UK Deportation Flight to Zimbabwe Takes Off Just One-Third Full

A controversial Home Office deportation charter flight to Zimbabwe took off at about 10.30pm on Wednesday evening 21st July 2021, with only around one-third of the passengers on board that officials had hoped to remove. It is the first mass deportation flight to Zimbabwe for many years and marks the start of a planned ‘summer season’ of charter flight deportations to countries including Vietnam and Jamaica that the Home Office is planning in the coming weeks.

The flight was due to deport about 50 people but only 14 are believed to have been on board when it took off from Stansted. It presented the Home Office with a series of problems, with dozens of escorts self-isolating until later this week due to being exposed to colleagues with Covid. Home Office officials confirmed on Tuesday evening that there is an outbreak of Covid at Brook House near Gatwick. Some of the Zimbabweans at that detention centre due to be deported could not be removed due to the outbreak.

Read more: Diane Taylor, Guardian, https://is.gd/71V2D7

Gay Rugby Player Wins Five-Year Battle Against Deportation to Kenya

Kenneth Macharia, 41, on Monday 19th July 2021, won an appeal in the immigration tribunal against Home Office plans to remove him from the UK. His campaign attracted huge public backing, with more than 180,000 people signing a petition calling on the Home Office to let him stay. He plays for the Bristol Bisons, an inclusive rugby union club, whose players offered support throughout his ordeal. Macharia, who lives in Glastonbury, Somerset, said that while he felt elated to be finally safe and free, the decision had not yet sunk in. “It has been such a long time living with fear and uncertainty but I will be celebrating this evening when I go for rugby training,” he said. “Now that I have been successful in my refugee appeal I feel that I can live a full life.” In May 2019 a Kenyan high court judgment upheld criminalisation of gay relationships on the basis that the 2010 Kenyan constitution, which defines marriage as between those of the opposite sex, would be undermined if gay people could start living together. The immigration judge who ruled in Macharia’s favour, Lorraine Mensah, found that openly gay men in Kenya were at risk of persecution by reason of “discriminatory laws that create a hostile environment in which gay men are exposed to a real risk of discrimination.”

Read more: Diane Taylor, Guardian, https://is.gd/fasLSR

Parliament Consider 103,440 Signatures Calling for Amnesty for Undocumented Migrants

It is clear that covid-19 has added a bit of impetus to the decision to sign the petition. There has been concern about the ability of undocumented migrants to get access to a vaccine, which is of benefit both to them and to the wider society, because we know that people are less likely to transmit the virus when they have had the vaccine. That seems to have given the petition a bit of added impetus, because having an unstable existence is made even more challenging through covid-19. As for many things, covid-19 has made a challenging situation more challenging, so I can understand the decision of 103,440 people to sign the petition.

The arguments in favour of the petition are clear. There are many individuals and families who have come here as undocumented migrants. Some may have come illegally in the first instance. Some may have come here legally, but the legal time that they are allowed to be here has expired and they are looking to regularise their position. It is a combination of both of those. However, there are many who are making a positive contribution to our country in difficult circumstances. At the moment, it is a very challenging situation for them.

Read the full debate: 19th July 2021, https://is.gd/GyHCjS

Under the sub-heading “Interpretation of Refugee Convention“, clauses 27-35 of the Nationality and Borders Bill 2021 seek to accomplish four main tasks:

1) Translate some EU asylum law, currently residing in secondary legislation, into primary legislation.
2) Turn back the clock on core principles of asylum law in relation to the identification of a “particular social group”, and the test and standard of proof for asylum claimants.

3) Remove the protection against penalising refugees in Article 33(1) of the Refugee Convention from some asylum claimants.

4) Lower the threshold for the definition of a “particularly serious crime” for the purposes of the Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention.

Read more: Rudolph Spurling, Freemovement, https://is.gd/R72rc8

Crowdcast: Inequalities in Access to the Covid Vaccine in the UK

Bureau of Investigative Journalism: With most people in the UK having now been invited for either their first or second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, the government is being very vocal about its success in offering millions of people the chance to protect themselves from coronavirus. But not everyone in the UK has had the fortune of benefiting from this largely seamless process.

Many of the estimated one million undocumented migrants in the UK who want to get the Covid vaccination are being incorrectly told they need paperwork they don’t have, and are facing barriers at every turn. According to the government, people do not need proof of address or an ID to register with a GP. But the reality is that people without this information are routinely being turned away from surgeries across the UK or denied vaccines at walk-in and pop-up clinics.

How can this be addressed to ensure undocumented migrants in the UK, often going back out into work as society starts to open up again soon, are not at greater risk than others of becoming exposed to infection without any protection?

Join us on 20 July at 3pm BST as we explore the findings from our latest investigation and discusses the negative impact unequal access to the vaccine will have on already vulnerable communities and on the overall success of the UK vaccine rollout.

Our community organiser Emiliano Mellino will be joined by one of our case studies as well as:

Dr Habib Naqvi, director of the NHS Race and Health Observatory

Gwenetta Curry, Lecturer of Race, Ethnicity, and Health at the University of Edinburgh

Anna Miller, Head of Policy & Advocacy, Doctors of the World

To register go here: https://is.gd/IALPkf

With the Nationality and Borders Bill UK is Choosing Cruelty Over Morality

Immigration is currently dominated by the effects of the ever-growing number of individuals being displaced from their home countries across the world. For countries such as the UK, we have a responsibility to aid these people and offer support for the simple reason that we have the capacity and resources to do so. Despite this, governments have turned the act of seeking refuge into the political zeitgeist of our time; forcing ministers to decide whether to assist the vulnerable or to close the gates to those who desperately need entry.

However, with the ongoing discussions of Priti Patel's proposed Nationality and Borders Bill, it appears that the UK is choosing cruelty over morality. Patel's bill, claimes to be the key to fixing what has been described as the 'broken' immigration system of the UK. It is already known that the current UK approach to immigration has been consistently hostile for near to a decade now, so why would Patel think adding cruel fuel to the already raging fire would be helpful?

Read more: Aaron Gates-Lincoln, EIN, https://is.gd/XJFam2

Most GP Surgeries Refuse to Register Undocumented Migrants Despite NHS Policy

There are thought to be up to 1.2 million undocumented migrants in the UK, according to a 2019 report by the Pew social science research centre. Many are cut off from public services, often with the fear of deportation hanging over them. During the pandemic, those who live in the UK, but have an uncertain immigration status, have faced major barriers to receiving the Covid-19 vaccine. The simplest route to getting vaccinated is to be registered with a GP: invitations to book an appointment are sent to the mobile number or address held by your surgery.

NHS England policy is clear. It says on its website: “Anyone in England can register with a GP surgery. It’s free to register. You do not need proof of address or immigration status, ID or an NHS number.”

But an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found that less than a quarter of GP surgeries (24%) surveyed in cities across England, Scotland and Wales would register someone without proof of address, proof of ID or legal immigration status. Almost two-thirds (62%) told us they would not register the patient, while the remaining 14% said they were unsure whether they could.

By law, a GP surgery can only refuse a patient’s registration if it has “reasonable grounds” to do so. NHS policies in England and Scotland state that not having proof of address, ID or immigration status do not constitute reasonable grounds for refusal. A spokesperson for the Welsh government confirmed that proof of address and ID were not required for registration. And yet in reality, people trying to register are often asked for immigration status and official documents – and often turned away if they do not have them.

Source: Bureau of Investigative Jounalism, https://is.gd/XdC13e

Delaying Family Reunion for Temporary Refugees Violates Article 8

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that forcing sponsors to wait for a minimum of three years before applying for family reunification without an individualised assessment of the family’s circumstances violates Article 8 of the human rights convention. The case is MA v Denmark (application no. 6697/18).

MA had fled Syria for Denmark and sought to be reunited with his wife. His circumstances were deemed not to qualify for permanent protection since he was not subjected to “specific and personal persecution”. He was instead given a one-year temporary but renewable protection status [sounds familiar — Ed.].

People with “temporary protection status” have restricted family reunification rights under Danish law. They need to be resident in Denmark for three years before being allowed to sponsor their family members. Challenges to that arbitrary waiting period failed all the way through the domestic Danish court system.

The Strasbourg court found that there was no problem in principle with restricting family reunification rights for those with temporary status, but the domestic Danish courts had found there would be “insurmountable obstacles” to cohabiting in Syria. Therefore, the fact that the three-year waiting period did not permit an individualised assessment of a family’s circumstances was unlawful. It failed to strike a fair balance under Article 8 between the needs of individuals and the interests of the state.

The court ordered that MA receive €10,000 in compensation.

Read more: Bilaal Shabbir, Freemovement, https://is.gd/juGlP3

Charity Launches Legal Challenge Against UK’s Foreign Aid Cuts

A charity has launched a legal challenge against Boris Johnson’s £4bn of cuts to the foreign aid budget which critics warn will cause significant suffering to some of the world’s poorest people. The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) notified the government of its intention to seek a judicial review after the Foreign Office (FCDO) told the charity it was terminating its project funding. The FCDO was committed to providing up to £21m for the UK Aid Connect access consortium’s efforts to improving sexual and reproductive health rights of those living in extreme poverty, people in humanitarian crises and those affected by HIV and Aids.

IPPF said the decision to end the funding was based on an “unlawful” act by the government to reduce foreign aid spending from 0.7% of gross national income to 0.5%. MPs approved the change in the House of Commons this week, but the target of 0.7% is still set down in primary legislation and has not yet been amended. As a result, the IPPF said it had sent a pre-action letter to the government. Dr Alvaro Bermejo, its director general, said: “Since IPPF became aware of the government’s plans to slash the UK’s aid budget, it has taken every opportunity to demonstrate the unlawfulness of these cuts and the catastrophic impact they will have on millions of women, girls and marginalised people worldwide, and the thousands of lives that will be lost in the process.

Read more: Rowena Mason, Guardian, https://is.gd/DsB8ZA

Crowdcast: Inequalities in Access to the Covid Vaccine in the UK

Bureau of Investigative Journalism: With most people in the UK having now been invited for either their first or second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, the government is being very vocal about its success in offering millions of people the chance to protect themselves from coronavirus. But not everyone in the UK has had the fortune of benefiting from this largely seamless process.

Many of the estimated one million undocumented migrants in the UK who want to get the Covid vaccination are being incorrectly told they need paperwork they don’t have, and are facing barriers at every turn. According to the government, people do not need proof of address or an ID to register with a GP. But the reality is that people without this information are routinely being turned away from surgeries across the UK or denied vaccines at walk-in and pop-up clinics.

How can this be addressed to ensure undocumented migrants in the UK, often going back out into work as society starts to open up again soon, are not at greater risk than others of becoming exposed to infection without any protection?

Join us on 20 July at 3pm BST as we explore the findings from our latest investigation and discusses the negative impact unequal access to the vaccine will have on already vulnerable communities and on the overall success of the UK vaccine rollout.

Our community organiser Emiliano Mellino will be joined by one of our case studies as well as:

Dr Habib Naqvi, director of the NHS Race and Health Observatory

Gwenetta Curry, Lecturer of Race, Ethnicity, and Health at the University of Edinburgh

Anna Miller, Head of Policy & Advocacy, Doctors of the World

To register go here: https://is.gd/IALPkf