Lords continues detailed check of – UK Parliament
The Illegal Migration Bill is currently at the five day Committee Stage. Committee stage involves detailed line-by-line examination of the separate parts (clauses and schedules) of a Bill. Starting from the front of the Bill, members work through to the end.
The last of the five days of the Committee Stage was scheduled for Wednesday 14 June 2023.
To catch up on proposed changes and view the recordings, click here
Activists who blocked road to stop UK deportation flight to Jamaica acquitted – The Guardian
Three activists who lay on a road outside an immigration detention centre to prevent people being put on a Home Office deportation flight to Jamaica, have been cleared by a jury of charges of causing a public nuisance. The activists, referred to by lawyers as the “Brook House three”, gave evidence at the trial that they had been motivated by their grave concerns about the possible fate of the detainees, if they had been forced to board the Home Office deportation flight to Jamaica. Reports of at least five men being killed in Jamaica after removal from the UK were cited in court.
To read the full article, click here
Widespread human rights failings must be addressed in Illegal Migration Bill, Human Rights Committee finds – UK Parliament
The Illegal Migration Bill is under scrutiny by the Human Rights Committee due to significant human rights concerns. If passed, the bill would result in the UK neglecting its responsibilities to most refugees and violating international human rights commitments. The Joint Committee on Human Rights recently published a report highlighting that the proposed legislation would effectively block the majority of asylum-seeking refugees in the country.
To read the full report, click here
UK immigration: Little evidence Albanians at risk and need asylum – BBC News
In a report published on Monday, the cross-party committee stressed Albanian migrants to the UK were unlikely to require asylum. It cited figures showing that 51% of Albanian cases were initially accepted in the first half of 2022 – the majority of these claimants arrived on ferries or planes rather than small boats. The committee said nine countries, including Germany, had accepted no asylum claims from Albania during that period. It called on the Home Office to explain why the UK’s acceptance rate was so high – particularly compared to other countries.
To read the full article, click here
Home Office plans to ditch housing protections for asylum seekers face legal challenge – The Guardian
Three families seeking asylum in the UK have launched a legal challenge against new Home Office rules to ditch basic housing protections for tens of thousands in this group. Lawyers representing the families have called the new rules “a charter for unscrupulous landlords”. The legal action calls on government – both the home secretary, Suella Braverman, and the levelling up, housing and communities secretary, Michael Gove – to withdraw or suspend the draft regulations pending further inquiry into their impact.
To read the full article, click here
Key plank of new UK asylum law dropped to cut backlog – The Guardian
Rishi Sunak has quietly dropped a key plank of last year’s asylum law that introduced a two-tier refugee system and made lives tougher for tens of thousands of people who arrived in the UK via small boats. In a move to cut the asylum backlog, the Home Office said in a written statement on Thursday that it would no longer differentiate between people who arrived by irregular means, such as those who crossed the Channel, and other asylum seekers, as had been stipulated in last year’s Nationality and Borders Act.
To read the full article, click here
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. Launched on Monday by the charity ECPAT UK, the legal action argues that the Home Office has “no authority” to place unaccompanied children in asylum hotels, from where scores have been kidnapped by gangs.
To read the full article, click here
UK launches £150m fund to help Ukrainians into their own homes – The Guardian
More than 124,000 people have arrived in the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. The new money will go to councils to help Ukrainian families into private rented accommodation and find work. It will also go towards continuing sponsorship arrangements, as many guests are in their second year in the UK. The funding is being divided according to the number of Ukrainians in each nation – England will receive about £109m, Scotland £30m, Wales £8m and Northern Ireland £2m.
To read the full article, click here
Home Office backs down on plan for asylum seekers to sleep four to a room – The Guardian
The Home Office has backed down on plans for asylum seekers to sleep four to a small room in a central London hotel after protests by 40 refugees last week. The rooms in the hotel in Pimlico, Westminster are small and asylum seekers had previously been sharing two to a room. The Home Office said it wanted to increase the number of asylum seekers sharing one room to save money. Several asylum seekers told the Guardian there was not enough space to fit four people into one small room, that they had to store their clothes on the little floor space available, and that the claustrophobic conditions were stressful.
To read the full article, click here
Why the UK is an attractive destination for economically valuable migrants – Financial Times
A very useful analysis by STEFAN WAGSTYL on why despite criticism on UK migration policies and Brexit restrictions, UK remains as the most sought destination for economic migration purposes.
To read the full article, click here
CASE LAWS
Article 39 v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 1398 (Fam)
Article 39, a charitable organization dedicated to safeguarding the rights of children in England under the care of the state, aimed to activate the Court’s inherent jurisdiction in order to obtain wardship orders for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, who had disappeared from Home Office managed facilities in Brighton and Hove. In the decision handed down by Mrs Justice Leiven, it was concluded that the Court will not undertake the legal guardianship of the missing children.
To download the decision, click here
UO v London Borough of Redbridge [2023] EWHC 1355 (Admin)
Mr Justice Lane allowed a homeless single mother’s claim for judicial review against the London Borough of Redbridge on the following grounds:
– the defendant’s housing need assessment (HNA) and personalised housing plan (PHP) were unlawful due to the defendant’s failure to adequately identify and assess the claimant’s needs.
– There was a failure to conduct a lawful review of the housing needs assessment and personalized housing plan.
– The hotel accommodations were located excessively far from the children’s school and lacked essential facilities. The claimant deems the Peterborough accommodation unsuitable due to its location.
To read the full decision, click here
INDEPENDENT REPORTS
Global Trends, report by UNCHR, June 2023
The highly anticipated annual report on global refugee trends was released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) this week. The report reveals a significant rise in the global refugee population, reaching a staggering 29.4 million individuals worldwide, excluding Palestinians. This represents a notable increase from the figure reported in 2021, which stood at 21.3 million. It is worth noting that only a minute fraction of this vast population finds refuge in the United Kingdom.
To download the report, click here
HOME OFFICE GUIDANCE & POLICY DOCUMENT UPDATES
- Transparency data Migrants detected crossing the English Channel in small boats has been updated on 14th June 2023. To download the data, click here
- Form Record deletion guidance and application form has been updated on 13th June 2023. To access the Guidance, click here
- Guidance Country policy and information note: humanitarian situation, Iraq, May 2023 has been updated on 12th June 2023. To download the Guidance, click here
- Guidance: Refugee Employability Programme has been updated on 9th June 2023. To download the Guidance, click here
- Pre-charge bail statutory guidance has been updated on 9th June 2023. To download the Guidance, click here
- Caseworker Guidance: Temporary permission to stay for victims of human trafficking and slavery has been updated on 8th June 2023. To download the Guidance, click here
Keep yourself up to date with the latest news please subscribe to our mailing list here
