Israel-Gaza Crisis: Uunited States Vetoes Security Council Resolution
The United States on Wednesday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have called for “humanitarian pauses” to deliver lifesaving aid to millions in Gaza. The failure by the Council to make its first public intervention on the Israel-Gaza crisis followed the rejection of a Russian-backed draft on Monday evening.
While 12 of the Council’s 15 members voted in favour of the Brazilian-led text, one (United States) voted against, and two (Russia, and the United Kingdom) abstained.
A ‘no’ vote from any one of the five permanent members of the Council stops action on any measure put before it. The body’s permanent members are China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Read more: UN News, https://tinyurl.com/4j74kbtt
UN Experts Urge Pakistan to Stop Planned Mass Deportation of Afghans
The Government of Pakistan, which has hosted millions of Afghans for decades, recently announced that all “undocumented” foreign nationals must leave the country by 1 November or face deportation to their countries of origin. These plans would impact many Afghans who fled to Pakistan seeking safety and protection due to serious human rights concerns and the years-long humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
“Pakistan should stop all forced returns and continue to host Afghan nationals who fled for safety,” the experts said. “The Government must also ensure their full access to procedures where their individual human rights protection needs and their need for effective protection in line with international human rights and refugee standards, are fully assessed,” they added
The experts expressed concern over the risk of refoulement, particularly for Afghan nationals. They warned many families, women, and children would be at risk of irreparable harm, including serious human rights violations and abuses in their home country.
Read more: United Nations, https://tinyurl.com/2s37srys
Home Office Concedes Latest Challenge to 'No Recourse To Public Fund's Policy
The Home Office has conceded the latest in an increasingly long line of cases challenging the operation of the no recourse to public funds policy. This challenge was to the refusal to lift the no recourse condition from a person with section 3C leave as a student dependant. The case is PA & Anor, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 2476 (Admin).
An application for judicial review was lodged on 19 June 2023 challenging that decision as well as the immigration rules and guidance that were applied in making it. Lang J expedited the hearing because of the conditions that the claimant and her baby were living in.
Read more: Freemovement, https://tinyurl.com/2jntmyuk
New Home Office Guidance on ‘Failure to Travel to Bibby Stockholm’
The Home Office has issued new guidance on the removal of asylum support from people who decline to move onto the Bibby Stockholm barge. Previously, people were given very short notice of the move, of just a few hours in some cases. Following a legal challenge by Migrants Organise this has been extended to five working days to enable people to make representations as to why they should not be moved to the barge. The guidance states that:
Only in exceptional circumstances will an individual be deemed to be unsuitable for the vessel, including:
where the individual embarking carries a life-threatening infectious disease, which would put others on the vessel at risk
where an individual has evidence of a serious physical or mental health problem and accommodating them on the vessel would put them at serious harm
where an individual requires medical care requiring regular access to care which cannot be provided at the premises on which they are being accommodated, and where travel to hospital from that location would worsen their condition
The guidance is also very restrictive on providing an extension of that deadline and on accepting representations made after the deadline. This is problematic due to the severe shortage of legal aid.
Read more: Freemovement, https://tinyurl.com/353yd72u
What is a Medico-Legal Report?
This article provides an overview of what a medico-legal report is, the different types of reports available and when they should be used.
A medico-legal report is frequently used to document the psychological and/or physical result of torture and other forms of ill-treatment which an individual has been subjected to. They are written by qualified clinical experts and are commissioned by legal representatives who provide detailed instructions on what the report should address along with relevant supporting documents
.A full medico-legal report: this involves a physical assessment of scars/physical injuries including, for example, musculo-skeletal damage, as well as scars, marks, and lesions. It also includes an assessment of psychological/emotional consequences of ill-treatment. This will be completed by a doctor, usually a GP. It will be necessary to instruct for this type of report if your client has lasting injuries from their experiences of torture or ill-treatment. Those injuries may include marks but importantly are not limited to them in terms of physical injuries which may be invisible.
sychiatric/psychological medico-legal report: this involves an assessment completed by a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist to address whether a person has particularly complex psychiatric or psychological difficulties because of ill-treatment or for any other reason.
Read more: Freemovement, https://tinyurl.com/ycfrubty
S.S. and Others v. Hungary - Violations of Articles 4 & 3
The applicants are seven Yemeni nationals who live in Vienna (Austria) and three Afghan nationals who live in Hamburg (Germany). They are two families. The case concerns the applicants’ alleged collective expulsion from Hungary to Serbia without an individualised assessment of their situation. They were stopped in Budapest International Airport in April 2019 arriving from Istanbul in the case of the Yemeni applicants (no. 56417/19), and December 2019 arriving from Dubai (United Arab Emirates) in the case of the Afghan applicants (no. 44245/20). They attempted to enter Hungary using falsified travel documents. After they had requested asylum, the Hungarian authorities removed them to Serbia.
Relying on Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 (prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens) and Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment) of the European Convention, the applicants complain that they were part of a collective expulsion, and that they were expelled to Serbia, which did not have an adequate asylum procedure, without an assessment of their risk of ill-treatment there.
Violation of Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 Violation of Article 3 (ill-treatment)
Just satisfaction: Non-pecuniary damage: 10,000 euros (EUR) to the first to seventh applicants jointly and EUR 7,000 to the eighth to tenth applicants jointly. Costs and expenses: EUR 3,000 to the applicants jointly
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EDM 1685:Protecting Civilians in Gaza and Israel
This House utterly condemns the massacre of Israeli civilians and taking of hostages by Hamas;
agrees with the United Nations Secretary-General that these horrific acts do not justify responding with the collective punishment of the Palestinian people;
expresses its deep alarm at the Israeli military bombardment and total siege of Gaza and the resulting deaths and suffering;
believes that the urgent priority must be to stop the deaths and suffering of any more civilians in Gaza and Israel;
welcomes the joint statement from 12 leading aid agencies, including Oxfam, Christian Aid, CAFOD, Medical Aid for Palestinians and Islamic Relief, calling for the Government to use its influence to help protect civilians, to ensure adherence to international humanitarian law and to guarantee civilians have access to critical life-saving humanitarian support;
and to this end supports their call for the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to urgently press all parties to agree to an immediate de-escalation and cessation of hostilities,
to ensure the immediate, unconditional release of the Israeli hostages, to end to the total siege of Gaza and allow for unfettered access of medical supplies, food, fuel electricity and water,
to guarantee that international humanitarian law is upheld and that civilians are protected in accordance with those laws.
Initial Sponsors: John McDonnell, Richard Burgon, Grahame Morris, Beth Winter, Zarah Sultana, Nadia Whittome, + 38 other MPs
EDM 1685: tabled on 17 October 2023
https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/61430
EDM 1676: Israel's Response to Hamas Atrocities and the Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza
That this House unreservedly condemns Hamas and their appalling act of terrorist violence in which more than 1,400 Israeli civilians were murdered and hundreds more taken hostage;
supports Israel’s right to find the perpetrators of those atrocities and hold them accountable for their actions;
believes that any Israeli response to those attacks must be legal, proportionate and in line with international humanitarian law;
recognises that the vast majority of Palestinians want nothing to do with Hamas and therefore deeply regrets Israel’s decision to impose a collective punishment, including forced displacement, on the civilian population of Gaza, who as a result of Israel’s actions now have little or no access to water, food, fuel or medicine, and who are living under constant military bombardment;
calls on Israel to immediately end its siege and restore power and water supplies and open the Rafah border to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza;
urges the Government to work with international allies to create a humanitarian corridor, one which allows innocent civilians to flee Gaza but which also provides them with a guaranteed right of return;
believes that the UK has an obligation to uphold and promote international humanitarian law;
and calls on the Government to play its part, along with the rest of the international community, to find a just solution to this ongoing crisis, as without justice, there can be no peace, and this cycle of violence will continue resulting in even more innocent Israeli and Palestinian lives being lost.
EDM 1676: tabled on 16 October 2023
By Brendan O'Hara MP, Scottish National Party & 19 Other MPs
https://tinyurl.com/2s4y9tvj
Institute of Race Relations (IRR): Calendar of Racism and Resistance
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe.
Asylum | Migration | Borders | Citizenship
29 September: Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic establish a new task force, headed by Europol’s EMPACT program, to tackle ‘inhumane smuggling crime’ and ‘illegal immigration’. (Politico, 29 September 2023)
2 October:?Analysis of Home Office statistics in a Refugee Council report demonstrates that 74 per cent of people crossing the Channel in small boats in 2023 would be recognised as asylum seekers. (Guardian,?2 October 2023)
2 October: The EU data protection office launches an investigation into Frontex after it emerges that it shared personal data about NGO staff, gathered during interviews with migrants, with Europol on at least six occasions. The term ‘NGO’ appears in over 1,000 Frontex smuggling documents. (EU Observer, 2 October 2023)
2 October: The police investigation into the explosion outside a Liverpool hospital in November 2021 finds that the perpetrator, who blew himself up with a homemade device, had poor mental health and was distraught that his asylum claim had been refused. (Guardian, 2 October 2023)
3 October:?The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission takes legal action against the government’s Illegal Migration Act, arguing that it breaches Article 2 of the Windsor Agreement not to dilute the human rights provisions of the Good Friday Agreement. (BBC News,?3 October 2023)
4 October: The Home Office increases the cost of settlement and citizenship visas by 20 per cent; work, student and visitor visas rise in cost by 15 per cent; and the health surcharge is set to increase by 66 per cent at an unconfirmed date. (The Statesman, 4 October 2023)
4 October: EU countries agree a ‘burden-sharing’ deal whereby ‘frontline’ states such as Italy will move asylum seekers swiftly to other member states; Poland and Hungary describe the deal as a ‘diktat’ and ‘rape’ respectively. (Guardian, 4 October 2023, Guardian, 6 October 2023)
5 October: The Bevan Foundation’s Access to Justice report finds Wales has lost half of its immigration advice capacity as a firm responsible for 47 per cent of cases in Wales is forced to close its office in Cardiff and is unable to refer to other providers. (The Justice Gap, 5 October 2023)
6 October: A study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation urges the Scottish government to set out clear plans to mitigate ‘no recourse to public funds’ rules and end the UK government’s ‘destitution by design’ refugee policies. (Morning Star, 6 October 2023)
Borders and internal controls
27 September: In a parliamentary question, the German federal interior ministry concedes that maritime equipment gifted to the Tunisian coastguard has been used in crimes such as stealing the engines of migrants’ boats, putting refugees at risk of drowning. (Digit Site, 27 September 2023)
27 September: Germany ramps up border controls with Poland and the Czech Republic in response to increasing numbers of asylum seekers and in order to ‘put maximum pressure on smugglers and protect people’. The Bavarian premier calls for an annual upper limit of 200,000 asylum seeker entries. (Deutsche Welle, 27 September 2023)
28 September: SOS Méditerranée wins the 2023 Right Livelihood award, known as the alternative Nobel Prize, for saving an estimated 40,000 migrants’ lives at sea. (Euronews, 28 September 2023)
29 September: According to UNICEF, between June and August, at least 990 migrants were shipwrecked in the central Mediterranean, with three times as many dying or disappearing this summer than in the same period in 2022. (Euronews, 29 September 2023)
Reception and detention
28 September:?Flintshire council rejects Home Office plans to use Northop Hall Country House to accommodate asylum seekers. (BBC News,?28 September 2023)
28 September:?At least eight asylum seekers are on hunger strike at the Wethersfield accommodation centre in a protest against poor conditions. (BBC News,?28 September 2023)
28 September:?After being granted refugee status, receiving seven days’ notice to leave Home Office hotels and being left without allowances, two men become homeless and begin to camp outside West Berkshire council offices. The British Red Cross estimates that 53,100 refugees will be at risk of homelessness and destitution this winter as the asylum backlog begins to clear and seven-day eviction notices are given. (BBC News, 28 September 2023; Independent, 5 October 2023)
4 October: HM Inspectorate of Prisons finds 44 per cent of detainees at Yarls Wood detention centre have suicidal thoughts; 41 per cent of men and 23 per cent of women feel unsafe, while several are held for months despite being declared unfit for detention. Two staff members are found to have sexually harassed detainees. (Independent, 4 October 2023)
5 October: Despite West Lindsey District Council issuing a stop notice and an enforcement notice to the Home Office to halt the conversion of RAF Scampton into an asylum centre and have the site restored to its previous condition, works continue. (BBC, 5 October 2023)
Deportations
27 September:?A subject access request reveals that while processing his application to stay in the UK, the Home Office mistakenly confused Ranjit Singh with three other men with the same name and thus made illegitimate efforts to deport him. (Guardian,?27 September 2023)
8 October: Three international students at Coventry University face deportation for being unable to upload their final online assessments on time due to a technical glitch. (Guardian, 8 October 2023)
Crimes of solidarity
1 October:?The home of refugee campaigner Tony Pierre is raided by immigration enforcement officers without a warrant. (Guardian,?1 October 2023)
Source: Institute of Race Relations: https://tinyurl.com/4zzb63v2
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