Campaigners alarmed by rejection of refugees using ‘safe and legal routes’ – The Guardian

‘Campaigners have raised concerns about the high proportion of refugees seeking to join family members in the UK who have their applications rejected by the government, despite using the “safe and legal routes” touted by the home secretary.’

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The Guardian, 26th June 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Getting it all wrong… LB Redbridge ‘dismal’ homelessness decisions – Nearly Legal

‘Ms UO and her 3 children, aged 11, 5 and 3, were homeless and had applied to LB Redbridge. The family had NASS accommodation in the Tottenham area since 2021, after NASS accommodation in Croydon and West Ham from 2019. Ms UO’s elder children were enrolled in school in Tottenham and the youngest in the nursery attached to the school. MS UO had connections in Redbridge herself. Following Ms UO’s grant of asylum in 2022, the NASS accommodation ceased. She applied to Redbridge. The application stressed how important the children’s school was to them. She then did not hear anything from Redbridge until the day before her eviction from the NASS accommodation.’

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Nearly Legal, 18th June 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Homeless single mother wins High Court battle against London borough – Local Government Lawyer

‘A High Court judge has allowed a homeless single mother’s claim for judicial review against the London Borough of Redbridge on all four grounds.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 14th June 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Upper Tribunal: Postponing biometrics and entry clearance – EIN Blog

‘R (MRS & Anor) v ECO (Biometrics, Entry Clearance, Article 8) [2023] UKUT 85 (IAC) (30 Mar 2023). The Upper Tribunal thinks that it is open for the Home Office, in line with article 8 of the ECHR, to have a biometric discretion policy that places significant weight to the public interest and proper legitimate aims which justify biometrics and that only exceptional in the sense of very compelling cases can outweigh that interest. Further, it is incompatible with article 8 of the ECHR for the policy Family Reunion: for refugees and those with humanitarian protection policy version 5 (31 December 2020), to direct decision-makers that only applicants with extraordinary, and therefore rare, unique or unusual circumstances, can succeed.’

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EIN Blog, 15th June 2023

Source: www.ein.org.uk

Home Office admits asylum plans in doubt – BBC News

Posted June 16th, 2023 in asylum, bills, delay, government departments, immigration, news, statistics by tracey

‘Plans to improve the asylum system are “in doubt” unless the Home Office takes urgent action, the department has told the government’s spending watchdog.’

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BBC News, 16th June 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Illegal migration bill: the concern for children’s rights keeping the House of Lords up all night – EIN Blog

‘The illegal migration bill passed through the House of Commons earlier this year, but is being fiercely contested in the House of Lords. The bill is currently at the committee stage which allows the members to scrutinise the text and make amendments.’

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EIN Blog, 12th June 2023

Source: www.ein.org.uk

UK immigration: Little evidence Albanians at risk and need asylum – BBC News

‘There is “little evidence” Albanians are at risk in their country and need asylum in the UK, a committee of MPs says. Albanian nationals should not routinely be granted asylum, the Home Affairs select committee said.’

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BBC News, 12th June 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Home Office faces legal action over children missing from UK asylum hotels – The Guardian

‘Placing unaccompanied children in hotels run by the Home Office is “unlawful”, according to a legal action launched after hundreds of youngsters living in them have gone missing.’

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The Guardian, 11th June 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Court of Appeal on credibility, standard of proof and appellate court’s role – EIN Blog

Posted June 8th, 2023 in appeals, asylum, news, standard of proof, tribunals by tracey

‘MAH (Egypt) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWCA Civ 216 (28 February 2023). The central issue in this appeal was whether the Upper Tribunal was entitled to reach the conclusion that the appellant’s claim for international protection failed because of his lack of credibility.’

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EIN Blog, 7th June 2023

Source: www.ein.org.uk

Strasbourg ‘had no jurisdiction’ to block Rwanda flight – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted June 6th, 2023 in airlines, asylum, deportation, human rights, jurisdiction, news, Rwanda by sally

‘Interim measures by the European Court of Human Rights including the one stopping deportation flights to Rwanda are not binding on governments, human rights law experts claim in a report published by a centre-right thinktank today. Rule 39 and the Rule of Law, published by Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project, concludes that the Strasbourg court’s “rule 39” procedure was never approved by member states and that the government should challenge its lawfulness “robustly”.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 5th June 2023

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Home Office faces legal claims over seizure of asylum seekers’ phones – The Guardian

‘The Home Office faces a wave of legal claims after the UK’s surveillance watchdog found a blanket policy of seizing thousands of asylum seekers’ mobile phones caused “significant harm”.’

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The Guardian, 4th June 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Fresh judicial review challenge on horizon over Home Office asylum accommodation site – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Home Office could be subject to a fresh judicial review over its plans to house asylum seekers on former military sites across the country after an East Sussex resident reached a crowdfunding goal to challenge plans to move people into a disused prison.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 2nd June 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Stephen Tierney and Alison L. Young: The House of Lords Constitution Committee Reports on the Illegal Migration Bill – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘The Constitution Committee has released its report on the Illegal Migration Bill 2022-23. The Committee raises a number of concerns, including its potential impact on the rule of law, human rights, devolution, delegated powers, and parliamentary scrutiny. We await the report of the Joint Committee on Human Rights which will most likely comment in more detail on the implications of the Bill for the United Kingdom’s international obligations.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 23rd May 2023

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

UK crime agency to pursue up to 100 lawyers accused of helping traffickers – The Guardian

‘The National Crime Agency is preparing to pursue up to 100 lawyers it believes are helping traffickers abuse modern slavery laws to secure asylum for people entering the UK.’

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The Guardian, 18th May 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

The UK vs the ECtHR: Anatomy of A Politically Engineered Collision Course – EIN Blog

‘In recent months, the UK government has tabled two Bills before Parliament which would have the consequence – and almost certainly have the intention – of setting the UK on a collision course with the Council of Europe, and especially the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Both the Bill of Rights Bill and the Illegal Migration Bill, introduced on 22 June 2022 and 7 March 2023 respectively, contain provisions that openly flout the UK’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). While the former is currently in parliamentary limbo, the Illegal Migration Bill will probably become law, following extensive amendment by the House of Lords, which will debate it on 10 May.’

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EIN Blog, 9th May 2023

Source: www.ein.org.uk

Suella Braverman’s claims modern slavery laws are being abused questioned by Home Office’s own report – The Independent

‘A Home Office report has raised fresh questions about Suella Braverman’s claims that modern slavery laws are being “abused” by small boat migrants.’

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The Independent, 4th May 2023

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Military sites and asylum seeker accommodation – Local Government Lawyer

‘The High Court recently struck out an application by a council for an injunction to prevent the use of an airfield for asylum accommodation. Paul Brown KC, Nick Grant and Rebecca Sage explain why.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 28th April 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

MPs back illegal migration bill by 289 votes to 230 – The Guardian

Posted April 27th, 2023 in asylum, bills, deportation, news, refugees, trafficking in human beings, treaties by sally

‘The government’s flagship asylum bill passed its third reading in the Commons on Wednesday night and will now go to the Lords despite criticism from several leading Conservatives including Theresa May.’

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The Guardian, 26th April 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Illegal Migration Bill risks breaching human rights obligations, watchdog warns – BBC News

Posted April 25th, 2023 in asylum, deportation, human rights, immigration, international law, news by sally

‘Plans aimed at stopping people crossing the Channel in small boats risk breaching the UK’s human rights obligations, a watchdog has warned.’

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BBC News, 24th April 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Hundreds of UK asylum seeker children wrongly treated as adults, report shows – The Guardian

Posted April 25th, 2023 in asylum, children, local government, news, reports, social services by sally

‘Hundreds of asylum seeker children are wrongly being treated as adults by the Home Office, according to data from dozens of local authorities.’

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The Guardian, 24th April 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com