[RED DEMOCRATICA] BOLETIN:LONDRES:MINKA NEWS: Student Visa Crackdown/ Hispanic ex Mayor of Haringey quits Labour/

MINKA NEWS UK's Ibero-American Newsletter The voice of the Spanish/Portuguese community in English 18-02-2010 Director Raul Mancera Minka is a non profitable community newsletter. if by mistake we have sent it to you please reply 'remove'     INDEX * STUDENT VISA CRACKDOWN (by Vitoria Nabas)  * Latin America and the World for Haiti (by Carlos Paul) * Solidarity with Peru's disasters. 20 February. Latin Palace.  Camberwell. * HISPANIC FORMER MAYOR OF HARINGEY RESIGNED FROM THE LABOUR PARTY (Sheikh Thompson) * March 3 March. People's Question Time * Bolívar Hall Upcoming Events February 2010 * Isaac Bigio, Latin character of the year (by Pablo Salgado, editor of Perfiles, UK's only Hispanic maganize)   STUDENT VISA CRACKDOWN By Vitoria Nabas, Brazilian solicitor in London   The UK has plans to clamp down on student visas on the 3rd of March 2010. The plans come in the wake of the suspension of student visas being issued in Nepal, Northern India and Bangladesh amid suspicions that the unprecedented rise in student visa issuances in those parts of Asia is a result of fraudulent applications. It has come to the attention of immigration authorities that many of the applicants trying for a student visa are actually doing so under the guise of coming into the UK to find a job rather than study. Between June and August the rise in student applicants led to the closure of many education providers. Immigration Minister Paul Woolas said over 200 colleges have been closed in that period alone, and the number rose to 13,500. There are claims that most of the 'colleges' are not actually education providers at all and there have been suggestions to define what a college is on statutory level, similarly to universities. Without this level of scrutiny bogus colleges will continue to pop up for the benefit of fraudulent agents and student applicants. It has been calculated that over 30% of migrants to the UK were student visa holders alone, most of them adults taking short courses not leading to degrees. The current student visa system in place is the points based system, in which the applicant needed to achieve 10 points for maintenance requirements and 30 points for being offered a place at their education provider of choice, provided the school was a bona fide institution registered with the Home Office. However, there have been voices of criticism of the system, with Tory representatives stating the system was the 'biggest hole in border controls'. Liberal Democrat shadow Home secretary Chris Huhne said the reason for this criticism is that the current student visa system does not include exit checks, which have been abolished by the Tory and Labour parties. Without exit checks, border authorities are unable to verify that a student has left the United Kingdom after their visa had expired and instead became overstayers looking for work. There have also been fears that this system allows entry for terrorist suspects – most worries have been voiced in the wake of the Detroit plane bombing attempt, as a result of which Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged a review of border controls. Some of the proposals to have immediate effect are as follows: - - Students taking courses below degree level will be allowed to work for only 10 hours per week, as opposed to the 20 hours currently allowed; - Dependants of students enrolled at courses below degree level will not be allowed to work; - Student visa applicants enrolling for courses shorter than 6 months will not be able to bring dependants with them; - All student visa applicants will need to prove a passable (near GCSE) level of English. In addition, Conservative Shadow Home secretary Chris Grayling stated that "Ministers should be ending the situation where a student visa is a way of coming to the UK to stay by banning the practice of moving from course to course in order to stay on and stopping overseas students from applying for work permits without going home first." Various proposals have been set up for exit verification checks. Among others, it has been put forward that a student applicant pays a lump-sum deposit fee, similar to the one paid for in tenancy agreements, which will only be paid out once the student leaves the UK. Other suggestions have gone even further, by allowing schools to withhold degrees and certificates until evidence is shown that the student has left the United Kingdom and gone back to their country. Before any reforms are put in place, it will be examined what effect they would have on Britain's economy. In the meantime, the ban on applications from central Asia is still in place. We suspect that the suspension may last up to several months, admitting it will have an adverse effect on genuine student visa applicants, but clearing the fraudulent ones as well as preventing illegal immigration. Other changes to the points based system include enhancements on Tier 2 and Tier 5 sponsor support confirmations in order to make sure applicants will not claim public funds, as well as the abolishment of the visa letter as of 22 February 2010 in favour of the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) reference number, which the Home Office will put in their system and easily track the applicant's enrolment at the school as well as other assessment information. Maintenance requirements are also due a significant change, with applicants having to prove existence of appropriate funds for a 28-day period instead of just one day as previously. This article was written just for information and debate purpose and should not be considered as a legal opinion for any specific business. 2009. All rights reserved for NABAS LEGAL                 Latin America and the World for Haiti Carlos Paúl Velásquez. On  Sunday 31st January 2010 the Latin American community and artists united in a festival to support Haiti. It was raised £1423.46. Here some extracts from the report of the main organizer.   John Silva and Gatico were some of the presenters   This fundraising event was organised and coordinated by a group of Latino artists in London with the objective of helping  the children affected by the earthquake in Haiti.  None of the artists, volunteers coordinators and venue owners charged any amount of money for their participation on the event. I contacted UNICEF UK to let them know we planned to have a private fundraising event and that we would like to do so for the emergency appeal UNICEF was advertising.  They replied back and I got the letter of authority (attached at the end of this report) along with fundraising materials to help us with the event.  I met with César Quinteros, manager of Distriandina to ask if the venue was available for that Sunday and if he was willing to let us use it for the outlined purposes.  His response was more than positive and he allowed us to make full use of the venue.  Latin America and the World for Haiti was a onetime only event.  The venue is not a fundraising point neither the organisers authorise the venue to use the name of the event for future fundraising matters.  The money raised was deposited on my Lloyds TSB account and then transferred to a UNICEF's HSBC account with the details provided by UNICEF UK. (Statement attached at the end of this report) I worked along a wonderful team of volunteers who devoted their time to the success of this event, keeping in mind the urgency of the situation in Haiti.  The main coordinators and their duties are listed below: Ximena Rico: Event manager. Lizet Ferrufino: Morning coordinator (10:00 - 15:00).  Sofía Buchuck: Communications and spokes person. Alexandra Pereyra:  General help and coordination. Hortensia Celis:  Raffles and donations. Here is a list of all the volunteers that made this event possible, this goes with special thanks for all their efforts and commitment. Their names are listed in no particular order and we apologise if any volunteer is not mentioned. If this is the case we urge you to bring it to our attention:  Ayra Valentina, Dimitris Shaw, Kathy Chavez, Angie Ramirez, Angie Loren Ramirez, Carolina Escobar, Adriana Escobar, Diego García, Jimmy Ferrufino, Mijail Intriago, Tania and the Puppet Show, José Navarrez, Eleni Ekmektsioglou, Adriana, Victor Rios, Tisha, Mario Germán Romero, Marisol Zuñiga, John Silva, Gatico Dj, Juan Carlos Piedra, Juan Endara, Daniel Endara, Calvin Tucker, Isaac Bigio, Miriam Guzmán, Cinthya Akee, César Quinteros  and all of Distriandina's Staff. And more volunteers that wished to remain anonymous.  Material donations like canned food and clothes donated on the day of the event were taken to the Big Yellow Self Storage in Kennington for sorting so they can be sent to Haiti. I also wish to thank: UNICEF UK, The Pedro Achata Trust, Aculco Radio, Express News, Minka News, Fausto Miño, Juan Fernando Velásco, Lina Maria Usma, Carmen Bournet (Ecuabritain), Patricia López, MERU, Melania Calestani, Fernando Amaya, Micaella Molina, Robin Rix, Luis Garcia, Sofia Guerrero and everybody who came to Latin America and the World for Haiti to help and made their donations.   Carlos Paúl Velásquez Carlos Paul was one of the organizers Programme and activities where:    10:00 to 12:00 Face painting for children - Modelling balloons - Photo studio with the Dolls - The mime and his Marionettes - Colouring for children 12:00 - 12:04 Video children in Haiti 12:04 - 12:10 Welcome ( Ayra Valentina). 12:10 - 12:30 Puppet Show ( The Red Riding Hood). 12:35 - 13:00 Doll Tita and her songs!. 13:00   Children's drama - Lambeth college Performing Arts dept. 13:30   Mijail and his Crazy spins ( gymnastics). 13:40   The Mime and his Marionettes **14:00   Balloon Shaping **14:20   Catalina Bustos ***14:45   Prayer for Haiti Children. 15:00   Close Morning Session 15:00  Wellcome for the afternoon show.. 15:15. Natalia Sañudo. 15:45. Cuco Usma. 16:15. Folklore de México Mestizo. Speech by Isaac Bigio, Peruvian Historian. 16:45. Shakirita y La Chica Latina. 17:15. Osvaldo Gomes. 17:30. Sofía Buchuck and Andean Group.18:00. Carlos Paul.18:30. Cachito 593. Speech by Calvin Tucker, English journalist. 19:00. Stephanie Santiago. 19:30. Expresión Bolivia. 20:15. Angélica López y La Papayera. 21:00. Donations count. 21:30. Edgar Danilo DJ. 22:30. Close.         WATCH THIS DOCUMENTARY ON MACHU PICCHU HISTORY: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTUwMzE4MDc2.html HISPANIC FORMER MAYOR OF HARINGEY RESIGNED FROM THE LABOUR PARTY Sheikh Thompson, born in Savana La Mar in 1939, was the Labour Mayor of Haringey in 2007-2008. He supported the Pueblito Paisa, the pro-immigrant demonstration on 4 May 2009, the Ibero-American Alliance and many assemblies between the Iberoa-American community and the authorities. In August thousands of Latinos celebrated his 70 anniversary during the Brazilian Day. We reproduce his letter of resignation from Labour. He is now going to stand as an independent candidate in Tottenham.   Sheikh Thompson with activist from the Ibero-American Alliance and the Chair of the London Assembly   Open letter of resignation from the Haringey Labour Group To: The Chief Executive of the Council Dr Ita O'Donovan The Leader of the Labour Group / Cllr Claire Kober From: Cllr Sheik G.L.Thompson                        2nd February 2010 Dear Cllr Claire Kober & Dr Ita O'Donovan, I hope you are well. I am herewith formally telling you collectively that as of now and with immediate effect I have been forced by personal integrity and in the best interest of all the People to resign the Labour Whip and Group. From this moment on, I am to be recognised as officially a fully fledged Independent Councillor representing my constituents in the Tottenham Hale Ward of the London Borough of Haringey, Claire, Cllr Kober, as I promised you when you asked me in a telephone call about my future with the Labour Group, I said that you would be the first person to know officially and I am sticking to my principle and herewith telling you that Yes I have now decided to leave New Labour and Haringey Labour Group, but not as a defector: to any other obvious Party. I prefer to remain Independent as of now. There is no easy option or opportunism in my bones. I live in Tottenham Hale Ward and will continue to represent the multitude of all those people who live in my Ward and need proper representation from their elected councillors. A full press release will be forthcoming later to all and sundry within London and the UK as to my position, but you as well as the Chief Whip and current Ward Colleagues in particular know full well the before, present, and future scenario; Hence this is just a clear statement of my resignation from New Labour. As one who lives by the Principles of the Abrahamic faiths I have been a Democratic Socialist all my life. The Labour Party I have known and supported for a lifetime is no longer there today and as I see it from National to the Local Constituency level particularly since 1997; has gradually deteriorated beyond all recognition of its founding tenets and characteristic. I had struggled at long and hard especially over many years to democratically represent all the people's interest and concerns in my neighbourhood and community within this New Labour Party's present policy. The behaviour has not been supportive, nor fair to all the people who make up our community which is thankfully diverse and quite vibrant even so, in spite of the difficult attitude and decisions colleagues have taken towards many of them. As you know, my personal motto is: "Performance with integrity over slavish loyalty. Yours sincerely, Cllr Sheik G.L.Thompson     March 3 March. People's Question Time Location: Hall Harrow School, Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex, HA1 3HP (map) Time: 19.00 – 21.00 (doors open at 18.00) The Mayor and the Chair of the London Assembly will be in Harrow answering questions from Londoners across a range of subjects about their plans, priorities and policies for London. Tickets for this event are now fully subscribed but you can register for alerts on future Question Time events.   Bolívar Hall Upcoming Events February 2010 Greetings! Welcome your contacts to your events. Provide some general information about the events they will be viewing below. Build up the anticipation for what will be coming in the days, weeks, and months ahead.     Isaac Bigio, Latino character of the year by Pablo Salgado, Perfiles (London's only Spanish magazine)   This is a short message on the Latino character For about four years I've been living in London, I had never met a character who seems to be more present than the Holy Spirit himself. This may be no other than Isaac Bigio. The most Hispanic American Peruvian that I have seen in my life. A man. A gentleman. With its quiet, unhurried walk approaches, salutes, takes a coffee and a chat. Fits and could stay forever talking, thinking and proposing things for Latinos. A unique character. Generous. Dreamer. Friend. The man who is recovering from harm and remains in his own task: to inform people. With its leisurely pace and quiet away. Go back and give everyone talking. For this beloved latino, I've named the Latin character of 2009 because it appears to be multiplied. Because it is everywhere. Latino events, political events, art, just to name a few where I've come across. He's a warrior. It's a Latino. It's the Latin character of 2009: Isaac Bigio.   http://pablog-pablosalgado.blogspot.com/2010/01/personaje-latino-isaac-bigio.html       Visitenos ahora tambien en Facebook : Red Democratica Envienos sus comentarios a : red_democratica@yahoo.com   RED DEMOCRATICA Http://reddemocratica.blogspot.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eleccion/messages   Keep the candle burning 2010 !