Achieving Racial Justice at Inquests
The deaths of Black and racialised people are among some of the most violent, neglectful and contentious of all deaths in state custody. Yet the inquests into these deaths do not address the race of the deceased nor the potential role of racism.
The guide will equip lawyers representing bereaved families with the tools to raise the potential role of racism in a state-custody death and coroners investigating deaths with the knowledge to determine whether racism was a factor.
Released, Wednesday 21st February 2024, the guide will provide lawyers representing families bereaved by deaths in police custody, prisons, immigration detention, and mental health settings with the legal expertise to raise the potential role of race and racism at inquests. It also provides foundational knowledge and strategy to coroners to ensure they satisfy their duty in fully investigating the circumstances in state custody deaths.
Achieving Racial Justice at Inquests is a joint guide developed by human rights charities JUSTICE and INQUEST together with legal experts, academics, and bereaved families.
As the deaths of Black and racialised people are some of the most violent, neglectful and contentious of all deaths in state custody, the question of whether racism contributed to the treatment of a loved one is invariably in the minds of Black and racialised families. Yet inquests rarely ever address race or racism.
For bereaved families, inquests present key opportunities to find out how and why their loved one died. The failure to explore issues of race and racism not only stops families from learning the truth, but prevents potentially life-saving issues from being identified and addressed.
This new guide equips lawyers and coroners with the tools to recognise, raise, evidence and investigate issues of race and racism.
This guide will ensure race is no longer the elephant in the room in these investigations.
Download the guide: https://shorturl.at/ahrTV
Changes to the Destitute Domestic Violence Concession
The Home Office has made changes to the Destitute Domestic Violence Concession by publishing new guidance and a new application form today.
There is a new acronym for practitioners to learn as the concession has been re-branded as the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC).
The big change is that the concession has been expanded to include victims of domestic abuse who have, or last had, leave as a ‘partner of a person with permission to enter or stay on a work and economic route or as a student or graduate’. This brings into scope a very wide group of dependent partners.
One might expect an expansion of the concession to be welcomed. This one has not been. Women’s groups have widely condemned the change because the newly included group of dependent partners of workers / students / graduates are not eligible to apply for indefinite leave as a victim of domestic abuse under the new Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse. This leaves them with no route to further leave or settlement after the end of the three months’ concession leave.
Women’s groups warn that not only is this likely to deter victims from coming forward, but could also lead some to making ill- informed choices to apply not realising that they have no right to apply for settlement like other groups included under the concession.
Read more: Freemovement, https://is.gd/GTA6tt
Home Secretary Confirms “Pause” On Processing Asylum Claims
Having presumably learned from their much criticised mishandling of certain trafficking cases, the government published a statement yesterday stating that they have paused consideration of asylum claims from a certain group. Those affected are people who arrived on or after 1 January 2022 and who received a notice of intent before 29 June 2023 which said that they may be removed to Rwanda. The statement says:
On 15 November 2023, the Supreme Court found that removal of asylum seekers to Rwanda was, based on the evidence reviewed at that time, unlawful. However, the Court recognised that changes could be made in the future to address its findings. In light of this, the Home Secretary has decided to maintain a general pause in the making of inadmissibility decisions in relation to this group at this time whilst work is completed to address the Court’s findings as these individuals remain in scope for inadmissibility action. Pending completion of this work, decisions will only be taken in the event that the Home Secretary considers that there are compelling reasons why this should be necessary in the individual case in question.
Read more: Freemovement, https://shorturl.at/aoPS9
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Home Secretary Sacks Borders Watchdog Via Zoom After Clash
Rishi Sunak has been accused of “total Tory chaos” over immigration policies, after Britain’s borders watchdog was sacked in a hastily arranged Zoom call.
David Neal, the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, was told by a top civil servant on Tuesday that James Cleverly was terminating his job with immediate effect.
Neal, who had been in the role for nearly three years and was due to step down next month, had recently expressed his concern that there would be no one in the watchdog role for several months as ministers tried to force through Sunak’s controversial Rwanda policy.
Downing Street blocked his reappointment, an unusual move for the post in which his predecessors all served two full three-year terms in the post.
The Home Office said Neal, a former police officer and soldier who commanded the 1st Military Police Brigade from 2016 until 2019, had “breached the terms of appointment”.
The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “This is total Tory chaos on borders and immigration. A series of Conservative home secretaries have sought to bury uncomfortable truths revealed by the chief inspector about our broken borders, and shockingly they are still sitting on 15 unpublished reports – stretching back to April last year. The home secretary must now publish those reports in full.
Read more: Rajeev Syal , Guardian, https://shorturl.at/eiYZ3
Closure of UK Family Scheme for Ukrainians Described as ‘Cruel’ Move
A scheme allowing Ukrainians to join family members taking sanctuary in the UK has been unexpectedly closed, in what opposition politicians described as a cruel and “below the radar” move days before the two-year anniversary of Russia’s full invasion.
The Ukraine family scheme is being shut but government officials said a separate Homes for Ukraine scheme would continue to fulfil people’s needs as a way of “simplifying” the process.
Jennifer Blair, a barrister specialising in immigration and asylum, said the closure of the Ukraine family scheme without warning would prevent people bringing their family to the UK unless a local council agreed that they could house them under the hosting scheme.
“This means that people in the UK with vulnerable and disabled family members may be left with no way to bring them to safety,” said Blair, of No5 Barristers’ Chambers.
Read more: Ben Quinn and Rajeev Syal, https://shorturl.at/tBQ08
Drastic Erosion of Women’s Rights in Afghanistan Continues
Police enforcement has increased harassment in public spaces and further limited women’s ability to leave their homes, according to testimony from 745 Afghan women participating in the latest survey by UN Women, International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN’s Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
The insights follow recent reports of the arbitrary and severe enforcement of the hijab decree, particularly in Kabul, the agencies said – which began publishing quarterly consultations with diverse Afghan women a year after the Taliban took power in August 2021. Since then, the de facto authorities have introduced more than 50 decrees that directly curtail the rights and dignity of women, Friday’s report states.
Consultations took place between 27 January and 8 February, with UN Women, IOM and UNAMA gathering views online and in-person – where it was safe to do so – and via group sessions and individual telesurveys. The agencies were able to reach women across all of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. Participants were asked to give views on the period from October to December 2023.
The results show that women fear arrest and the long-lasting stigma and shame associated with being taken into police custody, the report stated.
Read more: United Nations, https://shorturl.at/fhpxz
Teenage Asylum Seeker Secures Permission to Challenge Illegal Migration Laws
A teenage asylum seeker from Iran who travelled alone on a small boat to the UK has secured High Court permission to challenge the Illegal Migration Act (IMA). The 16-year-old boy, who is currently staying at a children’s home in Northern Ireland, was granted leave to seek a judicial review amid claims the controversial legislation breaches the Windsor Framework.
A judge in Belfast ruled on Tuesday he has also established an arguable case that parts of the IMA are incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). His solicitor, Sinead Marmion of Phoenix Law, hailed it as a significant decision for cases involving unaccompanied children in the asylum system.
A separate High Court challenge to the Act mounted by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is currently awaiting determination. But proceedings brought on behalf of the Iranian teenager focused on the impact of the IMA on unaccompanied children.
Read more: Irish News, https://shorturl.at/novOZ
How to Apply For Leave to Remain as a Victim of Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is a serious infringement of someone’s rights. While most often perpetrated against women, it can affect people from any background and part of society. Migrants can be particularly vulnerable and unwilling to seek help because of their precarious status in the UK.
This article looks at in country applications, we will shortly be publishing a briefing on making out of country applications.
In this guide we will look at how someone can apply for permission to remain in the UK as a victim of domestic violence. We will be looking at the rules under Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse, the section of the immigration rules that deals with these applications. Essentially, the Home Office will allow someone who has come to the UK under certain routes (mainly Appendix FM but the full list is at paragraph VDA4.1) to stay in the country permanently if the relationship breaks down because of domestic violence.
Read more: Freemovement, https://is.gd/XGtOAZ
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