IRR News: Anti-Palestinianism, Suspect Communities and the Racist Backlash
In order to assist advocates for human rights in challenging this anti-Palestinian racism in all its manifestations, this week on IRR News we again produce a special calendar on 'Anti-Palestinianism, Suspect Communities and the Racist Backlash’.
We also provide additional information tools on: claims of war crimes carried out by all parties to the conflict, some lodged at the International Criminal Court;
evidence that the Israeli military strategy is informed by genocidal intent;
and a roundup of some of the voices calling for an immediate ceasefire. The latter resource rather dampens Braverman’s claim that those calling for a ceasefire by all parties are encouraging hate, given that the call for a ceasefire is supported by the Irish Taoiseach, the acting Spanish prime minister, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the UNICEF Inter Agency Standing Committee, which brings together emergency relief coordinators as well as organisations like the International Organisation for Migration, Save the Children, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organisation, the UN Development Programme, the UN Population Fund, not to mention other human rights rapporteurs and commissioners.
Read more: Institute of Race Relations, https://tinyurl.com/yc6vr2nj
How is the Home Office Prioritising Asylum Claims?
The Home Office has explained in newly published guidance ‘Asylum decision-making prioritisation‘ how they will decide the order for decision making of asylum claims. This provides some much-needed clarity to the process.
As anyone working in the sector can tell you, there is no fixed timeframe for an asylum claim to be decided. Getting updates from the Home Office on progress, challenging delay and asking for expedition can often be a fruitless exercise.
Following the Prime Minister’s pledge to clear the asylum backlog by the end of 2023 there has been a push by the Home Office towards progressing certain asylum claims – whether in the form of issuing decisions, invites to interviews or treating claims as withdrawn.
Read more: Freemovement, https://tinyurl.com/yey7m4he
CoA Sends Medical Treatment Case Back to First-tier Tribunal
The Court of Appeal has reiterated the process that should be followed in article 3 medical treatment cases in relation to the shifting burden of proof, as set out in AM (Zimbabwe) v SSHD [2020] UKSC 17 and in the headnote to the Upper Tribunal’s consideration of the case. This case is THTN v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWCA Civ 1222.
The Court of Appeal granted permission on six grounds. In relation to cessation, it was argued that the First-tier Tribunal had failed to give due weight to UNHCR’s letter and that it had relied on a non country guidance case which was fact specific and not relevant to the appellant’s case. These arguments were dismissed.
On the medical grounds point, it was argued on behalf of the appellant that the burden of proof shifts to the Home Secretary once a person has evidenced that they are suffering from a serious medical condition, that they are currently receiving treatment, and the consequences of no longer receiving that treatment. At this point, it was submitted, it is for the Home Secretary to provide evidence about the availability and accessibility of treatment.
Read more: Freemovement, https://tinyurl.com/52utrf3b
Home Office Wrong to Move Vulnerable Asylum Seeker Away From Support Network
The High Court has issued a damning judgment lamenting the Home Secretary’s attempt to defend a decision to place a highly vulnerable person seeking asylum in accommodation in Swindon, where he could not access his support network in London. The case is R (NS) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 2675 (Admin).
The claimant is an Afghan national who arrived in the UK in June 2015, aged 15, as an unaccompanied asylum seeking child. Between then and 30 May 2023, he couch-surfed with friends in and around south London. He built up a community of friends and a support network.
The evidence showed clearly that the claimant was heavily reliant on his support network, in circumstances where he suffered poor mental health (including suicidal ideation) – as the judge, Saini J, notes, “typical of many vulnerable asylum-seekers”.
Read more: Freemovement, https://tinyurl.com/9yhhkcxf
Black and Asian People Find it Harder to Access NHS Mental Health Services
Black, Asian and minority ethnic people experience longer waiting times, and are less likely to be in recovery after treatment, when accessing NHS mental health services compared with their white counterparts, a report has found.
The research looked at 10 years’ worth of anonymised patient data from NHS Talking Therapies, formerly known as Improving Access to Psychological Therapies – an NHS programme that launched in 2008 to improve patient access to NHS mental health services. A total of 1.2 million people accessed NHS Talking Therapies services in 2021-22, and by 2024 the programme aims to help 1.9 million people in England with anxiety or depression to access treatment.
The report, Ethnic Inequalities in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, commissioned by the NHS Race and Health Observatory and undertaken by the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, found that people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds were less likely to go on to have at least one treatment session, despite having been referred by their GP, than their white counterparts.
People from minority ethnic backgrounds were also more likely to have worse outcomes after treatment, meaning that they had lower rates of recovery. These poorer outcomes were most experienced by people from a south Asian background. For example, in 2021-22, while 51% people from white British backgrounds were in recovery after treatment, the only ethnicity to have a recovery rate of over 50%, the figure was only 35.1% for people from a Pakistani background.
Read more: Tobi Thomas, Guardian, https://tinyurl.com/59r298s4
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UK In Violation of International Law’ Over Poverty Levels, says UN Envoy
Poverty levels in the UK are “simply not acceptable” and the government is violating international law, the United Nations’ poverty envoy has said ahead of a visit to the country this week, when he will urge ministers to increase welfare spending.
Olivier De Schutter, the UN’s special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, cited research showing universal credit payments of £85 a week for single adults over 25 were “grossly insufficient” and described the UK’s main welfare system as “a leaking bucket”.
In an interview with the Guardian five years after his predecessor, Philip Alston, angered the Conservative government by accusing it of the “systematic immiseration of a significant part of the British population”, the Belgian lawyer risked a fresh confrontation by saying: “Things have got worse.”
Read more: Robert Booth, Guardian, https://tinyurl.com/zmux5wnh
Latest Trafficking Figures Show Benefit of Change In Home Office Policy
As anticipated, the latest published trafficking statistics covering July to September 2023 show a substantial reversal in the number of refusals at reasonable grounds stage, although these are still far higher than before the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.
Reversal in refusals at reasonable grounds stage: The number of refusals at this stage is still considerably higher than before the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 but the reduction is a welcome change. This reversal is due to the Home Secretary changing the way these claims are assessed, following litigation.
The biggest changes have occurred with decisions made by the immigration enforcement trafficking body. This is to be expected as they deal only with people who are facing deportation or removal and all of these cases will be affected by the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, whereas the single competent authority figures include UK nationals, who account for 25% of all referrals.
For children, refusals at reasonable grounds stage have dropped from 88% in April to June to 53% for July to September for decisions made the immigration body. Decisions made the single competent authority have actually seen an increase in refusals at this stage for children, from 25% for the period April to June, to 39% for July to September.
Read more: Freemovement, https://tinyurl.com/4vse5yay
Continuing Conflicts That Create Refugees - November 2023
Deteriorated Situations: Guatemala - Bangladesh - Myanmar - Türkiye - Mozambique - D R Congo - Rwanda - Sudan - Israel/Palestine - Lebanon - Syria - Yemen
Conflict Risk Alerts: Myanmar - Somalia - Sudan - Mali - Israel/Palestine - Lebanon - Syria - Iraq - Yemen - Madagascar
Global Overview: Our monthly conflict tracker highlights five conflict risk alerts and one resolution opportunity related to the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October following Hamas’s unprecedented attacks (see this month’s Conflict in Focus).
In Israel-Palestine, Israel’s bombardment and ground operations could raze Gaza, kill thousands more Palestinians and compound the humanitarian catastrophe facing 2.3 million people. Qatari mediation offers a slim hope for talks.
Israel’s Gaza campaign also risks igniting a regional conflagration. Deadly border clashes between Hizbollah and Israeli forces, which have killed dozens of militants and several Israeli soldiers, could open another front in Lebanon.
The U.S. said dozens of attacks targeted its forces in Syria and Iraq. Iran-backed armed groups in both countries could escalate such strikes, as well as cross-border attacks into Israel from Syria.
The Houthis in Yemen launched long-range missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and vowed more such strikes, which could further expand the Israel-Hamas war.
Large-scale fighting between M23 rebels and government forces resumed in DR Congo’s North Kivu after six months of precarious calm, fuelling tensions with Rwanda. Meanwhile, the political climate remained heated ahead of the December elections.
The ruling Awami League in Bangladesh intensified repression of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) ahead of the January 2024 elections, as clashes between opposition supporters and the police turned deadly.
We also spotlight five other alerts in November in Africa and Asia
Military authorities could launch an offensive in northern Mali in the coming days or weeks to take control of the town of Kidal, a stronghold of the 2015 peace deal signatories.
The Rapid Support Forces captured Sudan’s South Darfur state, marking a major turn in the war, and could seek to push forward in Darfur and Kordofan in the coming weeks.
Election-related tensions grew further in Somalia’s Puntland state, raising the prospect of an armed confrontation between rival security forces in the lead-up to the polls planned for early 2024.
In Myanmar, an ethnic Kokang armed group, alongside its allies, in Shan state in the north launched one of its largest offensives in years to retake lost territory, which may provoke further clashes with the regime in November.
Aside from the scores of conflict situations we regularly assess, we tracked significant developments in Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Gabon, Guatemala, Jordan, Lesotho, Madagascar, Moldova, Nile Waters and Togo.
Improved Situations: Colombia - Venezuela
Read more: Crisis Group, https://tinyurl.com/37w2hccb
Guidance in Begum on Deprivation Decisions Not Restricted to National Security Cases
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) has concluded that the guidance given by the Supreme Court in Begum v Special Immigration Appeals Commission & Anor [2021] UKSC 7 on how deprivation decisions should be made is not limited to cases involving national security, it also applies where a person has been involved in serious and organised crime. This was the decision reached in D5, D6 & D7 v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] UKSIAC 2.
The case concerned three nationals of Afghanistan who were said to be part of an organised criminal group engaged in trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation and money laundering. One of the appellants had been convicted of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration into the UK following an undercover operation by the National Crime Agency.
The Home Secretary decided to deprived two of the appellants of their British citizenship on the basis that this was conducive to the public good, having regard to their involvement in serious and organised crime. The third appellant was not a British citizen but was excluded from the UK for the same reason.
All three decisions came before SIAC because the Home Secretary relied on information which should not, on public interest grounds, be made public. SIAC issued an open judgment, which is publicly available, and a closed judgment, which isn’t.
Read more: Freemovement, https://tinyurl.com/3auxw8yd
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