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  News & Views Monday 20th August to Sunday 26th August 2018  

Immigration Statistics Year Ending June 2018

159 Attempted Suicides in Immigration Detention Q2 2018, Up 22% on Q1

75 Individuals Went on Hunger Strike

26,215 Individuals Entered the Detention Estate


Number of Asylum Applications in the UK From Main Applicants 27,044

Grants of Asylum, Alternative Forms of Protection/Resettlement, Down 12%

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Detention & Deportation

In the year ending June 2018, 26,215 individuals entered the detention estate (down 6% compared with the previous year) and 27,481 left the detention estate (down 1%). Of those leaving detention, 45% were returned from the UK, compared with 48% in the year ending June 2017.

At the end of June 2018, there were 1,905 persons held in the detention estate (excluding HM Prisons), a fall of 36% compared with the same date 12 months earlier. Additionally, 321 individuals were held in immigration detention in HM Prisons.

Just under two thirds (64%) of immigration detainees were held for less than 29 days, a stable proportion over recent years. In the year ending June 2018, 9% had been held for 4 months or more by the time they left detention.

The total number of enforced returns from the UK, decreased by 13% to 10,892 in the year ending June 2018 compared with 12,509 in the previous year. 25% of the total were enforced returns of people who had previously sought asylum (2,734 compared to 22% in the year ending June 2017 (2,748)

Provisional data show that 5,724 Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) were returned in the year ending June 2018, down 8% compared to 6,238 in the previous year; of these:

  • just over two thirds (68%) were EU nationals (3,905)
  • just under one third (32%) were non-EU nationals (1,819)

Nationality

Left Detention

Deported

Bailed

Other reason

Pakistani

2,462

26%

45%

28%

Albanian

2,449

71%

14%

15%

Indian

2,073

28%

44%

29%

Romanian

1,697

92%

3%

5%

Bangladeshi

1,334

22%

52%

26%

Other nationalities

17,466

43%

39%

18%

Total

27,481

45%

36%

19%

 

Individuals Who Attempted Suicide in Immigration Detention Q2 2018, Up 22% on Q1

Apr-18

May-18

Jun-18

Brook House

2

7

9

Campsfield House

2

0

0

Colnbrook

18

4

12

Dungavel

0

1

0

Harmondsworth

18

21

25

Morton Hall

14

14

10

Tinsley House

1

0

0

Yarl's Wood

0

0

1

Larne

0

0

0

Subtotal

55

47

57

2nd Quarter

159


Charter Flights (Escorts and Removals) Q2 April/May/June 2018 inclusive

400 persons were removed in Q2

Number of males 387

Number of females 13

Number of escorts 846

Number of flights in total 10

No Children were removed

Number flights to each country / number removed to each country

Albania                                                 5 Flights           270 Returnees

Switzerland/Austria/Bulgaria                1 Flight             20 Returnees

Ghana/Nigeria                                      1 Flight             35 Returnees

Pakistan                                               3 Flights           75 Returnees

All Data HO Response to a Freedom of Information Request

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Asylum
The number of asylum applications in the UK from main applicants was 27,044 in the year ending June 2018 (down 1%). This represents a return to levels seen before the European migration crisis in 2015. Over the same period, there have been wider falls in asylum applications to other EU countries (down 32%).

In the year ending June 2018, the UK issued 14,308 grants of asylum, alternative forms of protection and resettlement, down 12% compared with 16,215 in the previous year. This comprised:

  • 6,568 grants of asylum to main applicants and dependants (1,618 lower than previous year, or down 20%)

  • 2,038 grants of alternative forms of protection to main applicants and their dependants (870 higher than the previous year, or up 74%)

  • 5,702 people provided with protection under various resettlement schemes (1,159 lower than the previous year, or down 17%)

The large increase in applicants granted alternative forms of protection was primarily driven by a large increase in Libyan nationals granted humanitarian protection in the last year (682, up from 36).

Of the 14,308 people granted asylum, protection and resettlement, 6,068 (42%) were children (under 18 years old), an increase of 2% from the previous year.

Additionally, 5,963 Family reunion visas were issued to partners and children of those granted asylum or humanitarian protection in the UK, a 9% increase since last year. Of these, 2,890 (48%) were issued to children.

There were 715 grants of asylum or alternative forms of protection to Syrian nationals (including dependants) at initial decision in the year ending June 2018 (down 35%).

A total of 5,702 people were resettled in the UK in the year ending June 2018 under various schemes. This included 4,316 people who were provided protection under the Vulnerable Person Resettlement Scheme (VPRS), bringing the total number of people provided protection to 12,851 since the scheme began in 2014.

Nationalities largest numbers of asylum applications in the year ending June 2018

Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, Albania, Eritrea, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, India, Vietnam

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‘Immigration statistics, year ending June 2018’ release provides the latest figures on persons who are subject to United Kingdom immigration controls. All data in this release relate to the year ending June 2018 (01 July 2017 to 30 June 2018) and all comparisons are with the year ending June 2017 (01 July 2016 to 30 June 2017), unless stated otherwise. Due to EU freedom of movement principles, the majority of UK immigration controls relate to non-EEA nationals. Unless otherwise stated, data in this release relate to non-EEA nationals. The Immigration Statistics release provides information on the Home Office’s operation of immigration control and related processes, including the work of UK Border Force, UK Visas and Immigration, and Immigration Enforcement.
There were 139.2 million passenger arrivals in the year ending June 2018, including returning UK residents, an increase of 4.7 million compared to the previous year and a record number. This increase was divided between:

  • 1.2 million more arrivals by British, other EEA and Swiss nationals (up 1% to 117.9 million)
  • 3.5 million more by non-EEA nationals (up 19% to 21.3 million)

There were notable increases in Visitor visas granted to:

  • Indian nationals, up 40,337 (+10%) to 454,658
  • Pakistani nationals, up 14,762 (+31%) to 62,987
  • South African nationals, up 10,835 (+13%) to 93,096
  • Nigerian nationals, up 10,709 (+20%) to 63,825
Chinese (529,327, down 1%) and Indian nationals alone accounted for just under half (46%) of all Visit visas granted.

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Number of Individuals Who Went on Hunger Strike Q2 2018

 

 

 

 

April

May

June

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

    Brook House

 

 

11

7

9

27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Campsfield House

 

 

0

0

0

0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colnbrook

 

 

 

5

6

3

14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dungavel

 

 

 

0

0

0

0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harmondsworth

 

 

6

9

6

21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morton Hall

 

 

 

1

0

2

3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tinsley House

 

 

8

0

1

9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yarl's Wood

 

 

 

0

0

1

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

31

22

22

75


 Individuals on Formal Self-Harm at Risk in Immigration Detention 2018

Apr-18

May-18

Jun-18

Brook House

27

23

24

Campsfield House

2

3

3

Colnbrook

37

43

41

Dungavel

4

6

2

Harmondsworth

70

82

76

Morton Hall

27

25

40

Tinsley House

7

6

1

Yarl's Wood

1

4

3

Larne

0

0

0

Subtotal

195

173

187

2nd Quarter

555



Sadiq Khan: Protect Victims of Serious Crime Whose Immigration Status is Insecure

London’s independent Victims’ Commissioner has found that victims of crimes such as domestic and sexual abuse fail to report them out of fear of the immigration authorities. The Victims’ Commissioner has been working closely with victims who are too frightened to report crimes and who are forced to remain in abusive relationships because of their immigration status. In one case (of many), the husband reportedly controlled all of the household’s finances, kept one of twin babies at home when the wife was allowed out to ensure she would not flee and regularly abused her. The husband told the wife that if she phoned the police she would be arrested and deported because she was an illegal immigrant and could only stay in the UK as long as she was married to him. He also said the court would award the custody of the children to him because she had no money and could not speak English.


When she eventually summoned up the courage to contact the police, they confirmed her fears by telling her she had no rights. She thereafter became the offender in an immigration case and not the victim in a domestic abuse case. In light of incidents such as this, the Metropolitan Police Service has agreed to work with the Victims’ Commissioner to improve how cases are handled, for example by introducing a set of guidelines and principles on how to respond to victims with insecure immigration status for all immigration officials.


Further, Sadiq Khan and London’s independent Victims’ Commissioner made a joint call this month on the Home Secretary to act urgently to protect victims of crime with insecure immigration status. They have called for:

  • The reinstatement of legal aid for immigration cases to ensure those with insecure status can access independent advice and support; 
  • Victims of violence to be entitled to financial support and safe accommodation in order to leave an abusive relationship, irrespective of their immigrations status; and 
  • Operational guidelines on how to respond to victims with insecure immigration status, including prioritising safety and support over immigration offences.

Posted by: Gherson Immigration, https://is.gd/oA4Vui


Shaw Report on Immigration Detention: A Review  

Among his colleagues, Stephen Shaw tells us, he would refer to his follow-up review as “marking the Home Office’s homework”. In this report, dubbed Shaw 2.0, the senior civil servant looks at the extent to which the Home Office has responded to his earlier report, published in January 2016 (which we’ll call Shaw 1.0), in which he had heavily and comprehensively criticised the Home Office for its treatment of vulnerable people in detention.

Here, Patrick Page, senior caseworker in the Duncan Lewis’ Harrow Public Law Team, and editor of No Walls, takes a look at some of the salient aspects of Shaw 2.0, rounding off with an assessment of the statement made by Home Secretary Sajid Javid which accompanied the report’s release.

Rather than focus on statistics, which is of equal importance but has been done elsewhere, the focus of this article is on language use and the clear failure of the Home Office to address the criticisms made in Shaw 1.0.

Read more: Duncan Lewis,  21/08/2018, https://is.gd/FjgH1F




Hungary: Asylum Seekers Denied Food

(Budapest) – Hungarian authorities have stopped food distribution since early August 2018 to some rejected asylum seekers held in transit zones on the Hungarian-Serbian border, Human Rights Watch said today. They should immediately ensure that all asylum seekers in custody are provided sufficient and appropriate food in line with the government’s legal obligations. “The government has stooped to a new inhumane low by refusing food to people in their custody, apparently revelling in breaching human rights law, including its obligations as a European Union member," said Lydia Gall, Eastern EU and Balkans researcher at Human Rights Watch. “This disregard for people’s wellbeing smacks of a cynical move to force people to give up their asylum claims and leave Hungary.”

The July amendments to the asylum law were part of a broader “Stop Soros package,” which also makes it a criminal offense to provide services, advice, or support to migrants and asylum seekers, punishable by up to a one year in jail. Since 2015, the Viktor Orban government has engaged in a virulent campaign against migrants and asylum seekers, including efforts to demonize organizations that provide legal and humanitarian assistance to these groups. One of the main targets is George Soros, the Hungarian-born philanthropist billionaire, known for funding nongovernmental and development organizations around the world, including in Hungary.

Read more: Human Rights Watch, https://is.gd/5DmhDz



Asylum Seekers' 20-Year Wait For Home Office Ruling

The Home Office has left some people waiting more than 20 years for decisions on their asylum claims, according to data obtained exclusively by the Guardian, in delays charities say are unacceptable and “utterly barbaric”. Seventeen people received decisions from the Home Office last year on claims they had submitted more than 15 years ago, four of whom had waited more than 20 years for a decision. The worst case was a delay of 26 years and one month after the person initially applied for asylum.

The data, obtained under freedom of information rules, refers to the time the Home Office takes to make an initial decision on an asylum claim. It does not include any extra time taken for an appeal or fresh claim.

Asylum seekers are not allowed to work while they wait for a decision on their claim. They are provided with an allowance of £37.75 a week. There are reports of people forgoing meals in order to afford phone bills so they can communicate with their families in their home countries, being forced to travel everywhere on foot, including to meetings with solicitors and to charities, or going without winter clothing.

Of the decisions the Home Office made in 2017, 18,189 or 75% were taken within six months of application, 2,832 took between six months and a year, 3,059 between one and three years, and 243 between three and five years. Of the 40 people who waited more than five years to receive an answer, seven were granted asylum or another protection visa, 22 were refused and 11 either withdrew their application, left the country, or died while waiting for a decision. They came from a range of countries, including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Somalia and Yemen.

Read more: Kate Lyons, Guardian, https://bit.ly/2PgNGdA



A Very Bad Year for Aid Workers

Sunday the 19th of August was World Humanitarian Day, which annually recognises aid workers and supports calls for their protection. The stats are awful. Last year, 139 aid workers were killed, 102 were wounded, and 72 were kidnapped. Deaths were 30 percent higher than in 2016. Consulting group Humanitarian Outcomes tracked incidents affecting 313 aid workers in 22 countries in its Aid Worker Security Database.

The most dangerous countries were South Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, and Central African Republic.

The annual figures also saw a “steep rise” in incidents involving local NGO staff. This reflects, HO reported, international reliance on local staff and organisations to “take on the riskiest of operational roles in the most insecure areas”.

Security watchdog INSO said Central African Republic was particularly bad in 2018 due to “criminality, impunity and a lack of regard for humanitarian actors”. This year, the Aid Worker Security Database has already recorded 76 deaths. However, figures are imperfect and definitions blurred: another monitor, Aid In Danger, reports that 111 aid workers were killed from January to June. The United Nations has set up an online visual “petition” on aid worker safety, which turns your selfie into a 3D image - the effect is... well, you decide.

Ethiopian PM Urged to Tackle Ethnic Violence

Some 2.8 million Ethiopians are now internally displaced, up from 1.6 million at the start of the year, according to UN figures. The dramatic rise is largely due to violence that broke out in September along the border between the Somali and Oromia regions. Last weekend, paramilitary forces were blamed for the deaths of 40 people in Oromia. The killings followed widespread looting in Jijiga, the capital of the Somali region. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has won international praise for his sweeping domestic reforms and fence-mending with neighbouring Eritrea since coming to power. But rights activist Oban Metho says it’s now imperative that he addresses the sectarian unrest. “His failure to speak out against such violence significantly hinders his efforts for reconciliation, inclusion, national unity and healing,” Metho told the Ethiopian Observer. Human Rights Watch also called for more to be done to quell the unrest, especially with regard to investigations and criminal justice.

Aid Ramifications after Taliban Siege of Afghan City

Humanitarian aid made its way into the besieged Afghan city of Ghazni this week after days of intense fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces. The aid included fuel, medicine, drinking water, and 250 coffins – evidence of the scale of the violence that reportedly killed at least 150 civilians and sent others scattering as far as Kabul, 175 kilometres northeast. The Afghan government declared it had retaken the city, yet the Taliban's ability to lay siege to Ghazni and surrounding districts has important humanitarian implications in a country where many districts are already off limits to aid groups. Fighting outside the city blocked the main highway from Kabul to Kandahar in Afghanistan's south, according to the World Food Programme, which raised fears the Taliban could cut off key supply lines. It's unclear how the siege will impact attempted peace talks with the Taliban, particularly after a short ceasefire in June spurred cautious optimism. The uncertainty comes as the country lurches forward to planned parliamentary elections in October, which analysts predict could be a catalyst for further instability.

Source: IRIN