Asylum Seekers Locked Out of Homes by Serco
Vulnerable asylum seekers are being locked out of their homes and left destitute without warning. Campaigners claim that Orchard & Shipman, the housing provider which works on behalf of Serco and the Home Office, is routinely performing lock changes on the homes of people who have been refused asylum. In documents seen by the Evening Times, Serco protocol says a legal process to secure an eviction order should be followed. However, campaigners say they are concerned that this is not being followed, and are calling for action to stop the lock changes.
Read more: Glasgow Evening Times <> 09/09/14

Asylum Research Consultancy (ARC) COI Update Volume 85
This document provides an update of Country Guidance case law and UKBA publications and developments in refugee producing countries between 25th August and 9th September 2014 - Volume 85  <> here . . .

MM & Ors, R (On the Application Of) v SSHD

(Rev 1) [2014] EWCA Civ 985 (11 July 2014)

I. The issues on appeal
These appeals concern two British citizens, Mr Abdul Majid and Ms Shabana Javed, who (obviously) have the "right of abode" in the United Kingdom and Mr MM, who has refugee status and as such has the right to remain in the UK. All three are married to spouses who do not have the "right of abode", who are not citizens of an European Economic Area state ("EEA") and who currently live outside the UK and wish to come and live with their spouses here. For convenience only I will give those that have the right to live in the UK the label "UK partners" and the spouses who wish to join their UK partners the rather inelegant label "non-EEA partners". On 9 July 2012 changes were made to the Immigration Rules which, in summary, created a requirement that a UK partner who wishes to sponsor the entry of a non-EEA partner must have a "Minimum Income Requirement" of £18,600 gross per annum and additional income in respect of each child who wishes to enter the UK. Various other new income and savings requirements were also introduced. The key question on this appeal is whether these provisions are unlawful as being a disproportionate interference with the UK partners' European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) Article 8 rights.

In effect Blake J held that they were. There are some subsidiary questions on appeal, the chief one of which is whether the provisions, which the Secretary of State for the Home Department ("SSHD") accepts are indirectly discriminatory within Article 14 of the ECHR, can be justified.

Disposal
173. I would allow the Secretary of State's appeals in all three cases and set aside paragraph 1 of Blake J's order in each case. I would refuse Mr Majid's application for permission to cross-appeal. This would mean that there will be costs consequences for the hearing before us and below, on which counsel will have to make written submissions.

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2014/985.html

Call for Inquiry into Death at Morton Hall IRC
The family of a 26-year-old man who died at an immigration detention centre have called for an urgent independent inquiry saying they have concerns about the circumstances surrounding his death. Rubel Ahmed, from Bangladesh, died on Friday night at Morton Hall in Lincolnshire. Fellow detainees say he had been complaining of chest pains for more than an hour but had not received the help he needed. The family say the Home Office subsequently told them he had killed himself.

Ahmed's cousin Ajmal Ali, who lives in Britain, said the family, many of whom live in Bangladesh, were "shocked and devastated" by his death. "Rubel was an incredibly shy, quiet and reserved person, he always helped everyone. He was a very good hearted young man and it was a pleasure and an honour to know him. Most of his family live in Bangladesh and it is an absolutely devastating loss for all of them."

He said the family had only heard about the death after a fellow detainee at Morton Hall contacted Ahmed's solicitor several hours later on Saturday morning. "When we found out what had happened we were frantically phoning round. The detention centre said they couldn't tell us anything and told us to call the Home Office press office but that was closed so we had to leave a message. Everyone was so unhelpful. The Home Office have told us that he committed suicide but we don't believe he would have taken his own life. He was looking forward to seeing family members in a few days' time."
Read more: Diane Taylor , Guardian, <> 07/09/14

Mohamed Ahmed Removal Stayed - Orashia Edwards Back in Leeds
Leeds No-Borders Campaigns up date - Great news, Ahmed's flight was cancelled at the last minute on Wednesday evening and Orashia was granted bail yesterday and is back in Leeds, where he belongs, with family and community.

Over the last year people involved in Leeds No Borders have organised monthly socials, film nights, information stalls, fundraisers, anti-racist reading group, campaigns around new immigration bill, letter writing to people in detention & prison, talks, theatre workshops & visits, protests, a football game, signing & detention support v ia phone, distributed anti-raids bust cards, collected donations from students & Leeds festival & visited migrants stuck at the border in Calais.

Leeds No-Borders send their heartfelt thanks to all those who have supported.
http://leedsnoborders.wordpress.com/

Conditions of Admission of Third-Country Nationals for Studies

Member States are obliged to admit to their territory third-country nationals who wish to stay for more than three months for study purposes, where they meet the conditions for admission exhaustively listed by EU law

They are therefore prohibited from introducing additional conditions for admission

Judgment Of The Court (Third Chamber) 10 September 2014 (*)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Area of freedom, security and justice - Directive 2004/114/EC - Articles 6, 7 and 12 - Conditions of admission of third-country nationals for the purposes of studies - Refusal to admit a person who meets the conditions laid down in Directive 2004/114 - Discretion enjoyed by the competent authorities)

On those grounds, the Court (Third Chamber) hereby rules:

Article 12 of Council Directive 2004/114/EC of 13 December 2004 on the conditions of admission of third-country nationals for the purposes of studies, pupil exchange, unremunerated training or voluntary service must be interpreted as meaning that the Member State concerned is obliged to admit to its territory a third-country national who wishes to stay for more than three months in that territory for study purposes, where that national meets the conditions for admission exhaustively listed in Articles 6 and 7 of that directive and provided that that Member State does not invoke against that person one of the grounds expressly listed by the directive as justification for refusing a residence permit.

http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/EUECJ/2014/C49113.html

400,000 Deportation Cases Pending In US Immigration Courts
The Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Justice Department agency that operates immigration courts, said Friday its records show a caseload of 391,243 pending cases as of 31 July. An agency spokeswoman said the methodology TRAC uses to analyze court data may be different than the methods used by the government.

Since 1 October the Homeland Security Department has reported that more than 66,000 unaccompanied child immigrants, mostly from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, have been caught crossing the Mexican border illegally. More than 66,000 additional immigrants traveling as families, mostly mothers and young children from Central America, have also been caught.
Read more: Guardian,<>05/09/14

Gambia Passes Bill Imposing Life Sentences For Homosexual Acts
The bill amending the criminal code was passed last month and brings life sentences for "aggravated homosexuality", minority leader Samba Jallow said. The charge is levelled at repeat offenders and people living with HIV/Aids. Jallow said that, while his National Reconciliation Party did not condone homosexuality, he voted against the bill along with one other lawmaker. "In our view, [homosexuals] did not commit a crime worthy of life imprisonment or any treasonable offense," he said.

Homosexual acts were already punishable by up to 14 years in prison under a Gambian law that was amended in 2005 to apply to women in addition to men. The bill now awaits approval by president Yahya Jammeh, an autocratic ruler who in 2008 instructed gay men and lesbians to leave the country or risk having their heads cut off.
Read more: Guardian, <> 09/09/14

War Crimes & Crimes Against Humanity In Sri Lanka
That this House expresses its serious concern at the recent decision by the President of Sri Lanka to deny visas to the UN team investigating allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka; condemns strongly the government of Sri Lanka's refusal to co-operate with the UN investigation or to heed the concerns of the international community on accountability and reconciliation; calls into question the timing and credibility of the President of Sri Lanka's decision to expand the mandate of the domestic Commission of Inquiry on Disappearances and to appoint a council of international legal experts to advise the Commission on war crimes allegations; notes the poor history of Sri Lanka's domestic commissions of inquiry to adequately investigate cases of human rights violations; further notes that the actions of the government of Sri Lanka continue to undermine the accountability and reconciliation processes in the country; urges the Government to reaffirm its strong support for the UN-mandated investigation and to condemn the President's denial of visas to the UN team; and calls on Commonwealth member countries, including the UK, to move to suspend the President of Sri Lanka from his position as Chairperson-in-Office of the Commonwealth, given his government is in clear breach of the values and precepts of the association.

Sponsors: McDonagh, Siobhain / Corbyn, Jeremy / Vaz, Valerie / Dobbin, Jim / Shannon, Jim / Durkan, Mark - House of Commons: <> 03.09.2014

Put your MP to work demand they sign EDM 314
Early Day Motions are very good ways of raising issues in parliament, which may not get debated in normal sittings of parliament.
You can contact your MP for free, through: WriteToThem.Com
http://www.writetothem.com/

UKHO: CIG - Libya: Prison conditions

This document provides guidance to Home Office decision makers on handling claims made by nationals/residents of Libya as well as country of origin information (COI) about Libya. This includes whether claims are likely to justify the granting of asylum, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave and whether - in the event of a claim being refused - it is likely to be certifiable as 'clearly unfounded' under s94 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.

Decision makers must consider claims on an individual basis, taking into account the case specific facts and all relevant evidence, including: the guidance contained with this document; the available COI; any applicable caselaw; and the Home Office casework guidance in relation to relevant policies.

http://www.refworld.org/docid/540d5bc54.html