Victory for Migrants as Judge Rules Immigration Exemption Incompatible With GDPR

A High Court judge has agreed with Open Rights Group and the3million that the immigration exemption in the UK Data Protection Act 2018 is incompatible with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

It is the second time that ORG and the3million have taken the government to court over the immigration exemption, which allows the Home Office and private companies to refuse requests by individuals for access to personal data held about them on the grounds that it might “prejudice the maintenance of effective immigration control”. This denial can cause life-changing harms by preventing migrants from being able to challenge mistakes in the data that is held about them, and therefore being unable to effectively challenge immigration decisions. For example, an asylum-seeker who has been refused by the Home Office needs access to their personal data to effectively lodge an appeal. Application of the immigration exemption, and the withdrawal of that access, could result in genuine asylum-seekers being deported back to countries where they face a real risk of persecution and serious harm.

On Wednesday 29th March, the High Court agreed with the3million and ORG that the immigration exemption contained within Schedule 2 of the Data Protection Act 2018 is incompatible with Article 23 of the UK GDPR. The ruling is a victory for migrants’ data rights in an increasingly hostile environment in the UK, where migrants are treated as second class citizens. It also represents another instance of this government trying to chip away at the whole human rights framework post-Brexit.

Read more: Open Rights Group (ORG), https://rb.gy/15aj

Braverman’s *Refoulment of Asylum Seekers from the UK Will it be a 'Cash Cow' for Rwanda

UK Give Rwanda £140 Million (To start with)

Hansard Written Question: Asylum: Rwanda,

Lord Sikka: To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum-seekers have been relocated to Rwanda to date; and what payments they have made to the government of Rwanda to accept asylum-seekers from the UK.

Lord Murray: The UK has provided Rwanda with an initial investment of £120m as part of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership. The UK has also made a £20m upfront payment to the Government of Rwanda to support initial set up costs.

Hansard 23/03/2023: https://rb.gy/ihop2g

*Refoulment : The practice of sending refugees or asylum seekers (= people trying to escape war, danger, threats, etc. in their own country) back to their country or to another country where they are likely to suffer bad treatment: Protection from refoulement is a basic right of asylum seekers and refugees.

UN International Day of Remembrance - Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

That this House recognises the UN International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade;

calls on the UK Government to offer a full formal apology, for the destructive and exploitative actions of the British Empire, including but not limited to, the Empire’s role in the transatlantic slave trade and colonisation;

demands that this apology goes beyond the expressions of deep regret that have been made by previous Prime Ministers;

recognises that no amount of money could ever fully make amends for the atrocities inflicted by the British Empire, but that meaningful steps can be taken to atone for past actions and the lasting impact those actions continue to have;

applauds the Government of the Netherlands who issued a formal apology for the past actions of the Dutch State; welcomes the apology from the Trevelyan family, an aristocratic British family, for their ownership of slaves and their commitment to reparations;

calls on the UK Government to follow these examples; notes that during the time of the Empire, Britain pillaged and looted several cultural artefacts from other nations, including art, jewellery, gems, treasures and even human remains, many of which are on display in UK museums, universities and institutions;

is aware that Britain was not alone in these actions; welcomes the announcements from several museums, universities and institutions across Europe who have agreed to return stolen artifacts; and further calls on the Government to engage in meaningful conversations around reparations including the restitution of stolen artifacts.

EDM 996: Tabled on 23 March 2023, https://rb.gy/oi9caq

Black Children Six Times More Likely to be Strip-Searched Than White Peers

An official report accuses police of abusing their power to strip-search children, with black children much more likely than white children to be selected by officers for the ordeal.

Data collected by the office of the children’s commissioner found there were at least 2,847 recorded strip-searches of children pre-arrest across England and Wales between 2018 and 2022 under stop and search powers. Black children make up 5.9% of the population, meaning they were six times over-represented. The youngest child strip-searched was eight, and about a quarter were 10-15, the report will say.

The children’s commissioner, Rachel de Souza, said she was shocked by the ethnic disproportionality, while the president of the National Black Police Association, Insp Andy George, said it was another example of institutional racism – which police leaders deny exists.

Read More: Vikram Dodd, https://rb.gy/1kxcqm

Borders Inspector “Frustrated” by Lack of Action From Home Office

The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Neal, has expressed his frustration at the Home Office’s inability properly and promptly to address report recommendations in his comments published yesterday alongside the annual report for 2021-22. The annual report was sent to the Home Secretary on 8 July 2022, just days before the end of the business year. That was now nine months ago, but the report has only just been published by the Home Office this week. This pattern of disregard for the inspectorate and its findings is mirrored in individual reports.

Neal expresses his disappointment in the Home Office’s failure to lay inspection reports in Parliament within agreed timescales in general: “As examples, the annual report cited the lack of a published service standard for asylum decisions, months after the Home Office had accepted a recommendation to reintroduce one ‘as a matter of urgency’, and the lack of ‘effective consultation methods with local authorities… prior to the establishment of contingency asylum accommodation’, even after the department had committed to develop such methods.” He goes on to draw specific attention to lack of action in the asylum system:

“Months after I pointed to these examples, I am frustrated that there is still no published service standard for asylum decisions, and I am sure that many local authorities would agree that the Home Office’s approach to engagement with them on the placement of asylum accommodation sites still requires improvement.”

Read more: Josie Laidman, Freemovement, https://rb.gy/wbqpqj

Asylum Seekers Housed In Accommodation Centres and Hotels Face De Facto Immigration Detention

Refugee Action says its new report reveals the shameful conditions and treatment of people in asylum accommodation, with thousands facing what amounts to de facto immigration detention. The report explains: "At the time of writing there are 105,522 people in asylum accommodation. They are detained indefinitely, segregated from communities, do not have access to legal or welfare services and have limited contact with the outside world due to restrictions and the cost of transport and communications. They live in an environment of fear of attacks by racist groups stoked by dangerous, inflammatory, racist language of politicians and sections of the media. In this system, people who came to the UK seeking safety are forced to live in conditions so bad that they present a clear threat to their lives."

The vast majority of asylum seekers being currently housed in temporary or contingency accommodation are from countries in the Middle East and Africa.

"What emerges is a picture in which brown and black people are being held for months and years in segregated spaces, cut off from communities, in buildings that are called 'hotels' but are in reality de-facto detention," the report notes.

It adds: "In hotels people are held indefinitely, their freedom of movement and basic liberties are restricted. They are held in rooms where they are unable to receive guests or arrange childcare and they are told that if they leave for short periods, such as one or two days they will not be able to return. There are curfews and sign in and sign out protocols, they are in locations that are isolated and far from community, and the low level of asylum support means that transport is very restricted."

Read more: Electronic Immibratin Network, https://rb.gy/ny5yo2

Government Could Spend Over £9bn in Three Years to Tackle Channel Crossings

The government’s recent illegal migration bill may cost over £9bn in the coming three years, based on an impact assessment by the Refugee Council. The assessment predicted that over 250,000 people (including 45,000 children) could have their asylum claims deemed inadmissible under the new bill in the three years. The charity also based its assessment on the Home Office being able to deport 10,000 people to Rwanda each year.

‘At the end of the third year, between 161,147 and 192,670 people will have had their asylum claims deemed inadmissible but not have been removed. They will be unable to have their asylum claims processed, unable to work and will be reliant on Home Office support and accommodation indefinitely,’ the assessment stated. The assessment’s calculations were based on the cost of £120.42 a day to detain an individual, and that it can be assumed that 88% of Channel crossings result in an asylum application. It predicted that a lower estimate of 50% of people will be detained under the bill, and an upper estimate would assume a 100% detention rate.

Chief executive of the Refugee Council Enver Solomon said the “draconian legislation” is a “stain” on the UK’s reputation. ‘All the evidence shows that the vast majority of those who come here by so-called irregular routes are refugees escaping bombs and bullets, violence and persecution. They take these dangerous journeys as no workable alternatives exist for them – unlike Ukrainians who were rightly able to come to the UK on a visa scheme,’ Solomon continued.

A Home Office spokesperson said that they “do not recognise” the estimates in the report, and that the current asylum system costs £3bn a year to run. ‘While we are committed to ensuring there are routes to safety for vulnerable people across the globe, we must grip the rise in illegal migration and stop the boats. That is why we are making people who come to the UK illegally liable for detention and swift removal,’ they continued.

Read more: Henson Kwok,Justice Gap, https://rb.gy/htd6wv

Child Poverty Rises by 350,000 to 4.2 Million

The number of children living in poverty in the UK has soared by another 350,000 over the last year, taking the total number of children living in poverty in the country to 4.2 million. Despite being one of the richest countries in the world, child poverty rates continue to soar as the Tories further entrench inequality and poverty.

The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) says that much of the rise in rates of child poverty was down to the government cutting the £20 universal credit (UC) uplift halfway through the year. CPAG published a report Thursday, 23rd March, which estimates child poverty costs the UK £39.5 billion a year – in lost tax and earnings, unemployment benefits and additional public services spending.

While the Tories continue to repeat the mantra of ‘work is the best route out of poverty’, the research shows that 71% of poor children lived in working families. 48% of children in BAME families are growing up in poverty, as are 44% of children in lone-parent families.

Read more: Left Foot Forward, https://rb.gy/ymlzf5