Major Victory for Immigrant Workers in the US

In a major victory for workers, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced new guidance last week that allows migrant and immigrant workers who experience or witness workplace labor or civil rights violations to receive temporary protection against deportation and access to work authorization.

Under international human rights law, workplace protections apply to all workers, regardless of citizenship status. But as Human Rights Watch has documented, fear of immigration-related retaliation, including deportation, causes many workers who are unauthorized or otherwise have tentative immigration status to hesitate about speaking up in the workplace or reporting abusive employers and working conditions.

Under the new DHS guidance, workers assisting with investigations and enforcement actions by federal, state, or local labor agencies can, with those agencies’ support, apply for an expedited discretionary grant of deferred action. If approved, this would provide whistleblowers and victims of rights abuses protection against immigration enforcement, typically for at least two years. During this period of deferred action, workers may also receive federal employment authorization, allowing them to work legally in the United States.

Read more: Matt McConnell Human Rights Watch, https://rb.gy/sgx692

Lawfulness of Rwanda Policy Goes to Court Of Appeal

The legal challenge over the lawfulness of the Government's policy of relocating asylum seekers to Rwanda will go to the Court of Appeal after the High Court on Monday 16th January, granted permission to appeal against December's judgment in AAA (Syria) and Others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 3230 (Admin).

Alasdair Mackenzie of Doughty Street Chambers said on Twitter that permission to appeal was granted to most of the claimants on various grounds. They relate to the safety of the Rwandan asylum system, the fairness of the UK process for deciding upon relocation, and the compatibility of the policy with the part of the Refugee Convention on immunity from penalties.

Read more: EIN, https://rb.gy/kfwx9n

Unreliable Age Tests on Asylum Seekers May Leave Children ‘Frightened and Unsafe’

X-rays and other biological tests could be carried out on children seeking asylum, potentially causing physical and psychological harm, and placing them at risk of radiation. A recently published government paper drew attention to these risks, whilst pointing out that there is “no infallible” method of measuring age. The report also confirms that there is ‘no method…that can predict age with precision.’

The report published by the Interim Age Estimation Science Advisory Committee reveals that biological assessments would potentially expose children to harmful “ionising radiation” and could “increase distress” that is already caused through the social worker “Merton compliant” process of age assessment.

The potentially dangerous biological tests were announced as part of a plan, announced last year by Priti Patel, to stop men from ‘masquerading as children’. The reliability of the proposed tests has however been called into question by rights groups and experts.

According to the Refugee Council, in 2021 they assisted 233 young asylum seekers were deemed to be adults by the home office. Of those, 219 were found to be children upon further assessment by local authority social workers.

Read more: Sophie Cordiner, Justice Gap, https://rb.gy/nteaai

Trade Union Congress (TUC) Launch Anti Racist Network

The inaugural meeting of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) anti racist network took place in London last November. It was attended by about 50 people, The overwhelming majority of them were migrant and migrant advocate organisations’ members. The discussion stressed the importance that all workers, whatever their immigration status is, get organised to stop exploitation, and showed a general wish to see a permanent network created and coordinated by the TUC.
The Government’s anti migrant and racist legislation was condemned and it was evident that the TUC and individual Unions accepted that they must do much more, both in challenging racism and organising precarious workers. A number of participants including Status Now and some of our supporters emphasised the requirement to get nationality status and regularisation campaigns into the heart of union work.

The creation of this network signs an important advancement in the TUC’s increasing commitment to fight against the hostile environment and any form of racism.

Read more: Status Now 4 All, https://rb.gy/p9ebxk

Process For Identifying Vulnerable Adults at Risk In Immigration Detention Ineffective

David Neal, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI), said he concerned and disappointed by the Home Secretary's decision to terminate the ICIBI's commission to carry out an annual inspection report on the adults at risk in immigration detention policy. Suella Braverman's decision to terminate the commission coincided with the release of the ICIBI's third annual inspection report, published last Thursday.

The ICIBI's final annual inspection report takes a critical look at the efficiency and effectiveness of Rule 35 (R35) of the Detention Centre Rules 2001, which creates a mechanism for medical practitioners to identify vulnerable detainees in immigration removal centres (IRCs). In a press release accompanying the release of the report, David Neal stated bluntly: "On the basis of this inspection, the Rule 35 process needs to be called out for what it is – ineffective."

Read more: EIN, https://rb.gy/rcxv4k

Deaths of Migrants in IIlegal Detention Centre in Croatia - Violation of Article 2

In todays, Chamber judgment in the case of Daraibou v. Croatia (application no. 84523/17) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been: two violations of Article 2 (right to life/investigation) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned a fire that broke out in the basement room of Bajakovo police station, which at the time had acted as an illegal-migrant detention centre. Three migrants detained in the room had died in the fire and the applicant, also a detained migrant, had suffered severe injuries.

The Court found that the police station and its personnel had clearly been ill-prepared to deal with the outbreak of a fire, and that a number of questions have been left unanswered, despite a prompt start to the investigation. In particular, there had been shortcomings in the searching and monitoring of the detainees, who had apparently managed to keep a cigarette lighter and set fire to their bedding when left unguarded. Nor had the authorities looked into the applicant’s very serious allegations with regard to the adequacy of the premises and any fire precautions in place. Moreover, no attempt had been made to establish whether there had been broader institutional shortcomings which could have prevented a similar such tragedy happening again in the future.

?Source: ECtHR, https://rb.gy/u0cvol

A Practical Guide to Hope in 2023

War crimes, crimes against humanity, security forces shooting protesters, torture in police custody, authoritarian censorship, mass surveillance, state brutality against the most powerless. How can you summarize a year of human rights abuses and incalculable suffering around the globe and find anything other than despair, let alone hope to humanity that things can be better? This is the task Human Rights Watch faces every year, when we put together our annual World Report, and this year’s edition, published this morning, is no different. The World Report is the result of a seemingly infinite number of staff hours over four or five months – intensive research, internal discussions, careful preparations – all with a simple two-pronged focus: to explain what happened last year and to highlight what we should learn from it.

The World Report is the result of a seemingly infinite number of staff hours over four or five months – intensive research, internal discussions, careful preparations – all with a simple two-pronged focus: to explain what happened last year and to highlight what we should learn from it.

Human Right Watch, World Report 2023, https://rb.gy/ju420y

10 Conflicts to Watch in 2023

1. Ukraine
2. Armenia and Azerbaijan
3. Iran
4. Yemen
5. Ethiopia
6. Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes
7. The Sahel
8. Haiti
9. Pakistan
10. Taiwan

The most under-reported humanitarian crises in 2022 were all in Africa, according to aid organisation CARE’s annual “Breaking the Silence” report. The report highlights the crises which received the least media attention over the course of the year.

Humanitarian crises that didn't make headlines in 2022:
Angola – 3.8 million people do not have enough to eat
Malawi – 37 percent of children are malnourished
Central African Republic – 3.1 million people in need of humanitarian aid
Zambia – 50 percent of people live on 1.90 dollars a day
Chad – Second highest maternal mortality rate in the world
Burundi – 50 percent of children under five are malnourished
Zimbabwe – 7 million people need humanitarian aid
Mali – Eighth-highest child mortality rate in the world
Cameroon – 3.9 million people in need
Niger – 4.4 million people are acutely food insecure

Read mor: Relief Web, https://rb.gy/5ababc

Operation Warm Welcome Cools: 9,000 Afghans Still Not Settled

The fall of Kabul in August 2021 prompted an emergency evacuation of around 15,000 people eligible for repatriation or relocation in the UK. Within weeks, amid intense criticism of the UK government’s mishandling of the situation and leadership failures surrounding the Afghanistan evacuation, Operation Warm Welcome was launched, to ensure support for Afghan arrivals to rebuild their lives in the UK. More than a year after the fall of Kabul, over 9,000 Afghans remain in temporary bridging accommodation.

Bridging accommodation is a key function in the government’s Warm Welcome strategy. It refers to the use of temporary hotels and serviced accommodation procured by the Home Office to house those arriving in the UK. Nearly all Afghans arriving in the UK have been or continue to be placed in temporary bridging accommodation before more permanent accommodation has been found.

Read more: Fereemovement, https://rb.gy/8t3ifp