Irrational, inhuman and degrading: detention of a mentally ill asylum-seeker was unlawful – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted April 23rd, 2012 in asylum, detention, false imprisonment, human rights, illegality, mental health, news by sally

“The detention of a mentally ill person in an Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment and false imprisonment, and was irrational, the High Court has ruled.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 23rd April 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

X-ray trial on asylum seekers started without formal approval – The Guardian

Posted April 10th, 2012 in asylum, children, medical ethics, news, x-rays by sally

“The UK Border Agency embarked on a controversial trial of using dental x-rays to establish the age of young asylum seekers without the formal approval of the NHS watchdog which ensures medical research is ethical, the Guardian can reveal.”

Full story

The Guardian, 5th April 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

AH (Algeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted April 4th, 2012 in asylum, law reports, refugees, terrorism by sally

AH (Algeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 395; [2012] WLR (D) 106

“In looking to the question whether an asylum seeker, who had been a member of a terrorist organisation and convicted of a crime outside the country of refuge, fell to be excluded from the Refugee Convention pursuant to article 1F(b) and (c) thereof, one had to avoid applying a presumption of individual liability; and in asking whether the crime in question was sufficiently ‘serious’ one also had to set the applicable threshold with care.”

WLR Daily, 2nd April 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Chechnyan can return to UK, rule judges – The Independent

Posted April 2nd, 2012 in appeals, asylum, intelligence services, judicial review, news by sally

“A man deemed likely to help try to kill a Russian politician on Britain’s streets has been allowed to return to the UK to fight to stay in the country.”

Full story

The Independent, 2nd April 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Suspected terrorist regranted British citizenship – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted March 29th, 2012 in appeals, asylum, citizenship, news, terrorism by sally

“The Court of Appeal has allowed the suspected terrorist Al‐Jedda’s appeal against the Home Secretary’s decision to deprive him of his British nationality.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 29th March 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Terror suspect Hilal Al-Jedda in nationality win – The Independent

Posted March 29th, 2012 in appeals, asylum, citizenship, news, terrorism by sally

“A terror suspect has come a step closer to returning to the UK after winning a Court of Appeal battle against the Government’s decision to strip him of his British nationality.”

Full story

The Independent, 29th March 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

JD (Congo) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Public Law Project intervening); WN (The Gambia) v Same; ES (Iran) v Same; MR (Bangladesh) v Same – WLR Daily

Posted March 20th, 2012 in appeals, asylum, law reports, news, tribunals by sally

JD (Congo) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Public Law Project intervening); WN (The Gambia) v Same; ES (Iran) v Same; MR (Bangladesh) v Same [2012] EWCA Civ 327; [2012] WLR (D) 85

“Where a claimant who had succeeded before the First-tier Tribunal but failed in the Upper Tribunal sought permission to appeal from the Upper Tribunal, not on the ground of an important point of principle or practice, but for some other compelling reason within section 13(6)(b) of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, the test to be applied was stringent but flexible, taking into account the particular circumstances of the case. The procedural history and extreme consequences for the claimant if he were refused permission to appeal were relevant factors to be taken into account by the court in deciding whether the threshold for a second-tier appeal had been reached.”

WLR Daily, 16th March 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

RB (Somalia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted March 16th, 2012 in asylum, evidence, expert witnesses, law reports by tracey

RB (Somalia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: [2012] EWCA Civ 277;  [2012] WLR (D)  77

“Analysis of an asylum seeker’s speech carried out by a private Swedish company was admissible in asylum proceedings although the analysts were allowed to remain anonymous and the presentation of the evidence did not comply in a number of respects with practice directions for the immigration and asylum chambers of the First-tier and Upper Tribunals. The Upper Tribunal had a broad discretion with regard to the control of the evidence before it and had, within its case management powers, the power to waive non-compliance with a practice direction or a rule. Its obligation was to ensure that any expert report represented a genuine, objective view by those qualified to express it with sufficient reasoning and clarity to enable it to be challenged and assessed.”

WLR Daily, 13th March 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

‘War criminal’ Joseph Lissa wins right to stay in Britain – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 12th, 2012 in asylum, children, deportation, human rights, news, war crimes by sally

“A man branded a war criminal by a judge has been allowed to stay in Britain because of his human rights.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 11th March 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Justice will not be done – The Guardian

Posted February 28th, 2012 in asylum, children, civil justice, legal aid, news by tracey

“The Crown Prosecution Service, the Met and the Home Office have all recently been forced to pay out compensation to children. In one case, a teenage witness was put at risk; in the other 40 asylum seekers were locked up in adult units. All three organisations have sought to reassure the public that policy and procedures have changed as a result. But what would have happened to these cases had the legal aid bill (Laspo), now approaching report stage in the Lords, already become law?”

Full story

The Guardian, 27th February 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

UK detention of torture victims ‘inhumane’ – The Guardian

Posted February 23rd, 2012 in asylum, detention, news, torture, trafficking in human beings, victims by sally

“The detention of victims of torture and trafficking by the UK Border Agency pending their ‘fast-track’ deportation from Britain has been strongly criticised by the UN.”

Full story

The Guardian, 23rd February 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

MM (Zimbabwe) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted February 21st, 2012 in appeals, asylum, immigration, law reports, tribunals by tracey

MM (Zimbabwe) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: [2012] EWCA Civ 135;  [2012] WLR (D)  36

” ‘Conspicuous unfairness’ was not a free standing ground in an immigration case on which a court could act in the absence of unlawful action on the part of the Home Secretary.”

WLR Daily, 24th January 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

£1m payout to child asylum seekers – The Independent

Posted February 20th, 2012 in asylum, children, compensation, detention, news by sally

“The Home Office has paid compensation of more than £1m, plus £1m costs, in a case involving 40 child asylum seekers who were wrongly detained as adults, it has been reported.”

Full story

The Independent, 18th February 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Child asylum seekers win compensation for 13-month detention – The Guardian

Posted January 6th, 2012 in asylum, children, compensation, detention, news by tracey

“Four children who were incarcerated in detention centres for 13 months – the longest time children have ever been locked up in the UK – have won a six-figure compensation payout from the Home Office more than eight years after their release.”

Full story

The Guardian, 6th January 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

NS v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Amnesty International Ltd and others intervening); ME and others v Refugee Applications Comr and another (Amnesty International Ltd and others intervening – WLR Daily

Posted January 3rd, 2012 in asylum, EC law, immigration, law reports by tracey

NS v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Amnesty International Ltd and others intervening); ME and others v Refugee Applications Comr and another (Amnesty International Ltd and others intervening); (Joined Cases C-411/10 and C-493/10);  [2011] WLR (D)  388

“European Union law precluded the application of a conclusive presumption that the member state responsible for examining an asylum claim pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 observed the fundamental rights of the European Union. Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union meant that the member states, including the national courts, could not transfer an asylum seeker to the ‘member state responsible’ within the meaning of the Regulation where they could not be unaware that systemic deficiencies in the asylum procedure and in the reception conditions of asylum seekers in that member state amounted to substantial grounds for believing that the asylum seeker would face a real risk of being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment within the meaning of that provision.”

WLR Daily, 21st December 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

UK will not opt in to EU asylum directives – Home Office

Posted October 14th, 2011 in asylum, EC law, press releases by tracey

“Immigration Minister Damian Green has informed Parliament that the UK will not be opting in to two EU asylum directives.”

Full press release

Home Office, 13th September 2011

Source: www.homeoffice.gov.uk

Lawyers slam ‘chaotic’ asylum unit – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted September 30th, 2011 in asylum, complaints, news by tracey

“”The UK’s system for registering asylum claims is chaotic and unworkable and urgently needs a root-and-branch overhaul, lawyers’ groups allege. Problems at the ‘Kafkaesque’ asylum screening unit in Croydon, the only such unit remaining after a similar unit in Liverpool closed in 2009, have prompted angry letters to the UK Border Agency from the Law Society and Immigration Lawyers Practitioners Association (ILPA).”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 29th September 2011

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Darfuri torture victim spared from deportation – The Independent

Posted September 19th, 2011 in asylum, deportation, news, torture by tracey

“A Darfuri torture victim has been granted asylum in Britain after being given a last-minute reprieve from deportation to Sudan, following a campaign by The Independent highlighting the violent persecution of the regime.”

Full story

The Independent, 19th September 2011

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Locked-up asylum seeker in line for damages despite series of crimes – Daily Telegraph

Posted August 26th, 2011 in asylum, damages, deportation, detention, judicial review, news by sally

“A failed asylum seeker who committed more than 25 crimes within six years of arriving in the UK is in line for ‘substantial’ damages after a judge ruled he had been unlawfully detained by immigration authorities.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 26th August 2011

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Is a new asylum facility simply child detention under another name? – The Guardian

Posted August 24th, 2011 in asylum, charities, children, detention, news by sally

“A new ‘pre-departure accommodation centre’ is expected to open its doors to failed asylum seekers and their children next week. The converted special needs school in Pease Pottage, West Sussex, will house families for up to a week, before they are forcibly removed from the UK. The new facility follows the closure of the family unit of the controversial Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre, in Bedfordshire. The UK Border Agency (UKBA) insists that the Pease Pottage ‘family-friendly’ accommodation will only be used ‘as a last resort where families resolutely fail to comply [to leave the UK?]’.”

Full story

The Guardian, 23rd August 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk