at the discounted price of £5 including postage please ring the CAP office on 0161 2369321.