The UK and the ECHR After Brexit: The Challenge of Immigration Control – EIN Blog

Posted March 15th, 2024 in asylum, brexit, EC law, human rights, immigration, news by sally

‘This article examines the challenges that immigration control-related political imperatives in the United Kingdom (UK) have posed for UK compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and evaluates the challenges that the UK’s moving away from ECHR compliance pose for its post-Brexit relationship with the European Union (EU) and its member states. The contribution begins with an examination of the constitutional parameters of UK (non-)compliance with the ECHR in the field of immigration control and the implications of this for the post-Brexit arrangements with the EU and its member states. The contribution then focuses on substantive immigration and refugee law and the impact of the current situation on asylum transfer co-operation within and outside of the EU. Through these areas, the article examines how EU law has infiltrated the interpretation of the ECHR with the result of raising standards of protection for asylum seekers and migrants and hampering the exercise of state sovereignty in the field.’

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EIN Blog, 14th March 2024

Source: www.ein.org.uk

Madeline Gleeson & Theodore Konstadinides: The UK’s Rwanda policy and Lessons from Australia- UK Constitutional Law Association

‘In November 2023, the Supreme Court of the UK dealt a critical blow to the government’s proposal to send certain asylum seekers to the Republic of Rwanda. In AAA and Others v the Home Secretary, the Court ruled that removal to Rwanda would be unlawful because that country was not, at the time, a ‘safe country’.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 14th March 2024

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Civil servants threaten ministers with legal action over Rwanda bill – The Guardian

‘Civil servants have threatened ministers with legal action over concerns that senior Home Office staff could be in breach of international law if they implement the government’s Rwanda deportation bill.’

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The Guardian, 12th March 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Afghanistan: Judge hunted by Taliban wins court case against UK government – BBC News

Posted March 8th, 2024 in Afghanistan, asylum, government departments, immigration, judges, news by sally

‘An Afghan judge who has been forced to go into hiding from the Taliban was wrongly refused relocation to the UK, the High Court has ruled.’

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BBC News, 7th March 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Rwanda bill: House of Lords inflicts further defeats on government plan – BBC News

Posted March 7th, 2024 in asylum, bills, deportation, immigration, news, parliament, Rwanda by sally

‘The government has suffered five further defeats in the House of Lords over its Rwanda bill.’

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BBC News, 6th March 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Calls for inquiry after refugee children made to guess who got foster care in ‘game’ – The Guardian

‘Foster families and social workers are demanding an independent inquiry after it emerged that Home Office-employed staff forced refugee children to play a game to guess who would be the next one to be placed in foster care.’

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The Guardian, 4th March 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

When Treaties are Forbidden – EIN Blog

‘Safe Third Country (STC) agreements involve the transfer of protection-seekers from one State to another. They take different forms, including bilateral treaties (the UK-Rwanda Treaty), political agreements (the Italy-Albania MoU) and regional mechanisms (Dublin III). They are usually justified as a means of sharing responsibility for protecting refugees and ‘managing’ access to asylum determination processes, as is the case for the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement. In other contexts their explicit purpose is to deter and to punish.

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EIN Blog, 29th February 2024

Source: www.ein.org.uk

Deadly experiment? UK asylum sites criticised for ‘horrific’ level of despair – The Guardian

Posted February 29th, 2024 in asylum, housing, mental health, news, self-harm, suicide by sally

‘Twice in January, ambulances rushed to the former RAF airbase at Wethersfield in a remote part of Essex, now the Home Office’s biggest mass asylum accommodation site, to attend to suicide attempts. On each occasion, an asylum seeker was admitted to hospital. Both survived.’

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The Guardian, 28th February 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Sunak’s asylum laws trapping 55,000 people in ‘perma-backlog’, says UK thinktank – The Guardian

Posted February 28th, 2024 in asylum, delay, deportation, government departments, immigration, news, Rwanda by sally

‘Rishi Sunak’s asylum laws have introduced a “perma-backlog” of up to 55,000 people who cannot have their claims processed and risk being left indefinitely in taxpayer-funded temporary accommodation, according to a new report.’

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The Guardian, 28th February 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Court of Appeal: FTT failed to apply Iran country guidance to Kurdish asylum seeker’s case – EIN Blog

Posted February 27th, 2024 in appeals, asylum, Iran, married persons, media, news by tracey

‘FA (Iran) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWCA Civ 149 (22 February 2024). The Court of Appeal has held that the UT should have concluded that the FTT had failed to apply the current Iran country guidance cases to the appellant FA’s case, who was a Kurdish National of Iran who claimed to have left Iran illegally on foot, and claimed to have got married en route to the United Kingdom. He had entered the United Kingdom on 4 December 2019 and then claimed asylum. The SSHD rejected his claims for asylum and for humanitarian protection. The appeal was remitted to a different judge in the FTT for him to consider the question of risk to the appellant if he were returned to Iran. The Court of Appeal grappled with the two determinations at hand, i.e. the FTT determination and the UT determination which Elisabeth Laing LJ referred to as determination 1 and determination 2 during the course of her judgment. She touched on the effects of XX (PJAK – sur place activities – Facebook) Iran CG [2022] UKUT 23 (IAC), SSH and HR (Illegal Exit) Iran CG [2016] UKUT 308 (IAC), HB (Kurds) Iran CG [2018] UKUT 430 (IAC) and also BA (Demonstrators in Britain: Risk on Return) Iran CG [2011] UKUT 36 (IAC). The SSHD’s case was that FA admitted in his asylum interview that he was a supporter of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (“KDPI”) and not a member. The SSHD considered it strange that FA had not been introduced to the KDPI until he was 29 and considered that the answers to questions in the the asylum interview were inconsistent.’

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EIN Blog, 26th February 2024

Source: www.ein.org.uk

Hundreds of small boat migrants charged with illegal entry to UK after new powers come into force – The Independent

Posted February 27th, 2024 in asylum, children, immigration, news, prosecutions, young persons by tracey

‘Hundreds of small boat migrants have been charged with arriving illegally in the UK, or arranging the arrival of others, in the year after new powers came into force. New analysis from the University of Oxford and a coalition of charities shows that in the year following the expansion of the government’s new laws on restricting channel crossings, the Nationality and Borders Act, some 240 small boat migrants were charged with illegal arrival to the UK.’

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The Independent, 26th February 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Asylum seeker with home-made boat sentenced after four migrants die in Channel – The Independent

‘An asylum seeker has been detained for nine years and six months for the manslaughter of fellow migrants who drowned trying to cross the English Channel.’

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The Independent, 23rd February 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

UK signs new deal with EU to tackle small boat crossings – BBC News

Posted February 23rd, 2024 in asylum, EC law, government departments, immigration, news, trafficking in human beings by michael

‘The UK has signed a new deal with the EU’s border agency to work more closely together to stop small boats crossing the English Channel.’

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BBC News, 23rd February 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

People smuggler jailed for cramming migrants in van compartment – Home Office

‘A people smuggler has been jailed for cramming 7 migrants into a one-person sleeping compartment and brazenly trying to enter the UK.’

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Home Office, 16th February 2024

Source: www.gov.uk

‘Scandalous’ if UK watchdog role left empty when Rwanda plan starts, says inspector – The Guardian

‘The UK’s chief inspector of borders and immigration has called it “scandalous” that his watchdog role could be left vacant while the Rwanda scheme is introduced.’

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The Guardian, 19th February 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

UK’s Rwanda bill ‘incompatible with human rights obligations’ – The Guardian

‘The UK government’s controversial Rwanda legislation that deems the African country as a safe place to deport people to is fundamentally incompatible with Britain’s human rights obligations and places it in breach of international law, according to a damning parliamentary report.’

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The Guardian, 12th February 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

UK home secretary apologises over unlawful detention of Bahraini activist – The Guardian

Posted February 9th, 2024 in asylum, compensation, detention, government departments, human rights, immigration, news by michael

‘The home secretary, James Cleverly, has apologised and arranged for compensation to be paid to a human rights activist after officials unlawfully detained him at Gatwick airport on his return to the UK from a UN meeting in Switzerland.’

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The Guardian, 8th February 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Council of Europe calls on UK not to process asylum claims in Rwanda – The Guardian

Posted February 8th, 2024 in asylum, detention, human rights, news, reports, Rwanda by tracey

‘Europe’s leading anti-torture watchdog has called on the government to process asylum claims in the UK rather than sending people to Rwanda because of the risk they may be exposed to human rights abuses there.’

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The Guardian, 8th February 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Home Office drops plan to remove housing protections from asylum seekers – The Guardian

Posted February 8th, 2024 in asylum, government departments, housing, news by sally

‘A controversial policy to remove basic housing protections from asylum seekers has been withdrawn by the government.’

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The Guardian, 7th February 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Handcuffed migrants face unlimited detention in ‘prison-like’ conditions, anti-torture committee finds – The Independent

Posted February 8th, 2024 in asylum, detention, immigration, mental health, news, reports, restraint by sally

‘Migrants facing unlimited detention in “prison-like” UK immigration sites are being handcuffed to beds and allowed to self-harm, a European anti-torture committee has found.’

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The Independent, 8th February 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk