‘A high court judge has criticised the British home secretary in court and said he found it “extremely troubling” after one of her officials admitted the Home Office might have acted unlawfully in changing its asylum accommodation policy during the pandemic.’
The Guardian, 6th May 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Almost 200 organisations have branded a government consultation on fundamental changes to refugee policy “a sham”. A total of 192 refugee, human rights, legal and faith groups have signed a public statement condemning the six-week consultation on the government’s New Plan for Immigration as “vague, unworkable, cruel and potentially unlawful”.’
The Guardian, 30th April 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘n a major blow to Priti Patel’s immigration plans, EU countries have said they will not strike bilateral agreements with Britain to facilitate the deportation of refugees to Europe.’
The Independent, 26th April 2021
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The wife of a British wrestling champion who has won gold medals for the country has hit out at the UK’s “cruel” immigration rules after his wife was refused a visa.’
The Independent, 17th April 2021
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘A teenage refugee killed himself after the serious nature of his mental illness was not recognised, a coroner has concluded.’
The Guardian, 7th April 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Britain still has no way of deporting refugees from the UK to other countries, the Home Office has confirmed – despite this being a key component of its asylum overhaul announced on Wednesday. Priti Patel has unveiled new measures that will see refugees who arrive in Britain via unauthorised routes denied an automatic right to asylum and instead regularly reassessed for removal to safe countries they passed through, which are usually in the EU.’
The Independent, 25th March 2021
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The Court considered an appeal from a High Court decision which had rejected indirect race discrimination and PSED challenges to the application of the Defendant’s ex gratia scheme to support and assist third-country national refugees outside the UK who have fled the conflict in Syria. The case is important, if somewhat disheartening to equality lawyers, for its conclusions on the (limited) extra-territorial effect of the Equality Act 2010. It is worth emphasising that the Court of Appeal’s approval of the High Court’s conclusions on justification were subject to the proviso that the limited evidence on which the High Court was prepared to find in the Defendant’s favour was the result of the way in which the claim had developed post-issue; as Underhill LJ, concurring with Simler LJ leading judgment, stated at §110: “the story is indeed a good illustration of the perils of “rolling judicial review”.’
Equality Law Blog, 22nd March 2021
Source: equalitylawblog.com
‘The Home Office placed hundreds of asylum seekers in controversial military barracks following fears that better accommodation would “undermine confidence” in the system, internal documents reveal.’
The Independent, 31st January 2021
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Modern slavery survivors with young children were among refugees allegedly forced to move accommodation in London with as little as one day’s notice during coronavirus lockdowns this winter.’
The Guardian, 29th January 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The family of a 12-year-old girl who drowned in a river has launched legal action against the police force which investigated her death.’
BBC News, 6th January 2021
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘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.’
The Independent, 16th December 2020
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘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.’
The Guardian, 13th December 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘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.’
The Guardian, 10th December 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A report from the British Red Cross finds the system that gives refugees in the UK the right to bring their family to join them – one of the few existing “safe” and legal routes to Britain – is putting people in danger because of the journeys they have to take to submit their applications.’
The Guardian, 12th November 2020
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Immigration Law Update with articles from Kate Jones, Tori Adams, Daniel Wand, Ben Haseldine and Jyoti Wood.’
4 King's Bench Walk, 5th May 2020
Source: www.4kbw.co.uk
‘In R (DN – Rwanda) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] UKSC 7, the Supreme Court held that the Claimant was entitled to purse a claim for unlawful detention on the basis that the decision to detain for the purposes of deportation could not be separated from the decision to deport. Accordingly, if the decision to deport was unlawful, then so inevitably was the decision to detain.
UK Human Rights Blog, 3rd April 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘The appellant, DN, is a Rwandan national who was granted refugee status in the UK pursuant to the 1951 Refugee Convention. DN was subsequently convicted of a number of offences, the most serious of which occurred when he pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful entry of a non-EEA national in the UK. The Secretary of State for the Home Department used the powers under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 to order the deportation of DN. DN’s attempt to assist unlawful immigration to a member state country was a serious offence by way of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Specification of Particularly Serious Crimes) Order 2004. The Secretary of State ordered DN’s deportation and detention pending deportation.’
UKSC Blog, 26th February 2020
Source: ukscblog.com
‘In order to fall within the definition of a refugee for the purposes of the Convention, a person must show a well founded fear of ‘persecution’ for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group. The UNHCR Handbook notes at paragraph 51 that there is ‘no universally accepted definition of “persecution” and various attempts to formulate such a definition have met with little success’. Persecution has been defined in general terms in R v Immigration Appeal Tribunal, ex p Jonah [1985] Imm AR 7, where Nolan J adopted the two dictionary definitions of the word: ‘to pursue, hunt, drive’ and ‘to pursue with malignancy or injurious action; especially to oppress for holding a heretical opinion or belief’. This post will examine the legal parameters of persecution.’
Richmond Chambers, 31st January 2020
Source: immigrationbarrister.co.uk
‘The government has suffered five defeats on its Brexit deal in the space of 24 hours in the House of Lords, with the heaviest defeat in a vote to restore the right of unaccompanied child refugees to be reunited with their families in the UK after Brexit.’
The Guardian, 21st January 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The latest version of Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) – which will write prime minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal into law – is being debated in the House of Lords this week.’
Each Other, 14th January 2020
Source: eachother.org.uk
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