Asylum: Young People [regional expert age assessment centres]
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will consider the proposal of the Immigration Law Practitioner's Association to establish regional expert age assessment centres made in its 2007 report When Is a Child Not a Child.
Damian Green: Currently, age assessments are carried out by local authorities using a Merton-compliant process. The UK Border Agency's focus is on establishing whether the techniques and processes used for carrying out age assessments can be improved. The agency intends to address these issues before it considers the arrangements for the location of age assessments. In light of this the agency has no current plans to adopt the proposal from the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association.
House of Comons / 24 May 2012 : Column 791W
Asylum Seekers: Children [Severe poverty]
Baroness Lister of Burtersett to ask Her Majesty's Government what action they propose, as part of their review of the level of asylum support, to tackle severe poverty experienced by children in asylum-seeking families.
The Children's Society and refugee organisations have reported alarming evidence of growing destitution among asylum-seeking children, young people and families, due in part to levels of financial assistance well below those of income support. Can the Minister explain how this state of affairs is compatible with the Government's obligations under Article 27 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, both of which uphold the right to an adequate standard of living?
Read more: House of Lords / 23 May 2012 : Column 786
EDM 139: Possibility of War
That this House recalls that 179 brave British soldiers died in pursuit of non-existent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; notes that 414 soldiers died in Afghanistan protecting the UK from a non-existent Taliban terrorist threat to Britain; and declares that no British lives should be risked to defend the UK from non-existent long-range Iranian weapons carrying non-existent Iranian nuclear weapons.
Sponsor: Flynn, Paul House of Commons, date tabled: 23/05/2012
EDM 118: Situation in Yemen
That this House is gravely concerned by the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Yemen which has the second highest malnutrition rate in the world; notes with sadness the tragic terrorist attack on 21 May 2012 which killed upwards of 90 people in the capital, Sana'a; further notes that the Friends of Yemen meeting, co-chaired by the UK will take place on 23 May 2012; calls on the Government to use the meeting to secure full funding for the 2012 UN humanitarian appeal for Yemen and to ensure that the new President, President Hadi, has all the security equipment and training assistance his forces require; and urges the Government to focus on the future of Yemen and take a business and diaspora delegation to the country to promote trade
Date tabled: 22/05/2012
Psychiatrists Identify 'Asylum Seeker Syndrome'
A group of Australian psychiatrists has identified a new mental illness syndrome unique to asylum seekers. It was identified after studying the mental health of asylum seekers and refugees living in Melbourne. Major depression was diagnosed in more than 60 per cent of asylum seekers and about 30 per cent of refugees.
Associate Professor Suresh Sundram, from the University of Melbourne, says asylum seekers who had their applications rejected repeatedly showed clinical symptoms not seen before. "It's people who are being subjected to protracted periods of refugee determination, so ones who are not getting quick responses," he said. "But maybe even more importantly, it's people who are being repeatedly rejected and have continued to press claims for protection. They seem to be especially vulnerable. We have talked about this syndrome before but it is becoming increasingly clear that it appears to be distinct from anything else that we have been seeing."
Psychiatrists say the latest evidence shows asylum seekers should be allowed to live in the community to improve their wellbeing.
Read more: By Linda Hunt, ABC, 22/05/12
Sudan [Genocide against the people of South Kordofan]
Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether a campaign of genocide is being conducted by the government of Sudan against the people of South Kordofan; and what is their latest estimate of fatalities, injuries, displaced people, and health and food issues arising out of the bombings there.[HL60]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): A lack of independent access makes it difficult to assess accurately the situation in Southern Kordofan, but it is clear that the ongoing conflict, and in particular the completely unacceptable use of aerial bombardments by the Sudanese armed forces, is disproportionately affecting civilians, and that these tactics may constitute war crimes. We are also concerned with the forecast of severe food shortages in the coming months. The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that over half a million people are now displaced or severely affected from both Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states. We continue to press all parties to commit to a ceasefire that will allow humanitarian agencies access as soon as possible, and to establish a political process to resolve the conflicts as demanded in Security Council Resolution 2046.
House of Lords / 21 May 2012 : Column WA34
Garden Court Chambers, Immigration Law Bulletin - Issue 276
Child asylum seekers 'still being imprisoned' by immigration service
A report by the Refugee Council to be published this week accuses the immigration service of continuing to detain child asylum seekers by wrongly classifying them as adults.
The report, Not a Minor Offence, has been welcomed by other groups working with refugees and asylum seekers who are growing increasingly concerned by the numbers of age dispute cases. Last year one child spent almost three months locked up before it was finally accepted that he was not an adult.
Read more: Tracy McVeigh, The Observer, Sunday 20 May 2012
Providing the right support for young asylum seekers
I joined a leaving care team in children's services in June 2009 and the majority of my caseload are refugees: young people whose childhood was disrupted by manmade emergencies to such an extent they were placed in harm's way and sought protection in the UK.
Some have been allowed to stay, some have not and some are still in a state of limbo. It is the background of these young people and their hope that enhanced my commitment to their rights, entitlements, and in general to rebuilding their life in the UK.
Read more: guardian.co.uk, 19/05/12
Sudan and South Sudan
Baroness Cox to ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the humanitarian crisis in the Republic of Sudan and South Sudan.
Baroness Northover: My Lords, we are deeply concerned at the serious humanitarian impact of conflicts between Sudan and South Sudan, and within both countries. We are closely engaged with the UN and other humanitarian agencies to ensure an effective response to the needs of affected people, and are pressing both Governments to enter into political processes to resolve conflicts.
Baroness Cox: I thank the Minister for her sympathetic reply. Is she aware that I recently returned from a visit to four camps on the Sudan/South Sudan border, where 250,000 refugees have fled from sustained aerial bombardment by Khartoum or been expelled by President al-Bashir's commitment to turn Sudan into a unified Arabic Islamic state? Conditions in those camps were dire then; they are now becoming catastrophic, with a rapidly rising death toll. Will Her Majesty's Government make strong, urgent representations to Khartoum to cease aerial bombardment of its own civilians, and across the border in South Sudan? It is in no way justified by President al-Bashir's allegation of military action by South Sudan, which bears no comparison with his massive, sustained slaughter of his own people?
Read more: House of Lords / 17 May 2012 : Column 525
Asylum Research Consultancy (ARC) COI update volume 34
This document provides an update of Country Guidance case law, UKBA publications and developments in refugee producing countries between
30/04/2012 and 11/05/2012. Download volume 34 here . . .
Bernard Mbouyeu Removal Stayed - But Remains in Detention
Last minute legal representation put legal spokes in Theresa Mays airplane wheels, which prevented her removing Bernard, yesterday evening.
Many thanks to all the people who emailed Theresa May and Kenya Airways. It was a fantastic response
Kath Grant / kath.northernstories@googlemail.com
Keep Bernard Safe in Sheffield with Sharon
Bernard Mboueyeu is a national of Cameroon and a resident of Sheffield where he lives with his family. He is currently in immigration detention and due to be forcibly removed from the UK on Kenya Airways flight KQ101 from Heathrow at 20:00 hrs on Monday 21st May.
Bernard fled Cameroon in 2007 after he was set upon by President Biya's security forces, for taking photographs of students being brutally attacked during protests in 2006 - he was working for a newspaper in southern Cameroon at the time. He was arrested, stripped naked, beaten up and detained for forty days. He was further persecuted by the authorities for supporting a political group opposed to the brutal ruling regime.
Bernard came to the UK in 2007 and married Sheffield woman, Sharon, a charity worker, in 2010. Sharon and Bernard have set up home in Wincobank. Whilst in Sheffield, Bernard has played a significant role in the local community as a volunteer with the Royal Society for the Blind, Aspire, Rainbow End charity shop. Bernard has also been involved with raising money for different charities.
Despite their marriage, the Home Office have demanded Bernard return to Cameroon to apply for a spouse's visa. If Bernard returns to Cameroon he could be detained, face torture, or locked up indefinitely and may never return to his wife Sharon in Sheffield.
Bernard has offered to return voluntarily to Cameroon if the Home Office guarantees his safety but the Home Office have refused to make that guarantee.
USA Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor/Human Rights Report: Cameroon
Human rights abuses included security force killings; security force torture, beatings, and other abuses, particularly of detainees and prisoners; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; and arbitrary arrest and detention of citizens advocating secession, local human rights monitors and activists, persons not carrying government-issued identity cards, and others. There were incidents of prolonged and sometimes incommunicado pretrial detention and of infringement on privacy rights. The government harassed and imprisoned journalists, restricted freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association, and impeded freedom of movement. Official corruption was pervasive at all levels. Societal violence and discrimination against women, female genital mutilation (FGM), trafficking in persons (primarily children), and discrimination against pygmies and gays and lesbians occurred. The government restricted worker rights and the activities of independent labor organizations. Child labor, hereditary servitude, and forced labor, including forced child labor, were problems.
Tawanda Hondora, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for Africa said: Cameroon has a horrendous record of gross human rights violations, including torture and killings, against dissidents and members of opposition. Political opposition is not tolerated in Cameroon. Any dissent is suppressed through either violence or abuse of the legal system to silence critics."
Family friends and Sheffield Campaign to Defend Asylum Seekers (CDAS) are campaigning to keep Bernard in the UK
What you can do to help
(please let the campaign know of any actions taken; Kath Grant kath.northernstories@googlemail.com)
1) Email/Fax/Phone, Sam Okwulehie, Group Area Manager Kenya Airways. Urge him not to carry out the forced removal of Bernard Mboueyeu. Due to be forcibly removed from the UK on Kenya Airways flight KQ101 from Heathrow at 20:00 hrs on Monday 21st May. Download model letter BernardMboueyeuKA.doc you can copy/amend/compose your own.
Put as much pressure on this airline as you can, to make them consider if it's worth the damage to their reputation to continue as one of UKBA's deportation airlines.
E-mail: contact@kenya-airways.com
Fax: 020 8745 5027 (Or from outside the UK + 44 20 8745 5027)
Phone: 020 8759 7366 (Or from outside the UK + 44 20 8759 7366)
2) Email/Faxing Theresa May, Home Secretary
Ask her to exercise her discretionary powers to stay the removal and release Bernard Mboueyeu from detention and to grant him protection in the UK. Download odel letter, BernardMboueyeuTM.doc or alternatively write your own one. Please remember to quote Bernard's Home Office Reference number D1142549 in any correspondence.
Rt. Hon Theresa May, MP
Secretary of State for the Home Office,
2 Marsham St
London SW1 4DF
Fax: 020 7035 4745
Emails:
mayt@parliament.uk
Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
pscorrespondence@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
"CIT - Treat Official" <CITTO@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk> |
Iran: Capital Punishment [against homosexual men]
Lord Roberts of Llandudno to ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Iran regarding the use of capital punishment against homosexual men.
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): My Lords, we have been extremely clear about the human rights situation in Iran and about Iran's excessive and cruel use of the death penalty. We deplore Iran's persecution of, and use of the death penalty against, homosexuals. This, like many other practices in Iran, is inconsistent not only with international obligations but with common humanity. The United Kingdom has been and will remain at the forefront of international efforts through the European Union and the United Nations to encourage an improvement in Iran's very poor human rights record.
Read more: House of Lords / 24 May 2012 : Column 862
Unmarried partner of a UK national who is married to someone else
Lord Laird to ask her Majesty's Government whether those applying for leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom on the basis of being the unmarried partner of a United Kingdom national are eligible to obtain such leave if the United Kingdom national is married to another person.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): A person can qualify for leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the unmarried partner of a UK national who is married to someone else, provided that the sponsor can show that the marriage has permanently broken down.
House of Lords / 23 May 2012 : Column WA72
EDM 117: Human Rights, Development and Arms Trade Treaty
That this House is deeply concerned about the death, damage to human rights, destruction and undermining of development that is facilitated by arms trafficking and ease of access to weapons; notes the approaching final negotiation and adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) at the United Nations Conference in July 2012, whichshould legally bind the regulation of arms exports and imports, provide international oversight and create the necessary enforcement mechanisms; regrets suggestions from some representatives of Russia, China and the US that the proposed Treaty is too prescriptive;demands that the Government sustains the commitmentto a robust ATT that will enforce strict criteria and provide for categorical prohibition of all types of specified weapons and associated components with no exemptions; recognises that the arms trade is estimated to account for 50 per cent of all global corrupt transactions; welcomes the proposition of an independent anti-corruption provision in the ATT; upholds the need for strong human rights protections in the Treaty to prevent weapons and ammunition used in internal security being supplied to a country where there is a risk they will contribute to human rights abuses, atrocities or repression; stresses the importance of an effective ATT for underpinning sustainable development; and urges that the Treaty must be enforceable on signatories, non-signatories and non-state actors.
Date tabled: 22./05/2012
Bernard Mbouyeu Removal Stayed - But Remains in Detention
Last minute legal representation put legal spokes in Theresa Mays airplane wheels, which prevented her removing Bernard, yesterday evening.
Many thanks to all the people who emailed Theresa May and Kenya Airways. It was a fantastic response
Kath Grant / kath.northernstories@googlemail.com
European Convention on Human Rights (Immigration)
Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove) (Con): If she will bring forward proposals to amend the immigration rules to prevent misuse of article 8 of the European convention on human rights.
The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mrs Theresa May): By this summer, we will have in place new immigration rules, which will help to end abuse of article 8. The Government are considering responses to the public consultation on changes to the family migration rules carried out last year, and expect to announce the results shortly. This will include changes relating to article 8.
Read more: House of Commons / 21 May 2012 : Column 830
Convention should not be a basis for demanding public inquiries
The Court of Appeal has confirmed that the Secretary of State acted lawfully in not ordering independent inquiry into a 2009 protest at Yarl's Wood IRC.
Read more: by Rosalind English, UK Human Rights Blog, 21/05/12
European Convention on Human Rights (Immigration)
Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove) (Con): If she will bring forward proposals to amend the immigration rules to prevent misuse of article 8 of the European convention on human rights.
The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mrs Theresa May): By this summer, we will have in place new immigration rules, which will help to end abuse of article 8. The Government are considering responses to the public consultation on changes to the family migration rules carried out last year, and expect to announce the results shortly. This will include changes relating to article 8.
Read more: House of Commons / 21 May 2012 : Column 830
We won't stop racist exploitation of undocumented, says court
The rejection of race discrimination claims brought by a young Nigerian woman who was brought in illegally by her employers, brutalised and denied wages, gives a green light to racism.
Mary Mounga was probably only 14 when her employer brought her from Nigeria to work in the UK as an au pair, promising to send her to school and to pay her £50 a month on top of her board and lodging. She was told to say that she was 20 and that she was coming to visit her grandmother. Once here, she was beaten, never paid any wages and not given the opportunity to go to school. Eventually she was thrown out of the house. The employment tribunal to which, helped by North Kensington Law Centre, she applied, found as a fact that her vulnerability, as a foreigner working illegally on a visitor's visa, allowed her employer to treat her worse than a British citizen would be treated, and upheld her claim of race discrimination, although it rejected her claims of unfair dismissal and breaches of contract because of her illegal status.
Read more: Frances Webber for IRR, May 17th 2012
Sectarian bullying still rife in Northern Ireland workplaces
Catholics and Protestants report intimidation from colleagues at work in trade union survey. Sectarian difficulties within private firms in Northern Ireland continue to pose major problems, according to a substantial new report from Belfast trade unions.
The report concludes that hundreds of Catholic and Protestant workers encounter verbal abuse, sectarian name-calling and whispering campaigns against them.
The report, by an anti-sectarianism unit within the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, suggests hundreds of workers refrain from registering complaints because of the fear of worsening their situations or losing their jobs.
The majority of those who make complaints are Catholics, but many Protestants also say they are picked on.
Read more: David McKittrick, Indpendent 19/05/12
Lydia Besong and Bernard Batey Win their Asylum Case
RAPAR: The Manchester-based Human Rights Organisation
Lydia and Bernard Must Stay Campaign
Tribunal recognises their political and cultural activities will place them at risk if they are returned to Cameroon
"This is a deeply important victory for everyone interested in ensuring the safety of our refugees" - Gary McIndoe, Lydia and Bernard's solicitor
Cameroon playwright Lydia Besong and her husband Bernard Batey heard today Wednesday 16th May, that they have won their asylum case. that they have won their asylum case.
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