22/10/2012 Inside Out West Midlands

Hello, and welcome to Inside Out. This week, we've come to Dudley

Castle and Zoo to bring you three surprising stories from right

across the West Midlands. On the programme tonight:

Sold a service that wasn't delivered. We investigate claims

from family who is say they've been ripped off my Midlands immigration

firm. I can't explain how devastating this was. I literally

wanted to crawl under my desk and cry.

Also, the abductions tearing families apart. You have no control

over it. In our final story, why the Cadbury

people built a new village for their workers. That's all coming up

Say you've got a wife, husband, mum or dad who isn't British but you

would like them to stay with you in the UK. Well, there are companies

that, for a feerbgs will help you to do this. We've been speaking to

customers of one Midlands firm who say they've paid up and got nothing

in return. -- for a fee will help you do this. Meet Bernadette. She

was born in South Africa but has been legally living in the UK with

her family for the past ten years. To her, Britain is home and she

wants the Passport to Prove it. I've been married ten years to my

husband who's British. My children are South African. We wanted to

have a British family unit. It's a way of showing him as well that we

want to be here. But things started to go wrong after she paid over

�1,000. I can't explain how devastating it was. I wanted to

crawl under my defpbg and die. I felt hopeless. -- desk and die. I

felt hopeless. The company was called UK Visa &

Immigration and she's not the only unhappy customer.

We have spoken to more than ten people who believe they've been

ripped off. Many say that after parting with their cash, the firm

didn't do the work they were paid to do. Some say that phone lines

simply went dead, others that refunds never materialised.

We want to introduce you to a few people whose stories are the same.

More disgruntled UK customers. Like Ian who says he paid �100 for a

visa he didn't get. -- �1200. marryed to a lady from Thailand, we

have been married seven years, we have a beautiful family. My father-

in-law died relatively suddenly and that left my mother-in-law with

very few people out in Thailand to help and look after her. She's

elderly. We decided she should come and see us for a period of time.

months on, he's still fighting for a refund. It was incredibly

difficult. Being in a sales job myself, it was in the heart of the

recession. We paid for it on the credit card and then, as my salary

came down, we struggled to pay that back. Even now, we are still paying

back that credit car, still paying interest on the credit card and

struggling through month to month. Leigh is from Australia but moved

to the UK nearly a year ago to marry her British husband. She paid

for two visas and got the first one but yes, you guessed it, no sign of

the second. I paid them �2,000 for both visas.

That money was a one shot. If I didn't get what I needed for that

money, I didn't have the money to do it again. They prey on your

emotions, and on your need to join your families together or to start

a new life in the UK for a lot of people.

The people we have just heard from are a drop in the ocean. We

discovered there's been around 100 complaints about UK Visa and

Immigration. With a fee of roughly �1,000 per customer, it's big

business. What's happening on the inside? We

spoke to three former employees. Adam is one of them. He zod remain

anonymous to avoid any possible consequences. He asked to remain

anonymous. We were told to put customers on hold for ten minutes,

pretend we'd come back if a chat with a barrister and say, as long

as you can pay today, we can 100% get your visa sorted. Employees

were under pressure to get money out of customers. I heard customers

crying. One consultant said to a customer, do you love your wife, so

is she worth �1,50 0ps you wouldn't talk to your dog in the same way -

�1,500. Adam and others told us something else interesting about

the company, that it goes under a number of different names.

Curious? So were we. So we did a bit of digging and this is what we

found out. UK Visa & Immigration started life

in 2010. And this was the trading name for another company called UK

Visa Specialists Ltd, the director was a man named Ash Shadat. In July,

the company was banned by the body which regulates immigration

advisers because of the number of complaints we are told making it a

criminal offence for the company or its employees to offer imgrace

advice. This is where it gets interesting. Last year, another

company was created under the name of UK Immigration Barristers. We

tracked down two people who work for them, they also worked for UK

Visa & Immigration, the firm that took money off the customers we

heard from earlier. The people admit working for the firms but

Mohammed said he did so as a self- employed person. As the company

appears to have stopped trading, UK Immigration Barristers hasn't.

We have heard that it's giving advice through unqualified advisers

which could be illegal. So we thought we'd put this to the test.

Craig speaking, how can I help... I'm looking for some immigration

files... This is our actress, Siobhan. We asked her to call,

pretending to need help to get a visa for her husband and we also

asked a leading immigration solicitor to listen in. All right,

I'm going to pop you on hold to see the legal team with regards to this.

Bear with me. OK. Remember, it's a criminal offence to give

immigration advice unless advisers are qualified or the company is

regulated and the firm were about to hear from isn't. What about

coming over on a visitor's visa. Is that a possibility and applying

when he gets here when we save some more money up? Yes, he could get a

visit visa, but he wouldn't be able to... Sounds suspiciously like

immigration advice to me. But what does the expert think? It would

make any prosecution peck pif purchaser of the services

uncomfortable -- prospective. The adviser is not regulated, as they

should be. It would make you uncomfortable. He's not sure about

the people giving the advice. What does he make about the advice

itself? The advice that's been given today to Siobhan is

immigration law advice, advice for which she received was all accurate.

We put our evidence to Nadim, the man in charge of the company we

just heard from, UK Immigration Barristers, he denies links to the

previous companies and says his company acts as broker between

That's interesting. I'm sure we heard some immigration advice been

given earlier -- being given earlier.

We put it to him that he may have been acting illegally by not being

We spoke to the organisations who both say this isn't the case. We

also tracked down the man behind the now defunct UK Visa &

Immigration to ask the big question - will customers like Bernadette

get their money back? We have spoken to about a dozen

customers who didn't get the service they paid for. Why didn't

they get their service? Once your licence is cancelled, you are not

allowed to give advice. Towards the end of the life of a visa, there

were client who is maybe didn't get the service, no doubt. That's

because time ran out for us. Those who didn't get the service are due

a refund aren't they, that they haven't had? These moneys are held

by a merchant provider because the majority of these payments were

paid by card. The merchant providers have been taking time

releasing the fund and we have been waiting since March 2011 for the

moneys to be released. If they qualify for a refund, no problem,

I'll pay it up myself. Not a problem at all. At the end of the

day, I'm not here to take money for nothing. Some interesting answers,

but we've still got a few questions. So we are on our way to London with

Bernadette to hand over our evidence to the regulator.

Evidence give tonne us about activity that may be illegal, we

would look at very seriously. If the firm is found to be trading

outside of regulation and it's appropriate for us to do so because

it's in the public interest, we'll prosecute as we have done with many

others. We have heard from the regulator. Now let us hear from

Bernadette. I'm toobt fill her in with my chat on the commissioner --

I'm about to fill her in with my chat with the commissioner. That

gives me a lot of hope. Most of all, I don't want anybody that's in the

same situation that me and my family have been in to go through

this. It was an horrendous part of my life that I hope never to two

through again. Fresh hope for Bernadette then, but there are

thousands of families like hers who want the right to stay together in

a country they love. And there are thousands of firms who want to help

them for a price. All very well if More than 140,000 children go

missing a year in Britain, that's one every three minutes. But it's

not just run away teenagers. An increasing number are being

abducted by people they know and trust, their mother or father. And

sometimes the parent left behind Scrawled in her school notebook

shortly before she disappeared, six-year-old Amina's message is

clear. She loves her dad very much. But now she's almost certainly

living 5,000 miles away with her mum in Pakistan. Safraz fears he

may never see her again. He was granted custody following divorce,

but while Amina was staying with her mum for a few days, they both

went missing. It's the worst feeling ever. It's

like a bereavement. I'm dealing with that loss even though she's

still alive somewhere. It's like a bereavement because she's just

completely disappeared and you have no control over that.

Amina is now seven. At home, her bedroom's been left as it was the

It's difficult to come into this room and most of the times I just

keep the door locked. Other than the cat sleeping in here. There are

toys and her birthday presents have been left unopened. It was her

birthday in July. Safraz and his family have been to

Pakistan five times to help find Amina. There's an agreement between

the UK and Pakistan designed to return children to the rightful

parent, but Safraz says the authorities have been unhelpful.

Unfortunately, Pakistan has this reputation of being a corrupt

country. In most cases, I've been asked to pay money to recover my

daughter. I've contacted some law firms in Pakistan and they've said,

our fee is, this but we need more money to pay the police separately

otherwise they are not going to pay for your daughter. We all miss her

still and I'll not give up Jamila prays five times a day and

each time she begs Allah to return her son to her. She has an old

video with footage of her son Dodi. Until recently, she only had one

photograph. It's five years since she last saw him.

Part of me is numb now, is dead. I'm a walking dead person. I'm not

myself any more. I don't seem to trust anybody. It's just appears to

me that I've lost a big world of mine because of that.

Dodi was born in Sweden. After her relationship with her husband broke

down, Jamila noticed that Dodi returned from her father's care

bruised and in pain. She decided to take him to England. Under The

Hague convention, a court forced her to return to Sweden because she

hadn't sought her ex-husband's permission. There, she was arrested

and jailed for six months. But after she was released, Dodi

and his father disappeared. It's hard. As a parent, you hear

voices every day like he's calling you and somebody's kids calling

their mother, you wish it was him. When he's not well, you don't know

whether he needs you there. When he's thirsty, you're not there to

give him a drink. I mean, every day is hard, it's in my head, he's in

my head. Jamila had almost given up, then she typed her son's name into

her Facebook account and there he was, now 14 years old and living in

America. I just clicked the name, I just

felt, you know, a mother's instinct ts, click the name and here it

comes. And I burst into tears, all the way to the police station "I've

found my son on the Internet!" Jamila sends messages to Dodi, but

most go unanswered. On Mother's Day, she received a rare reply. He send

me that particular e-mail and they say that yes, he still says I'm in

his heart, he's throwing me a heart and he says for a special mum.

Jamila has now started proceedings with American courts to try to get

access. The number of abductions is rising as more and more couples

separate. A decade ago, two out of three abductors were men. Now two

in three are women. Both parents have spoken to us

about the health implications. There's been heart attacks, nervous

breakdowns, depression. Child abduction, there is absolutely no

winners whatsoever. It was to reunite that Belinda

Chapman turned 12 years ago when her son was illegally smug told

Turkey by his father. The charity and the police worked

tirelessly to get him back, but it took four years.

This was the day he returned, confused, clinging to an embassy

official. He'd all but forgotten his mother

who is behind him. Now, they are close.

At the beginning, I didn't used to feel like I knew him and I think he

felt the same about me, you know. Of course, he lived with his father

and he indoctrine ateed things into him to make him think I wasn't a

good person. I love him now and he loves me but it's a hard journey

even when you get them back. Safraz plans more tricks to

Pakistan as he continues his search for Amina and as yet, Jamina's

prayers remain unanswered. I've said to myself that he will be

back in my life one day. I'll watch him sleeping one day and I'll stare

at him the whole night he sleeps. That's what I promised myself.

love my daughter so much and she was so happy. I want her home back

in the UK where she lives, she's a British national, she's not

Pakistani. I will not give up searching for my daughter, I can't.

Changes in international law will force Governments to cooperate more

on child abduction. But many countries still ignore The Hague

convention. Every day, more children are being used as weapons

by their warring parents. Let us know your thoughts about any

of tonight's stories on the Facebook page.

Now, Cadburys is one of Britain's most famous companies, its

chocolate eaten across the world, but perhaps what's less well-known

is that its founders were quakers and their faith helped make them

pioneers in more ways than one. Stuart has been finding out more

about the origins of the Quaker religion

It may look like a fairly modest, unassuming house, but this 16th

century building holds a special significance for quakers, as this

is where it all began. It was here near Ulverston that

Judge Thomas Fell and his wife received a strange, unconventional

visitor who was to change their lives and the lives of thousands of

people forever. George Fox was a charismatic fire

brand from Leicestershire with strong views about religion. In the

mid 1600s, he rebelled against the state-run Church of England and

travelled the country preaching the then controversial message that God

is within us all and therefore we have no need for priests organised

religion or religious buildings. Having had a divine vision at the

top of Pendle Hill in Lancashire, George Fox made his way to the hall

where he'd go on to found the Quaker movement with the help of

the locals. What he knows about the hall is

that it is the home of a judge, Thomas Fell, and his wife Margaret.

They are sincere, puritans. Judge Fell is a bigwig, a lawyer and

friend of Cromwell's, you know, a former MP.

He uses this house, Judge Fell, as a sort of Open House, for

travelling puritan preachers, so it's natural I think that Fox would

have made his way here. Were the Fells taking a big risk in

harbouring this new fire brand preacher? After the execution of

the King in 1649, there is this huge almost desperate search for

truth in religion and for creating a Godly country. That's what people

are trying to do. So at this time, Fox is simply one of a whole range

of different possibilities. Yes, it is threatening from the

very beginning and it's threatening because it challenges the status

quo and challenges the status quo socially, religiously. To that

extent, they are taking a risk. George Fox travelled extensively,

but he always returned to the hall which still houses some of his

effects. When Judge Fell died exFox married his widow Margaret, seen as

the mother of the Quaker movement. The Quakers still hold meetings

here which are held in silence. You can concentrate on the spirit.

If somebody feels moved to speak, they can stand up and spook. So

there is no separate clergy no, fixed lit you arey, it's using the

silence as a way of doing that -- littery. -- litergy. This 17th

century dress-making class takes place here. This period in history

has very little information that we can find when we researched it as

to the type of typical garments every day people could wear. We

found this painting and we have used that as a base and we've used

that to create this red jacket. Would that have been for best?

Looks like it was? I think it would be for every day, really. We have

aimed at creating garments which are for every day wear. Right.

Roughly about 1660, so aboutn the years after Quakerism started. So

all the plain dress and things like that have come later. Do you fancy

wearing that every day? Erm... it comfortable? Yes, but I would

I thought I knew Cumbria pretty well, I spend a lot of time here,

yet I had no idea that a major world religion was founded here a

few miles outside Ulverston is. I also had no experience, until this

morning, of a quaker meeting. Far from finding it odd or

uncomfortable or self-conscious, it seems quiet and reflective and the

Members of the religious Society of Friends or quakers, as they are

better known, have certainly made a name for themselves. James Dean was

a Quaker, Barclay's bank was founded by quakers. The Cadbury

family established the chocolate factory here in the suburb of

Birmingham they created called Bournville.

The town was named Bournville to give it a continental sounding name,

as French chocolate was at that time thought to be the best in the

world. George Cadbury built the town as a model community for the

people of Birmingham. With its beautiful architecture and spacious

gardens, it's still regularly topping the poll of best places to

live in Britain. Did they establish their factory along Quaker

principles? It was very much run on Quaker lines, although they were

astute businessmen. The ethics were very important in the way they

treated their workers. The facilities they provided for them,

the pension, the day release for extended education. The sports

facilities. That was very much their Quaker influence. Of course,

they treated their customers, again it was very much from Quaker

origins. Why did so many quakers go into manufacturing? At the time

Quakerism started, they were so much shunned by the establishment,

in fact persecuted and imprisoned at times. The Cadbury family came

from the West Country here, as did lots of people, not just quakers,

to Birmingham, because they were welcomed here. You don't have to be

a Quaker or indeed work at Cadbury to live in Bournville, but the

friends meeting house still stands at the sten ter of the community

where I met Anne ah third generation Quaker who's spent most

of her life here -- stands at the centre of the community. What do

you find attractive about Quakerism? I think it's an approach

to life that we show our faith through the way we live, that we

try and care for people and the environment we live in. We don't

see ourselves as superior in any way and we don't wish to do harm to

anyone. All sounds a bit pious. Well, no. It's a hard thing to live

up to, but George Fox, the founder said, let your lives speak, and so

we try to treat people in the world as we'd also like to be treated.

Tell me about the campaign by Tesco's? We are perhaps unique in

fighting Tescos and winning. Yes. Because the Quaker principles of

the village were that there would be no alcohol. At the time when the

village was built in the early 1900s, alcohol was a huge problem

for workers and George Cadbury wanted his workers to be healthy

and have outdoor lives and not ruin themselves on the waste their money

by trinking. From the wild and wind swept beginnings on the Furness

peninsula, Quakerism has grown and spread to become a world religion

on the basis of even global businesses. At the heart of it, the

same quiet and human principles that George forbgs formulated 400

years ago. -- George Fox formulated 400 years ago. That is it for

tonight. If you have a story that you think we should know about,

drop me an e-mail. I would love to hear from you.

Coming up on the programme next week:

We investigate the sickening attacks on the best of man's best