Supreme Court refuses damages to refugee wrongly prosecuted for illegal entry – Free Movement

‘Shortly after Christmas in 2009, a young woman from Somalia flew into Stansted and claimed asylum. She had just turned 18. As later accepted by the Home Office, she had experienced severe depredations in her home country. This included her rape at the age of six in the presence of her disabled mother, and the murder of both of her parents. She fled Somalia in 2008, initially to Yemen, where she spent the next year. She was eventually able to fly to Europe with the help of an agent, who provided a British passport to facilitate her entry into the UK.’

Full story

Free Movement, 26th April 2017

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

New fast-track immigration appeal rules proposed – Ministry of Justice

‘A new fast-track system to speed up immigration and asylum appeals for those in detention has been drawn up.’

Full press

Ministry of Justice, 18th April 2017

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

Fast-track immigrations proposals ‘put speed before justice’ – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted April 19th, 2017 in appeals, asylum, deportation, detention, immigration, Law Society, news, tribunals by tracey

‘Accelerating appeals for detained asylum seekers risks putting speed before justice, the Law Society has warned, after justice secretary Liz Truss unveiled a new system she says will save taxpayers an estimated £2.7m.’

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 18th April 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Justice Secretary Liz Truss to speed up appeals lodged by asylum seekers and foreign criminals – The Independent

Posted April 18th, 2017 in appeals, asylum, deportation, news, tribunals by sally

‘Thousands of appeals lodged by asylum seekers and foreign criminals attempting to remain in Britain will be fast tracked under proposals being brought forward by Liz Truss, the Justice Secretary.’

Full story

The Independent, 18th April 2017

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Child asylum seekers may have been illegally detained, rules court – The Guardian

Posted March 10th, 2017 in asylum, children, damages, detention, news by sally

‘The government could be found to have illegally detained many child asylum seekers after a landmark ruling in the court of appeal said immigration officers could not simply disbelieve the stated age of refugees.’

Full story

The Guardian, 9th March 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The ‘robot lawyer’ giving free legal advice to refugees – BBC News

Posted March 9th, 2017 in artificial intelligence, asylum, computer programs, news, refugees by sally

‘A technology initially used to fight traffic fines is now helping refugees with legal claims.’

Full story

BBC News, 9th March 2017

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Judge rules against council over refusal to accommodate before age assessment – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 28th, 2017 in asylum, children, housing, immigration, news, refugees by tracey

‘A local authority did not have good reason for departing from statutory guidance requiring it to provide accommodation and support to an unaccompanied young person pending a lawful age assessment, a High Court judge has ruled.’

Full story

Local Government Lawyer, 27th February 2017

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Deportation of student halted hours before she was due to board plane – The Guardian

Posted February 28th, 2017 in asylum, deportation, immigration, news, universities by tracey

‘A talented student is hoping to finish her course at a British university after coming within hours of being removed from the UK by immigration officials.’

Full story

The Guardian, 28th February 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Home Office agrees to review asylum claims of child refugees in France – The Guardian

Posted February 20th, 2017 in asylum, children, EC law, France, government departments, immigration, news, refugees by sally

‘The Home Office has agreed to review asylum applications from child refugees in France after it emerged that several had returned to the site of the former Calais camp in a renewed effort to make the crossing to the UK.’

Full story

The Guardian, 19th February 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

UK deports 100 immigrants on ‘secretive’ charter flight, including bisexual man facing persecution in Nigeria – The Independent

Posted February 2nd, 2017 in asylum, deportation, homosexuality, injunctions, news by tracey

‘The British Government deported up to 100 people to Nigeria and Ghana last night, including at least one bisexual man who activists say will be persecuted in his home country.’

Full story

The Independent, 2nd February 2017

Source: www.independent.co.uk

G4S filmed asylum seekers in their own homes without consent – The Guardian

‘Information commissioner raises concern and campaigners threaten legal action over security firm’s use of body-worn cameras.’

Full story

The Guardian, 24th January 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Home Office Eritrea guidance softened to reduce asylum seeker numbers – The Guardian

Posted January 23rd, 2017 in asylum, children, documents, human rights, immigration, news, refugees by sally

‘The government downplayed the risk of human rights abuses in one of the world’s most repressive regimes in an attempt to reduce asylum seeker numbers despite doubts from its own experts, internal documents have revealed.’

Full story

The Guardian, 22nd January 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Home Office ordered to review policy on torture survivors – The Guardian

‘Hundreds of asylum seekers who are detained in UK immigration centres could be released after a high court judge ordered the government to review its policy on incarcerated torture survivors.’

Full story

The Guardian, 21st November 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Torture evidence ignored by Home Office, says charity – BBC News

Posted November 21st, 2016 in asylum, evidence, news, torture by sally

‘The Home Office is “disregarding and mistreating” medical evidence of torture in UK asylum claims, a report by a charity suggests.’

Full story

BBC News, 21st November 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Syrian’s conviction for using false passport in asylum claim quashed – The Guardian

Posted October 14th, 2016 in appeals, asylum, news, possession of false identity documents by sally

‘A Syrian refugee has successfully appealed against his conviction for using false documents to claim asylum in the UK after spending six months in prison.’

Full story

The Guardian, 13th October 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Senior judge questions policy of removing court funding while raising fees – The Guardian

Posted September 21st, 2016 in asylum, costs, fees, immigration, judges, news by tracey

‘Lord Justice Jackson, the senior judge who shaped key legal reforms, has questioned the government’s policy of imposing steep rises in fees while withdrawing public funding of the court system. In a detailed legal work, entitled The Reform of Civil Litigation, the appeal court judge added his voice to the chorus of criticism from human rights groups and lawyers’ representative bodies who argue that the rises put access to justice beyond the reach of many citizens.’

Full story

The Guardian, 21st September 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Asylum seeker allowed to remain in Britain after plea by MP is finally facing deportation after being jailed for sex attack – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 15th, 2016 in asylum, crime, deportation, immigration, news, sentencing, sexual offences by tracey

‘An asylum seeker who was allowed to remain in Britain after an MP campaigned for him to stay is finally facing deportation after being jailed for a sex attack.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 14th September 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

How to tell a shining knight of a lawyer from an ambulance chaser? – The Guardian

Posted August 17th, 2016 in armed forces, asylum, law firms, legal aid, news, public interest by sally

‘The question takes us straight to this week’s reported news that Phil Shiner’s Public Interest Lawyers is having to close.’

Full story

The Guardian, 16th August 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Eritrean asylum seeker wins age assessment case in High Court – Local Government Lawyer

Posted August 17th, 2016 in asylum, children, news by sally

‘Leicestershire social workers incorrectly assessed an Eritrean asylum seeker as an adult when he was in fact still a minor, the High Court has ruled.’

Full story

Local Government Lawyer, 16th August 2016

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Escaping “the jungle” must be done in an orderly manner – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted August 9th, 2016 in appeals, asylum, children, human rights, news, proportionality by sally

‘Four asylum seekers, namely three unaccompanied minors and one disabled adult, were in “the jungle” – the (increasingly permanent) temporary refugee and migrant camp in Calais – since October 2015. Having fled from war-torn Syria, they were trying to join their siblings in the UK. The problem was that the French system for processing asylum claims under EU rules would involve considerable delays and the evidence showed that the conditions in the camp were wholly inadequate: these children experienced physical violence and their medical needs were unmet. So they ignored the EU rules and issued a claim in the UK.’

Full story

UK Human Right Blog, 8th August 2016

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com