Giant barge to house hundreds of asylum seekers set to arrive in UK – here’s its journey – SKY News
The vessel known as Bibby Stockholm left Genoa Port in Italy on 19 April and is currently being towed off the north coast of Spain. Its planned destination is Falmouth in Cornwall, according to data from ship tracking website Marine Traffic. A government source confirmed the accommodation barge is being taken to a port on the south coast of England where it will be fitted out before being moved to Portland Port, Dorset.
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Yarl’s Wood: Detainees flee detention centre after riot – BBC News
Bedfordshire Police confirmed 13 people fled from the Yarl’s Wood centre in Bedfordshire on Friday evening. The force said five were found during the weekend but eight had remained on the run after escaping through perimeter fencing.
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Dorset Tories voice concerns about barge for asylum seekers – The Guardian
A Home Office plan to house more than 500 people seeking asylum on a giant barge in Dorset is facing serious reservations from the local police commissioner and council leader, both of whom are Conservatives. Councillors have told the Guardian that the department has failed to adequately respond to dozens of detailed questions about plans to place a barge containing 506 male asylum seekers in Portland Port from next month.
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Stricken dinghy was not rescued after it entered UK waters, maritime logs reveal – The Guardian
A boat carrying 38 people, including children, that got into difficulty crossing the Channel was not rescued when it reached UK waters but was instead allowed to drift back towards France, according to internal maritime logs. Ministry of Defence officials, who were managing small boats in the Channel at the time, told the Guardian in January that they disputed that the stricken dinghy had entered UK waters.
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UK government ‘hackathon’ to search for ways to use AI to cut asylum backlog – The Guardian
The Home Office plans to use artificial intelligence to reduce the asylum backlog, and is launching a three-day Hackathon in the search for quicker ways to process the 138,052 undecided asylum cases. The government is convening academics, tech experts, civil servants and businesspeople to form 15 multidisciplinary teams tasked with brainstorming solutions to the backlog. Teams will be invited to compete to find the most innovative solutions and will present their ideas to a panel of judges. The winners are expected to meet the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, in Downing Street for a prize-giving ceremony.
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Vulnerable UK women forced into ‘sex for rent’ by cost-of-living crisis – The Guardian
Belén Ruiz, the charity’s violence against women and girls advice centre coordinator, said: “It is unacceptable that women in such vulnerable circumstances are exposed so frequently to harassment and intimidation, being doubly victimised and unable to seek redress.”
Some cases, she added, involved the harassment and abuse of asylum seekers while in public law accommodation facilities. “This makes them afraid of accessing these services, which makes them easy prey for abusers living in private accommodation.”
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Nineteen suspected terrorists – including five linked to ISIS – are living in taxpayer-funded migrant hotels after crossing the Channel from France on small boats – Daily Mail
Nineteen suspected terrorists have arrived in Britain via small boats across the Channel, security sources have told the Mail. The foreign nationals linked with groups including Islamic State reached the United Kingdom illegally from northern France last year. Most have since lodged asylum claims here – and cannot be deported due, in part, to human rights laws.
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CASE LAW
Balogun v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWCA Civ 414
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal concerning the right of a third country national to continue residing in the UK after a divorce from an EU national and release from prison. The appeal was based on the right to reside in Article 13 of Directive 2004/38/EC, which was triggered on the initiation of the divorce proceedings. However, the Court of Appeal ruled that the safeguard provided by Article 13 is only required once the divorce is made final and that time spent in prison is not considered “legal residence” for the purpose of acquiring a right of permanent residence. Therefore, the appeal was dismissed.
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R (SWP) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 2067 (Admin)
The Court of Appeal has ruled that the domestic violence provisions in the immigration rules are limited to specific categories of partners and do not apply to partners of Points Based System dependents, even if they have experienced domestic abuse. The ruling came after an Indian national, who had fled from her Tier 2 migrant husband due to domestic violence, was refused leave to remain in the UK under the Destitute Domestic Violence Concession. The Concession allows certain applicants a three-month period of leave to remain in the UK and access to public funds and support, but the Home Office refused her application, citing her husband’s status as a Tier 2 migrant.
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HOME OFFICE UPDATES
Guidance Register of licensed sponsors for students and workers has been updated on 3rd May 2023. To view the updated student Register, click here . To view the updated workers Register, click here
We will be delivering a live online course on Sponsor Licence application on 19th July 2023. To book, click here. Special offer if you book together with Expansion Worker route scheduled on 28th June 2023. To book both for only £100 +VAT, click here
- Guidance unaccompanied asylum seeking children and leaving care: funding instructions has been updated on 2nd May 2023. To view the Guidance, click here
- Guidance Support for Afghans to find settled accommodation has been updated on 3rd May 2023. To download the Guidance, click here
- Transparency data Migrants detected crossing the English Channel in small boats has been updated on 3rd May 2023, To download the data, click here
- Caseworker guidance High Potential Individual is updated on 3rd May 2023. To download the Guidance, click here
- Mutual legal assistance (MLA) guidelines for foreign authorities has been updated on 3rd May 2023. To download the Guidance, click here
- Collection Migration research and analysis has been updated on 2nd May 2023. To view the full collection, click here
