MPs Back Illegal Migration Bill by 289 Votes to 230

The government’s flagship asylum bill passed its third reading in the Commons on Wednesday night and will now go to the Lords despite criticism from several leading Conservatives including Theresa May.

The illegal migration bill, which is supposed to change the law so that those who arrive in the UK by irregular means can be removed to a third country such as Rwanda, was passed by 289 votes to 230. The bill is expected to face greater opposition in the Lords where it could be amended or delayed.

May had warned that more people will be left in slavery in the UK by government reforms aimed at deterring migrants from crossing the Channel. The former prime minister, who held talks with the government over her concerns, described an amendment tabled by ministers as a “slap in the face” for those who care about the victims of modern slavery and human trafficking.

Temporary protection against removal from the UK is currently given to suspected victims of modern slavery or human trafficking while their case is considered. The bill removes this protection for those judged to have entered the UK illegally.

Read more: Rajeev Syal, Guardian, https://tinyurl.com/mr3nb58w

Germany Calling - Stop the Deportation of Sutha

Sutha is a Tamil man held in the deportation prison in Pforzheim in the south of Germany. He is scheduled to be deported to Sri Lanka on the Wednesday 3rd of May, accompanied by medical personnel and police officers. This is not the first time that they tried to deport him.

The first time his deportation was attempted, the airline had refused to take him because it was clear that he was in distress and was being deported against his will. The second time they had arranged a flight where the airline and the crew were more amenable. This time, after he had spent a month in the deportation prison, the stress had caused Sutha to be ill and the deportation had to be aborted because he was vomiting blood and clearly had heart pain. In fact, he had to stay in the emergency ward in hospital for one night. Despite the fact that the doctor in the deportation prison has said that his repeatedly occurring heart pain is caused by him ‘thinking too much’ they are attempting to deport him again – this time with the accompaniment of medical staff.

Now, after being in deportation prison again for over a month (for the second time since end of December 2022), with his psychological condition and the resulting physical pain in his chest much worse, they are preparing to deport him in a few days – on the 3rd May.

Sutha is deeply traumatised by the imminent deportation to Sri Lanka, and his long-term incarceration in the deportation prison has made him ill, psychologically, and physically. He clearly has a well-founded fear of persecution – which is the internationally accepted basis of political asylum.

We call people, in solidarity, groups, associations etc. or as an individual to support Sutha in his fight against this inhumane deportation! Please send us a video solidarity statement and/or a letter to the German authorities demanding that Sutha be released from detention and granted asylum in Germany.

Address your letters of protest to: abteilung8@rpk.bwl.de.

Please also send a copy to us at imrvbremen@gmail.com so that we can additionally fax all letters to the authorities, as mails are often not read in time. Further, please let us know if you agree that we publish your video or written statements on our website (www.humanrights.de).

Read more: International Human Rights Association Bremen (IMRV)

https://humanrights.de/5151

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has today announced that it will no longer be necessary for a decision that an asylum or human rights claim is clearly unfounded to be checked by a second caseworker. You can read his written statement to parliament here.

Where an individual is from a designated safe country a claim must be certified as ‘clearly unfounded’ under section 94 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, unless a caseworker finds that there is reason to be satisfied that it is a genuine claim. The Labour government in power in 2002 gave an undertaking that every case that fell into this category would be looked at by two caseworkers, and that there would be additional quality checks.

The current government “believes it is important to have procedures in place to ensure that those who make clearly unfounded human rights and asylum claims are quickly removed from the UK”. Now, only one caseworker is required to review these claims so that “those who have no bases to be in the UK can be swiftly removed”.

Read more: Freemovement, https://tinyurl.com/mrya2dhz

Home Office Breaks Promise to Find Homes for Afghan Refugees

he Home Office has quietly U-turned on its commitment to find homes for Afghan refugees in the UK. Victoria Atkins, the former minister for Afghan resettlement, made reassurances in November 2021 that “permanent accommodation is being sourced and will be provided for all Afghans evacuated to the UK”. But on Monday, the Home Office wrote to the majority of the 9,000 Afghans still being temporarily housed in hotels telling them not to expect offers of permanent accommodation. Afghans were told that the Home Office had ended a previous housing policy that promised them a maximum of two offers of “settled accommodation”.
Instead, the letter said, “it is likely that most people will not receive an allocation through the new process, and we encourage you to find your own accommodation wherever possible”. The latest guidance is in stark contrast to remarks made by then prime minister Boris Johnson in August 2021 when announcing “Operation Warm Welcome” for Afghans arriving in the UK.

Read more: Adam Bychawski, https://tinyurl.com/3eauwkes

EDM 1100: Seasonal Worker Visa Scheme

That this House notes the report by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism into the exploitation of agricultural seasonal workers; recognises the identified risks of exploitation for workers entering the UK on the agricultural seasonal worker visa, including debt, bullying, wage theft and substandard accommodation;

highlights the importance of recruitment to the scheme being safe and accountable and complying with the Employer Pays Principle as well as the International Labour Organization definition of recruitment fees and related costs;

calls on the Government to commit to urgently address the identified risks to seasonal workers before the scheme is extended or expanded and to introduce measures which allow better monitoring of compliance with employment law and labour standards on the scheme;

further calls on the Government to clarify departmental responsibility for the scheme and departmental accountability for access to and enforcement of rights under employment law for seasonal workers;

additionally calls on the Government to ensure that there is transparency about the scheme by publishing an annual report including recruitment supply chains, working conditions, hours and earnings in the UK and complaints and redress to inform planning and decision making;

and urges the relevant select committees to conduct an inquiry into the scheme to establish whether seasonal workers are able to exercise their rights and access UK employment law and compensation schemes where needed without risking their work, visa or income.

Tabled by Tony Lloyd MP, 25 April 2023
https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/60828

Migrants March Through Mexico in Demand for Justice

The caravan of about 3,000 people started walking at dawn on Sunday from the Mexican city of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border. On Sunday they slowly made their way through the rural state of Chiapas, walking in more than 35C (95F) heat. They are mainly from Central America, Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia.

Demanding better treatment for migrants, some are carrying signs reading "government crime" and "the state killed them", referring to those who died in the fire. It is unclear how many of the protesters may continue on to the US border, as has happened in the past. Large groups have often been broken up by authorities well before they reach either Mexico City or the US-Mexico border.

The migrants travel in large groups for safety - they face several threats along the way, particularly from dangerous organised crime gangs and corrupt local law officials. Migrant rights groups say that breaking up the caravans has forced many people into the hands of people-smuggling gangs.

Read more: Tiffany Wertheimer & Will Grant, BBC New, https://tinyurl.com/mpkmpnrw

Home Office Faces ‘Exodus’ of Asylum Caseworkers Who Fear Being Forced to Break Law

An official who decides claims told The Independent staff were already angry at the home secretary for accusing them of working too slowly when they are hampered by lost documents, rapidly changing policies and “inefficient” processes. The annual attrition rate for asylum decision-makers hit 46 per cent last year, forcing the government to introduce a “recruitment and retention allowance” to maintain staff while scrambling to recruit more.

Speaking to The Independent, the caseworker accused the Home Office of: *Setting ‘impossible’ targets for decision-making *Pushing caseworkers to refuse as many applications as possible *Worsening backlog with ‘ludicrous’ attempts to bar asylum seekers who passed through France *Throwing staff into traumatic interviews with rape and torture victims with inadequate training.David*, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said colleagues had raised concerns in meetings and on government message boards that plans to detain and deport asylum seekers without considering their claims would break international law.

“There’s going to be a big exodus if this bill gets passed,” he warned. “You cannot enforce a law if you're not willing to play by the law. You cannot strip human rights from people in a country in which we have the Human Rights Act and have signed the Refugee Convention. You can’t do this kind of **** and still pretend that you are legal. Being elected doesn’t give you the right to break the law.”

Read more: Lizzie Dearden, Independent, https://tinyurl.com/69r9nh4u

‘Adequate’ Accommodation for Asylum Seekers Questioned Again

One of the latest cases to be brought to the High Court concerning accommodation standards for asylum seekers in the UK states that the UK is in a “crisis” and that the “current influx of refugees is presenting the government with very difficult challenges as regards their accommodation and support”. The point was made by Mr Justice Mostyn in an anonymity and interim order in the case of AH and another v Secretary of State for the Home Department CO-893-2023.

Mostyn J confirms what ‘adequate’ means for asylum support accommodation and the use of hotels:

As for the general complaint that the accommodation does not meet the necessary standard of adequacy I have carefully considered the written submissions of Mr Payne KC and the authorities to which he has referred. It cannot be disputed that the current influx of refugees is presenting the government with very difficult challenges as regards their accommodation and support. The law requires refugees to be accommodated and supported at that level of adequacy which staves off a condition of destitution. Obviously, the level will vary depending on the demands being made on government from time to time. Equally obvious is that there is an irreducible minimum level of adequacy.

In the current crisis I am quite sure that the accommodation provided in the hotel, while being very far from perfect, does not fall below that irreducible minimal level of adequacy. I have been particularly struck by the argument that were this claim to succeed it would mean that these claimants would in effect jump a long queue at the expense of other equally meritful, perhaps even more meritful, refugees.”

Read more: Freemovement, https://tinyurl.com/2h34d8h7