Age assessments 2020: a year in review – Doughty Street

Posted January 8th, 2021 in asylum, chambers articles, children, immigration, local government, news by sally

‘This article will provide an overview of some of the key legal cases concerning age assessments and support for those whose age is disputed.’

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Doughty Street, 7th January 2021

Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk

Home Office leaving stateless people facing detention and destitution, warns UN – The Independent

‘The Home Office is leaving stateless people in the UK at risk of homelessness, destitution and prolonged detention, the UN’s refugee agency has warned. A procedure designed to help regularise the status of stateless individuals in Britain is not functioning as well as it should due to procedural weaknesses and the approach to decision-making, the UNHCR said.’

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The Independent, 16th December 2020

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Home Office unlawfully leaving destitute and disabled asylum-seekers homeless, High Court rules – The Independent

Posted December 15th, 2020 in asylum, disabled persons, government departments, homelessness, housing, news by tracey

‘The Home Office is leaving destitute asylum-seekers homeless in breach of the law due to its failure to monitor the operations of private firms contracted to manage asylum accommodation, the High Court has ruled. In a ruling handed down on Monday morning, Justice Robin Knowles found that the five claimants in the case – all asylum-seekers considered by the Home Office itself to be “highly vulnerable” and eligible for housing support – had been left homeless for prolonged periods.’

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The Independent, 15th December 2020

Source: www.independent.co.uk

UK ‘reneges on vow to reunite child refugees with families’ – The Guardian

Posted December 14th, 2020 in asylum, charities, children, families, government departments, immigration, news, refugees by tracey

‘Unaccompanied children in France are being told by the French authorities that they should give up hope of being reunited with family in the UK after the Home Office failed to offer the help it had promised. With the deadline to enter the UK legally and safely under the EU’s family reunification rules due to expire at the end of the year, the Home Office is accused of reneging on its vow to help unaccompanied children reunite with family in the UK.’

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The Guardian, 13th December 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

UK to deny asylum to refugees passing through ‘safe’ third country – The Guardian

Posted December 11th, 2020 in asylum, brexit, government departments, immigration, international law, news, refugees by tracey

‘Ministers have quietly changed immigration rules to prevent people fleeing war or persecution from claiming asylum in the UK if they have passed through a “safe” third country, prompting accusations of a breach of international law. From 1 January, claims of asylum from a person who has travelled through or has a connection to a safe third country, including people coming from EU member states, will be treated as inadmissible.’

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The Guardian, 10th December 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Home Office faces legal challenge over asylum seeker payments during Covid – The Guardian

Posted December 2nd, 2020 in asylum, benefits, government departments, immigration, news by tracey

‘The Home Office is still failing to provide thousands of asylum seekers in emergency hotel accommodation with basic cash support and essentials more than a month after being instructed by the high court to fulfil their legal requirements to do so.’

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The Guardian, 1st December 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Home Office ‘failed to discuss restart of asylum evictions with local authorities’ – The Guardian

‘The Home Office did not discuss the decision to restart asylum evictions with local authorities, it has been revealed, despite concerns about the immediate impact on homelessness and heightened risks of coronavirus transmission.’

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The Guardian, 14th November 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Asylum seekers crossing Channel face ‘inhumane treatment’, observers say – The Guardian

Posted November 13th, 2020 in asylum, detention, government departments, health, immigration, news, standards by tracey

‘Independent monitors say migrants arriving at Dover are moved with untreated injuries amid serious documentation errors.’

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The Guardian, 13th November 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Home Office ‘missed chance to stop rise in migrant boats’ – BBC News

‘The Home Office failed to stop a rise in migrant boats crossing the English Channel before it was too late, an independent inspector has said.’

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BBC News, 11th November 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Lone child migrants cannot be put in adult hotels, high court rules – The Guardian

Posted November 3rd, 2020 in asylum, children, housing, judicial review, local government, news, statutory duty by tracey

‘The high court has ruled that unaccompanied child migrants cannot be placed in adult hotel accommodation after three young asylum seekers won the right to be placed in the care of social services in the first case of its kind.’

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The Guardian, 2nd November 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Children: Public Law Update (October) – Family Law Week

“John Tughan QC of 4PB considers the latest judgments that Public law child lawyers need to know about.”

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Family Law Week, 28th October 2020

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

When it attacks ‘lefty lawyers’, this government takes aim at the rule of law – The Guardian

‘The scorn shown by Boris Johnson and Priti Patel marks a departure from centuries of Conservative tradition.’

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The Guardian, 20th October 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Watchdog warns Home Office must use ‘neutral language’ after outrage over ‘activist lawyers’ tweet – The Independent

‘A Home Office watchdog has said the department must use “neutral language” after its repeated use of the term “activist lawyer” prompted outrage.’

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The Independent, 15th October 2020

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Lawyers claim knife attack at law firm was inspired by Priti Patel’s rhetoric – The Guardian

‘Britain’s top lawyers have written to Priti Patel to express their concern after a knifeman threatened to kill an immigration solicitor last month in an attack colleagues say was directly motivated by comments made by the home secretary.’

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The Guardian, 10th October 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Woman wins UK legal fight over unlawful deportation to Uganda – The Guardian

Posted September 29th, 2020 in appeals, asylum, deportation, detention, homosexuality, news by sally

‘The Home Office has lost a case in the court of appeal against a 27-year-old lesbian asylum seeker it was found to have unlawfully removed from the UK and was forced to fly back to the UK in the summer of 2019.’

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The Guardian, 28th September 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

UK judge halts Home Office flight to remove asylum seekers – The Guardian

Posted September 17th, 2020 in aircraft, asylum, deportation, EC law, news, regulations by michael

‘A senior high court judge has halted a charter flight hours before up to 20 asylum seekers who crossed the Channel to the UK in small boats were due to be forcibly removed to Spain, a country they had previously passed through.’

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The Guardian, 16th September 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Passports: Foreign law must be proved by expert evidence – EIN Blog

‘Hussein and Another (Status of passports: foreign law) [2020] UKUT 250 (IAC): CMG Ockelton VP has explained that (i) a person who holds a genuine passport, apparently issued to him, and not falsified or altered, has to be regarded as a national of the State that issued the passport, (ii) the burden of proving the contrary lies on the claimant in an asylum case, and (iii) foreign law (including nationality law) is a matter of evidence, to be proved by expert evidence directed specifically to the point in issue. The appellant Mr Hussein, who had permission to appeal, and the applicant Mr Abdulrasool, who was seeking permission to appeal, were father and son who made asylum claims, which were refused. The applicant, who was born in 2000, additionally claimed that he was so dependent on his parents that it would be disproportionate to remove him from the UK. Mr Hussein’s wife and two minor children were included in the appellant’s claim as his dependents. Both men gave their oral evidence in a hearing before FTTJ McAll in January 2020 as did Mr Hussein’s brother. The SSHD was not present and FTTJ McAll considered Mr Hussein’s claimed history in detail. He decided that he was untruthful and concluded that he had fabricated important parts of his account supporting his asylum claim. He decided that Mr Hussein was a national of Tanzania and could be returned there. He disbelieved the asylum claim and concluded that there was no good article 8 reason why he should not leave the UK and return to his country of nationality. Both appeals were dismissed.’

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EIN Blog, 7th September 2020

Source: www.ein.org.uk

Asylum seekers: Delays in processing applications rise – BBC News

Posted September 1st, 2020 in asylum, delay, news, statistics by sally

‘Delays in processing UK asylum applications increased significantly last year, official figures suggest.’

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BBC News, 31st August 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Home Office wrong to refer to ‘activist lawyers’, top official admits – The Guardian

‘The most senior civil servant at the Home Office has conceded that officials should not have used the phrase “activist lawyers” in a promotional video posted on Twitter, although the tweet remains online.’

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The Guardian, 27th August 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Asylum seekers in last-minute UK legal bid to prevent removal – The Guardian

Posted August 26th, 2020 in asylum, deportation, government departments, immigration, news by sally

‘Dozens of asylum seekers who arrived in the UK on small boats are due to be put on charter flights over the next two days, while lawyers have launched last-minute high court challenges to prevent their removal.’

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The Guardian, 25th August 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com