Overstaying
and Applying For Further Leave To Remain
When it comes to overstaying,
prevention is better than cure. Overstaying in
the UK is a criminal offence, and without leave
in the UK, you do not have the right to study or
work and you are at risk of removal. You are
also exposed to the UK’s ‘hostile environment’
for overstayers, which means restrictions on the
ability to rent accommodation, open a bank
account, drive and access medical
treatment.
It is always preferable to take action in
advance of your visa expiring if you wish to
remain in the UK. However, you can also become
an overstayer in other ways, such as failing to
act quickly after an in-country application is
refused, or if your in-country application is
rejected as invalid.
In this blog post, we take a look at the
situations in which overstayers may be able to
apply for further leave to remain in the UK.
Read more: Olivia Waddell, Richmond Chambers, https://is.gd/gawseE
Alarm About Worsening Conditions For Newly
Displaced In Eastern DRC
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is
concerned by the worsening situation in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo’s eastern Beni
Territory where violence has forced more than a
hundred thousand civilians from their homes over
the past two months.
Attacks by armed groups since December last year
on a number of towns and villages that comprise
the Watalinga Chiefdom, near the border with
Uganda, have displaced women, men and children
to the town of Nobili and surrounding areas.
Many were displaced previously and had only just
returned to their villages in November last
year, after fleeing violence in April. They
remain in dire need of assistance.
Tensions in the region have been rising since
the launch of a government-led military
operation in December against the Allied
Democratic Forces (ADF).
Civilians, including those displaced in November
and December, are among those targeted by armed
groups, including the ADF. An estimated 252
civilians are reported to have been killed in
Beni Territory since December last year,
according to local authorities.
Many people told UNHCR staff that they now live
in fear, after witnessing killings, sexual
violence and abductions at home and during
flight.
The majority of those forced to flee in the
latest wave of violence are now being sheltered
by local host communities in Nobili town who
have welcomed displaced families without
hesitation but lack resources to even meet their
own needs.
Read more: Relief Web, https://is.gd/nKApGr
The ‘Crisis’ of Legal Advice in Immigration
Detention
New research published Friday 7th
February 2020, based on the testimony of
90 individuals held in detention centres in the
UK gives rise to serious concerns about the
quality of legal advice available. The results
lay bare the sorry state of legal advice in
immigration detention. The stakes could not be
higher – without access to quality immigration
legal advice people are at the mercy of the Home
Office and face long-term detention and removal
from the UK. For many of our clients this means
permanent separation from family in the UK, or
being taken to a country that they have not seen
in many years and may fear returning to.
The survey, collected Bail for Immigration
Detainees, is the only data collected on the
availability of legal advice and representation
in immigration detention. Some 59% of people
currently have an immigration solicitor, 68% of
whom are represented on a legal aid basis. These
figures are lower than those prior to the 2013
legal aid cuts, which removed non-asylum
immigration work from the scope of legal aid.
Interviewees were particularly critical of the
legal advice surgeries in detention centres.
Changes to the contractual arrangements
governing the provision of legal advice in
immigration detention brought about in September
2018 drastically increased the number of firms
delivering advice surgeries (from a total of
nine firms to 77) and this has caused a
significant reduction in quality.
Rudy Schulkind, Bail for Immigration Detainees,
https://is.gd/t3SySr
Violence, Drought, Flooding, Locust Invasion
Devastates Horn Of Africa
People in the Horn of Africa are increasingly
caught between extremes. In 2019 the region
see-sawed between crippling drought and
devastating floods, eroding already-fragile
livelihoods and forcing people to abandon their
homes. Many of them were already displaced from
their homes by violence. Today, these
communities face yet another threat: locusts.
Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya are facing their
worst locust outbreak in decades. Millions of
locusts are moving from community to community,
devouring hundreds of kilometres of vegetation.
For farmers who already lost their crops to
droughts and floods, the pests are a
particularly devastating blow. Somalia declared
a national emergency for fear the swarms will
deepen already dire levels of food insecurity
and malnutrition in the country. "The locusts
are coming on the heels of a year marked by
conditions that were either too hot and dry or
too wet," said Juerg Eglin, Head of ICRC
Delegation for Somalia. "People already on the
run from violence saw their animals wither and
die in drought, their crops washed away by
floodwaters, and now what remains be eaten by
locusts. There is only so much families can
withstand."
Read more: Relief Web, https://is.gd/qy1EXC
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Urgent Need
to Rekindle Hope For Millions Of Afghan
Refugees
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is
calling on the world not to let hope fade for
millions of displaced Afghans, impacted by more
than four decades of unrest in Afghanistan and
their host communities in the region.
The Government of Pakistan and UNHCR are jointly
convening a ministerial meeting in Islamabad
next week to send a global reminder about the
fate of millions of Afghans living as refugees,
many of whom feel the rest of the world may have
already abandoned them. This is an impression
that we must prove wrong.
For more than 40 years, Afghans have continued
to flee violence, war, conflict and natural
disasters. Neighbouring countries – like
Pakistan and Iran — continue to show remarkable
generosity by providing refuge to millions of
Afghan women, children and men, all with little
recognition and decreasing international
support.
Afghanistan, today, has a population of 35
million people. Nearly 25 per cent are former
refugees who have returned home in the last 18
years, while more than a million people are
displaced internally.
Some 4.6 million Afghans – including 2.7 million
registered refugees still live outside of the
country. Around 90 per cent of them are being
hosted by Pakistan (1.4 million) and Iran (1
million).
In an upsetting trend, Afghans are the largest
group of asylum-seekers currently arriving in
Europe.
Read more: Relief Web, https://is.gd/XsXGTy
Over 55,000 Grave Crimes Committed Against
Children in African Conflict Zones in Five
Years
There have been more than 55,882 grave
violations against children in conflict affected
areas in Africa between 2014 and 2018 according
to new analysis by Save the Children [1]. This
includes children being killed, maimed or
sexually assaulted - despite commitments by
African leaders to end all wars on the continent
by 2020.
The last five UN Children and Armed Conflict
Annual Reports reveal there has been limited
progress made towards protecting children in
Africa, since the African Union's flagship
campaign to "Silence the Guns" was launched in
2013. The agency is concerned that while some
steps have been taken by African leaders to curb
violent attacks on children, progress has been
too slow.
Revealed ahead of the African Union's (AU) 33rd
Assembly in Addis Ababa on 9-10 February, the
figures show there has been an increase in
incidents of four out of the six UN-mandated
grave violations against children in Africa in
times of war since 2014.
The greatest increase has been in the
recruitment and use of children as soldiers,
which has more than doubled in Africa in five
years.
Read more: Save the Children, https://is.gd/A1x6Hn
Darkest
Decade For Indian Democracy
On 26 January, India marked the 71st anniversary
of its constitution. This year, however, the
customary Republic Day celebrations were
overshadowed by uncustomary protests. Convinced
that the ruling party is destroying the values
the constitution represents, tens of thousands
of Indians took to the streets to demand change.
Just weeks earlier, the government passed a
citizenship law that reeks of religious
discrimination against Muslims and is seen by
many as unconstitutional. The bill lit the spark
of the protests. Many of those who have watched
the anti-democratic turn in India silently for
some years found their voice on the eve of the
Republic Day. They tore up the veil of fear and
demonstrated in over a 100 towns and cities.
Human chains running into miles were formed and
sit-ins were widespread. Protesters recited the
preamble of the constitution and a copy was sent
to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the advice
to read it when he “finds time from dividing the
nation”.
There are widespread fears that the government
is planning to follow the recently passed
Citizenship Amendment Act by implementing a
nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The scheme, which would require individuals to
provide proof of their citizenship, could turn
minority citizens into foreigners by demanding
documents that a very large number of Indians
will never be able to produce. Millions do not
know the year they were born, let alone that of
their parents. The NRC would give extraordinary
powers to petty government officials and would
disproportionately affect the poor, minorities,
internal migrants, and the Dalits.
Read more: Open Democracy, https://is.gd/zIwl2p
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