‘Somalis have regenerated this area with their cuture’

For the many people who come to Sasca for help and advice, solicitor Paul Morris is the one man they can turn to in troubled times.

Paul has been holding weekly advice drop-ins at Sasca for the past five years and has helped many individuals and families be reunited with loved ones and overcome immigration problems.

Having previously worked at south Manchester Law Centre, Paul now offers free advice to Somalis in the community who are facing difficulties and cannot afford to pay for legal advice.

He said: “I’ve done a lot of work with the Somali community over genocide against Somalians, so I have a long involvement with refugee and family reunion cases.”

In the past, Paul has visited Ethiopia on several occasions to visit camps where

Somalis had fled to, taking statements from individuals and families about the brutalities they had faced.

“When I left the law centre I wanted to continue my involvement with the community, which is why I volunteer at Sasca. Sometimes it’s just reassurance, sometimes it’s checking forms, sometimes it’s encouraging people to go and find the proper legal advice.”

Paul says that there are many immigration lawyers who take advantage of refugees and asylum seekers, giving them bad advice while charging large amounts of money.

He also said that many employers do not understand the legal status of refugees and often put their livelihoods at risk by asking for the wrong documentation, something he can help put right.

“Only last week I saw a woman who has cleaning job in a school and the school was demanding she get a passport. It’s impossible for a Somali to do this and dangerous for her status because refugees can’t return to the country from which they fled,” he said.

Paul, who has reunited many families torn apart by the civil war in Somalia, said that refugees and asylum seekers face a hostile environment in the UK. Some families can face decades before being reunited, if at all.

“We are in an era of fear. Lots of people are really worried about the situation,” he said.

Paul paid tribute to the influence of Somali people in Moss Side and the surrounding areas, saying: “They have regenerated this area by their culture. It has brought energy to the area.”