New Country Guidance case on Afghan Sikhs – Free Movement

‘At long last the long awaited new Country Guidance case on Sikhs from Afghanistan is out. The case is TG and others (Afghan Sikhs persecuted) (CG) [2015] UKUT 595 (IAC).’

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Free Movement, 9th November 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Home Office criticised over delays in immigration cases – BBC News

Posted November 10th, 2015 in complaints, delay, government departments, immigration, news, ombudsmen, reports by sally

‘The Home Office has been accused of delays and poor decision making in its handling of immigration cases.’

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BBC News, 10th November 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Man sentenced after invoice for $28m of ammunition was found on his mobile phone – Crown Prosecution Service

‘Abdurraouf Eshati, aged 29, from Wrexham was sentenced for terrorism and immigration offences today at the Old Bailey, Eshati received a six year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty yesterday at court.’

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Crown Prosecution Service, 27th October 2015

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

Immigration Rules changes – UK Visas and Immigration

Posted October 29th, 2015 in immigration, news, regulations, visas by sally

‘UK Visas and Immigration is making changes to the Immigration Rules affecting various categories.’

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UK Visas and Immigration, 29th October 2015

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration

Man, 84, awaiting deportation died in handcuffs ‘due to Home Office rules’ – The Guardian

Posted October 28th, 2015 in death in custody, deportation, detention, elderly, immigration, inquests, news by sally

‘An 84-year-old man being held at a detention centre died of a heart attack after being shackled for five hours while suffering chest pains, an inquest has heard.’

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The Guardian, 27th October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Right to rent checks introduced for landlords in England – Home Office

Posted October 21st, 2015 in bills, documents, human rights, immigration, landlord & tenant, news, passports, penalties, rent by sally

‘The government has announced today that from 1 February 2016, all private landlords in England will have to check new tenants have the right to be in the UK before renting out their property.’

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Home Office, 20th October 2015

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Whether the right to reside test complies with EU law when applied to ‘family benefits’ – Garden Court Chambers Blog

Posted October 21st, 2015 in benefits, EC law, families, immigration, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘Desmond Rutledge considers the Advocate General’s Opinion (C-308/14) on the EU Commission’s action against the United Kingdom’s use of the right to reside test.’

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Garden Court Chambers Blog, 20th October 2015

Source: www.gclaw.wordpress.com

Slovakian jailed for raping teenager ‘while high on glue-like substance’ – Daily Telegraph

‘Court hears Zdenko Turtak, a 22-year-old Slovakian Roma, clubbed his victim 18 times with a rock and left her for dead in the Beeston area of Leeds.’

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Daily Telegraph, 20th October 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Criticism of JR process ‘unfounded’, legal charity claims – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Perceptions that judicial review is an ineffective drain on the public purse and frequently abused by claimants are ‘at best misleading and at worst false’, according to a legal charity’s study of 502 cases.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 19th October 2015

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Supreme Court upholds evidential flexibility policy – Free Movement

Posted October 19th, 2015 in evidence, immigration, interpretation, news, regulations by sally

‘The Supreme Court has given judgment in the case of Mandalia v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] UKSC 59 about the interpretation and application of the Home Office’s Points Based System evidential flexibility policy. Regular followers of the blog will be familiar with this policy, which was first published here on Free Movement courtesy of Jane Heybroek. This was in 2012, despite the policy being in operation since 2009. It was later also published to the Home Office website.’

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Free Movement, 19th October 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Part 6 of the Immigration Bill – Free Movement

‘The second reading of the Immigration Bill in the House of Commons is today. We have seen how even more appeals will be out of country under its regime, and the greater powers given to immigration officers under Part 3. Part 6 – including Schedules 7 and 8 – offers a mix of provisions, including ensuring the UK complies with international law on blacklisted persons and introduces civil penalties for aircraft and airport managers if they do not ensure people go through control zones. The final section gives a raft of new powers to immigration officers (where have we seen that before?), this time to intercept and detain boats suspected of carrying undocumented migrants, and to arrest anyone suspected of facilitating illegal migration in to the UK.’

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Free Movement, 13th October 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

UK appeal court backs ‘deport first, appeal later’ policy for foreign prisoners – The Guardian

‘The Home Office won a key legal challenge on Tuesday over the “deport first, appeal later” policy, which removes the right of foreign prisoners to appeal against deportation from within the UK.’

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The Guardian, 13th October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

New fast-track eviction powers could breach human rights, warns watchdog – The Guardian

‘Government proposals to legally require landlords to check the immigration status of their tenants risk a serious breach of human rights, an official watchdog has warned.’

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The Guardian, 12th October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Conservatives’ asylum policy on Syria criticised as ‘too low, too slow, too narrow’ – The Guardian

Posted October 12th, 2015 in asylum, human rights, immigration, legal profession, news, political parties, refugees by tracey

‘The government’s offer to take in 20,000 Syrian refugees over five years is far “too low, too slow and too narrow”, according to a statement published by 300 senior lawyers, former law lords and retired judges.’

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The Guardian, 12th October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina (SF) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted October 8th, 2015 in human rights, immigration, law reports, trafficking in human beings by sally

Regina (SF) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWHC 2705 (Admin); [2015] WLR (D) 395

‘When the court was considering a challenge to a gateway decision as to whether a person, especially a child, was a victim of human trafficking, it had to adopt a more rigorous or searching level of scrutiny of that decision as opposed to the ordinary test of Wednesbury reasonableness. The decision had to show by its reasoning that every factor which told in favour of the alleged victim had been properly taken into account.’

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WLR Daily, 30th September 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

UK’s discriminatory migrant residence tests are legal – preliminary EU ruling – The Guardian

Posted October 7th, 2015 in benefits, domicile, EC law, immigration, news by sally

‘The practice of discriminating against EU migrants in the UK by subjecting them to a residence test for benefit payments is legal, according to a preliminary European court ruling.’

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The Guardian, 6th October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Theresa May warned adoption law could affect border controls – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 6th, 2015 in adoption, appeals, immigration, news by sally

‘Court of Appeal says immigration cases could have to bow to adoption laws which must take life-long benefits into account.’

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Daily Telegraph, 5th October 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Woman who fled sexual abuse deported to Jamaica ‘because Home Office fax machine broken’ – The Independent

‘A woman who fled sexual abuse in Jamaica was deported back to the country because the Home Office’s fax machine was broken, lawyers have claimed.’

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The Independent, 4th October 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

UN torture investigator says UK plan to scrap Human Rights Act is ‘dangerous’ – The Guardian

‘The UN special rapporteur on torture has accused David Cameron of a “cold-hearted ” approach to the migration crisis, warning that plans to scrap the Human Rights Act risk subverting international obligations designed to protect people fleeing persecution.’

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The Guardian, 3rd October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Part 3 of the 2015 Immigration Bill – enforcement – Free Movement

Posted October 1st, 2015 in bills, crime, documents, enforcement, evidence, immigration, news, stop and search by sally

‘Part 3 of the Immigration Bill gives a host of new, wide powers to immigration officers.

A person with leave to enter arrives in at the airport. Schedule 19(1) and (2) – the first section of Part 3 – gives immigration officers the power to curtail leave, rather to simply determine whether leave has been given and act accordingly. So someone arriving in the UK even with the appropriate leave will now have a lingering uncertainty as to whether they will be allowed in. This is likely to affect few migrants, but is indicative of the greater powers given to immigration officers throughout the Bill.’

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Free Movement, 1st October 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk