30,000 UK Asylum Seekers on Bail Under Rwanda Deportation Threat
Home Office reveals 33,085 will not have claims examined while government tries to remove them
More than 30,000 asylum seekers are on bail and under the threat of deportation from the UK to Rwanda, the Home Office has disclosed, as James Cleverly insisted that the total backlog of 94,000 cases should instead be referred to as a queue.
A senior official has admitted for the first time that 33,085 people who arrived in the UK by irregular means such as small boats will not have their asylum claims examined while the government attempts to remove them from the UK.
The home secretary told MPs he could not say how many refugees might be sent to the authoritarian east African state. He also questioned whether the 94,000 outstanding claims still to be processed by the Home Office could be described as a backlog. Instead, he said, it should be referred to as a queue.
Read more: Rajeev Syal, Guardian, https://shorturl.at/xAJW7
Asylum Seekers ‘In Despair’ After Rwanda Removal Letters Sent in Error
Asylum seekers have been left “in despair” after receiving letters sent in error by the Home Office telling them they faced removal to Rwanda, the Guardian has learned. Labour accused the government of being in disarray after Home Office sources admitting to sending the letters out by mistake.
Several people told the Guardian they had received the letters in recent days, with lawyers beginning work on cases. Some said they believed the Home Office was planning a Rwanda flight imminently as its controversial safety of Rwanda bill makes its way through parliament.
When the Guardian approached the Home Office, sources said the letters had been sent in error and should be disregarded, and that follow-up letters would be sent to clarify the situation.
Read more: Diane Taylor, Guardian, https://shorturl.at/knpFL
UK Granted Asylum to Rwandan Refugees While Arguing Country Was Safe
Four Rwandans were granted refugee status in the UK over “well-founded” fears of persecution at the same time as the government was arguing in court and parliament that the east African country was a safe place to send asylum seekers.
An investigation by the Observer and the campaign group Led by Donkeys reveals for the first time details of Home Office decisions on Rwandans who have been given asylum in the past four months, claiming they were at risk from the regime.
The documents raise fresh questions over prime minister Rishi Sunak’s claim that Rwanda is “unequivocally” safe for asylum seekers.
They are revealed ahead of this week’s debate in the House of Lords over the proposed new Rwanda bill, which aims to prevent legal challenges to transporting asylum seekers to the African state.
Read more: Jon Ungoed-Thomas/Antony Barnett, Guardian, https://shorturl.at/dekN1
Conviction of Syrian Asylum Seeker Referred To Crown Court
The CCRC has referred the conviction of a man who fled Syria and claimed asylum in the UK. The man left Syria after being required to join the army there and feared persecution if returned. Mr B arrived at Heathrow airport in April 2015 without a valid immigration document. He was arrested and later pleaded guilty at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court to an offence under the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004. He was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment. In October 2015, following his release, the Home Office granted him asylum with five years’ leave to remain. He has since been granted indefinite leave to remain.
A thorough CCRC review of the case has found that Mr B had a statutory defence available to him under section 2 of the 2004 Act, namely a ‘reasonable excuse’ for failing to produce an immigration document. This defence would quite probably have succeeded but Mr B was not advised of its existence. Consequently, he entered a guilty plea that deprived him of the opportunity to present that defence. There is a real possibility that the ‘reasonable excuse’ defence will succeed on appeal and that the Crown Court will not uphold the conviction.
CCRC Refers Convictions of Trafficking Victim to Crown Court
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has decided to refer a woman’s convictions to the Crown Court because fresh evidence indicates she is a victim of human trafficking.???
Before magistrates’ court in April 2003, May 2004 and September 2018, Ms AAC pleaded guilty to three counts of obtaining property by deception, using a false instrument for other than prescription drugs, entering the United Kingdom without leave, and theft.???
At the time of the 2003 and 2004 convictions, there were obligations on the UK to protect victims of trafficking but, based on the understanding of the law as it then was, it could not now be argued that the convictions were an abuse of process.?
Since that time the understanding and treatment of victims of trafficking who commit offences has developed. It now appears Ms AAC was denied the protection to which she was entitled as a victim of trafficking.??
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Deadly Consequences of the New Deal to ‘Stop the Boats’
There were more deadly incidents in the Channel in 2023 due to the new 'Stop the Boats' deal. Increased funding for the French has meant more police, more violence on the beaches, and thus more of the dangerously overcrowded and chaotic embarkations in which people loose their lives.
Stop the Boats in operation has had two main consequences:
1) Fewer dinghies are reaching the French coast, causing dangerous overcrowding and chaotic embarkations;
2) More violent police attacks on the dinghies as they launch, provoking panic and further destabilising an already unsafe situation.
Plus
3) More dangerous and deadly incidents disturbing close to the French shores and often in the presence of police.
4) Injury and trauma for travellers and the increased separation of families.
Since the start of 2023 there has been an alarming increase in the number of deadly incidents in the Channel compared with 2022. Of the 29 people known to have died at the Franco-British border last year according to Calais Migrant Solidarity, at least 13 lost their lives in six incidents related to sea crossings. This includes the shipwreck of 12 August in which six Afghan men drowned. This is significantly more than the six people known to have lost their lives in three events related to sea crossings in 2022.
‘Alarmphone’ presents accurate/factual news on the deaths of migrants trying to reach the UK and other European Countries.
Read more: https://alarmphone.org/en/about/
France: Migrant Children Sleep in the Street in Marseille
Unaccompanied migrant children arriving in Marseille undergo arbitrary age assessments, leading to denial of their rights to housing, health, and education. One in two are initially denied recognition of minority, but nearly three-quarters of those who appeal ultimately establish that they are under 18. French officials need to ensure that children are not homeless, that their health needs are met, and that they can access education while they exercise their right to review negative age assessments.
(Paris) – The French department of Bouches-du-Rhône, which includes Marseille, France’s second-largest city, is failing to provide unaccompanied migrant children the protections they need and to which they are entitled, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 70-page report, “‘Not the France I Imagined’: Housing, Health, and Education for Unaccompanied Migrant Children in Marseille,” finds that Marseille’s child protection authorities are leaving children with health needs on the street without treatment, psychosocial support, or follow-up care. Half of unaccompanied migrant children who face an age assessment in Marseille are denied formal recognition as a child, yet those decisions are overturned for nearly 75 percent of those who file an appeal. Review by the courts can take months or even years, leaving children ineligible for emergency accommodation and services such as legal assistance, the appointment of a guardian, universal health protection, and education.
Read more: Huma Rights Watch, https://shorturl.at/dilAU
CJEU: Women Who Are Victims of Gender-Based Violence Can Qualify For Refugee Status
The Court of Justice of the European Union has concluded that women who experience gender-based violence in their country of origin can be regarded as belonging to a ‘particular social group’ and qualify for refugee status. This is as a result of a preliminary reference made to the Court by Bulgaria in C-621/21 WS v Intervyuirasht organ na Darzhavna agentsia za bezhantsite pri Ministerskia savet.
Her initial protection claim was refused by the Bulgarian authorities and dismissed on appeal. They concluded the particular acts of domestic abuse and death threats made by her husband and by members of her family could not be linked to a Convention reason. And further, she had not claimed to be the victim of acts of persecution because of her gender.
WS made a subsequent application with new evidence. This time her claim was based on a well-founded fear of persecution by non-State actors on account of her membership of a ‘particular social group’. Namely, women who are victims of domestic violence and women who are potential victims of honour killings.
REad more: Freemovement, https://shorturl.at/isEJZ
Home Office ‘Appalling’ Secret Policy on Trafficking Victims
Theresa May is to confront the Home Office after it was found to have kept an “appalling” asylum policy secret, amid internal fears that its approach would be attacked by the former prime minister and other senior politicians.
In an extraordinary finding, the high court concluded last week that the Home Office had operated a secret policy that affected the asylum rights of at least 1,500 people found to be genuine victims of trafficking and modern slavery.
It heard that ministers had secretly opted not to implement a court ruling stating that confirmed victims of trafficking and modern slavery should be given leave to remain in the UK while their asylum claims were pending. The Home Office instead “held” such cases for months, barring those affected from work, renting, opening a bank account or accessing mainstream benefits.
Read more: Michael Savage, Observer, https://shorturl.at/ceyT9
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