This week is Refugee Week and so I thought it would useful to take a look at the state of the asylum system. This has been in the news a fair bit recently because of Rishi Sunak’s prioritisation of stopping the boats, his promise to double asylum caseworkers and eliminate the ‘legacy’ backlog by the end of this year, the passage of the Illegal Migration Bill through Parliament and the National Audit Office report just last Friday.
Sunak appears to be following the oh-so-successful strategy established by former Home Secretary Priti Patel: deliberately ramp up the rhetoric, ratchet up media expectations then accidentally fail to deliver. And see what happens.
The asylum system has been overwhelmed. Not by new arrivals but by mismanagement. The people arriving to claim asylum are overwhelmingly refugees and whether the government likes it or not they will, eventually, build new lives for themselves in this country. Three out of four asylum decisions are grants of asylum, and half of those rejected go on to win their appeals. But they must endure bureaucratic purgatory first, seemingly to cleanse them of the supposed sin of irregular arrival.
How Can we Judge Success and Failure in Immigration Policy?
Defining and measuring success would be a good start
It depends what you’re trying to achieve. And this is one of the fundamental problems with immigration policy in the United Kingdom.
Either policy makers do not really know what they hope to achieve.
Or their private intentions are different to their public pronouncements.
Or they use the wrong tool to try to achieve their purpose.
Or, arguably worst of all, they make public pronouncements that they know are unachievable.
Or some combination of some or all of these. Let’s take a look at each.
Politicians sometimes don’t really know what they are doing. I know this will shock absolutely no one, but it is particularly true in immigration policy at the moment. It hasn’t always been true. If we look back at the past we can see distinct periods of changes in overall immigration policy. I think these policies were conscious and deliberate rather than accidental and default.
Read more: Colin Yeo, Freemovement, https://tinyurl.com/bdfp6df5
A new report exposes yet more appalling crimes by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo. It details unlawful killings, rape, and other apparent war crimes. Attacks with explosive weapons in populated areas have killed and injured civilians, damaged infrastructure, and exacerbated an already dire humanitarian crisis.
One particular case stands out: Kishishe, a village in North Kivu province. After M23 withdrew from Kishishe, HRW was able to investigate reports of M23 killings there. Our team documented 14 mass graves with scores of bodies. It’s likely only a fraction of total burial sites. The bodies are believed to be those of villagers and captured militia members that M23 fighters executed between November and April.
For the living facing continued fighting and insecurity, the suffering is only compounded by the declaration of martial law and the collaboration of the Congolese army with various armed groups, mostly along ethnic lines.
Rwanda’s role is especially pernicious. With troops deployed in eastern Congo, the Rwandan army provides direct military support to M23, helping them expand their control over Rutshuru and neighbouring Masisi territories.
Read more: Human Rights Watch, https://tinyurl.com/2d24bkhc
Scottish Inquiry Finds Immigration Detention Centre Death Was Avoidable
A number of defects in the system of working in Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre led to the death of a 54-year old Chinese man which could have reasonably been avoided.
Mr Xi Biao Huang had relocated from China and resided in the UK until his detention by immigration officers in August 2017 initially in an English immigration removal centre. When Mr Huang was brought to Dungavel in Scotland, he was incorrectly noted as speaking Mandarin (a language of which he had no knowledge). He was in fact a Taishanese speaker. His English was extremely limited. His name and his date of birth were also incorrectly recorded.
A few days after arriving, Mr Huang, with the aid of his roommate, tried to explain he was suffering from chest pain. His complaint was noted as “gastric” and he was given indigestion medication without any record of his vital signs being taken. The following day, Mr Huang was found dead in his cell. The cause of death was noted as Ischaemic Heart Disease. The post-mortem indicated he had suffered a heart attack approximately two weeks earlier and again a day or two before his death.
Read more: Freemovement, https://tinyurl.com/4rwebhfk
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Number of People Living in Modern Slavery Has Grown Since 2018
The Global Slavery Index reveals the number of people living in modern slavery has grown since 2018 against a backdrop of increasing and more complex conflicts, widespread environmental degradation, climate-induced migration, a global rollback of women’s rights, and the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest Global Slavery Index, produced by human rights group Walk Free, reveals the 10 countries with the highest prevalence of modern slavery are North Korea, Eritrea, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Tajikistan, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Afghanistan, and Kuwait.
“Modern slavery permeates every aspect of our society. It is woven through our clothes, lights up our electronics, and seasons our food. At its core, modern slavery is a manifestation of extreme inequality. It is a mirror held to power, reflecting who in any given society has it and who does not. Nowhere is this paradox more present than in our global economy through transnational supply chains,” said Founding Director of Walk Free, Grace Forrest.
Read more: Relief Web, https://tinyurl.com/4ctu9vaz
Three Accused of Blocking a Detention Centre Acquitted at Trial
Three people, known as the Brook House Three, locked onto each other on a road outside of Brook House detention centre to prevent coaches from forcibly transporting people onto deportation flights to Jamaica. The group used metal pipes in their efforts to latch together, and due to their protesting, prevented 46 people from deportation.
Initially charged with aggravated trespass, the Brook House Three were then charged with causing a public nuisance, a much more serious offence. The change has a direct relationship with an increase in state hostility and negative views of protestors in the UK. Activists, should they be convicted, commonly face serious sentences upon conviction, with a maximum of 10 years imprisonment. The Public Order Bill passed earlier this year claims to up the offences of all forms of protesting, and threatens to criminalise those which were previously protected under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
A freedom of information request, which provides the right to inquire with public sector organisations for information, was made about the trial. The request revealed that of the 50 people that were set to be forcibly removed from the UK in November 2021, 41 still currently reside in the UK. With another flight scheduled to depart in May 2022, this statistic suggests that by the Home Office’s high standards, 41 of the 50 people set to be forced out had an arguable legal claim despite their prior forced removal attempts.
Read more: Micayla Fling, Justice Gap, https://tinyurl.com/2styafcw
The transit visa system was set up to enable seafarers and mariners passing through the UK to reach a ship departing the UK within seven days. However, Leigh Day says it is well recognised that the transit visa system is exploited by companies to carry out widescale fishing inside and just outside UK territorial waters in order to evade laws that protect employees, including the National Minimum Wage Act 1998.
The result is that those who are brought to the UK to work on fishing boats in UK waters are at significant risk of trafficking and modern slavery. Workers are tied to working on specific vessels for prolonged periods of time, without being able to leave the ship. Many have described mistreatment and poor working conditions including excessively long working hours and pay amounting to below half the minimum wage.
The failure of the transit visa regime to provide practical and effective protection for victims of modern slavery, including the three Ghanaian fishermen, is a breach of Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits slavery and forced labour, says the letter. Article 4 also entails a procedural obligation on the state to investigate situations of potential trafficking.
Deaths on Migration Routes in MENA Highest Since 2017: IOM 2022 Data Reveals
Geneva/Berlin/Cairo: Nearly 3,800 people died on migration routes within and from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region last year (January-December 2022), the highest number since 2017 when 4,255 deaths were recorded according to newly released data from the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Missing Migrants Project (MMP).
The 3,789 deaths recorded in 2022 was 11 per cent higher than the previous year.
The MENA region accounted for more than half of the total 6,877 deaths recorded worldwide by the MMP, according to the new report.
On North African land routes, particularly during the perilous Sahara Desert crossing, 203 deaths were recorded, while an additional 825 deaths occurred on Middle Eastern land routes. Libya registered the highest number of deaths on land routes in North Africa, with 117 fatalities, followed by Algeria (54), Morocco (13), Tunisia (10), and Egypt (9).
The scarcity of official data and limited access to land routes for civil society and international organizations suggests that the actual number of deaths on migratory routes within and from the MENA region is likely much higher than reported.
Read more: Relief Web, https://tinyurl.com/p9uk375n
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