Category Archives: Immigration and asylum

Home Office will decide asylum claims of thousands stuck in Rwanda scheme limbo

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Previous UK government had built up backlog of 90,000 people whose claims it deemed ‘inadmissible’

Thousands of asylum seekers left in limbo for more than two years as they awaited a decision on the Rwanda scheme will now have their cases decided in the UK.

The decision, revealed during a high court challenge on Friday, is a sharp shift in position from the previous government, which had passed various laws declaring that the claims of those who arrived after January 2022 were “inadmissible” – and so could not be processed in the UK.

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Keir Starmer says he is open to processing asylum seekers offshore

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PM wants to rethink UK’s immigration policies but did not make progress on returns deal at summit with EU leaders

Keir Starmer is looking into plans to process asylum seekers outside the UK as part of a rethink of the government’s immigration policies, even as a returns agreement with the EU appears more distant than ever.

The prime minister said on Thursday he was open to the idea of Britain processing claims offshore, after a day spent discussing illegal migration with fellow European leaders at Blenheim Palace. Those talks, as part of the European Political Community summit, included a meeting with Edi Rama, the Albanian prime minister, whose country processes asylum claims on behalf of Italy.

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One person dies in Channel crossing attempt near Gravelines

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French and British coastguards rescued a further 71 people who had tried to cross in an overcrowded dinghy on Wednesday

A person has died trying to cross the Channel to reach Britain in an overcrowded dinghy, French officials have said.

A further 71 people were rescued after the vessel deflated off Gravelines on France’s northern coast on Wednesday, the regional maritime police authority said in a statement.

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Four people drown trying to cross Channel near Boulogne-sur-Mer

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At least 56 people survive after early morning rescue involving French coastguard, navy boat and helicopter

Four people died overnight trying to cross the Channel to reach Britain, French officials have said.

A rescue operation took place off Boulogne-sur-Mer on France’s northern coast after reports of people in the sea. Four of those pulled from the sea had drowned.

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Home Office U-turn grants Wirral ‘legend’ right to live in UK after 46 years

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Retired newsagent who fundraised £50,000 for legal battle was due to take case to court in autumn

A retired newsagent and “local legend” from Merseyside has said he feels marvellous after a Home Office U-turn granted him the right to live in the UK almost 50 years after he arrived.

Nelson Shardey, 75, launched legal action against the Home Office and fundraised almost £50,000 earlier this year after he was refused the right to stay in the UK permanently, despite living in the country since 1977 and running his shop, Nelson’s News, in Wirral for 31 years.

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Syrian asylum seeker in UK says he ‘lost everything’ after Rwanda roundup

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People held before planned removal from UK under Sunak government face disruption and relocation after release

A Syrian asylum seeker who was one of 220 people arrested and detained in preparation for forced removal to Rwanda says he has lost everything after his release.

Critics described the high-profile mass roundups before the local elections in May as a “stunt” that needlessly disrupted the lives of many.

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US blocks UK from holding court hearing in British territory Diego Garcia

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Authorities refused to grant access for judge and legal teams to visit island, where dozens of Tamil asylum seekers are stranded

The US government has blocked the UK from holding a court hearing in one of its own territories, it emerged on Tuesday.

The hearing was due to take place on the remote island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to consider the fate of dozens of Tamil asylum seekers stranded there for more than 1,000 days who claim they are being unlawfully detained.

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Conditions at UK immigration removal centre ‘worst inspectors have seen’

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Report found ligature points previously used in suicide attempts at Harmondsworth had not been removed

The prisons watchdog has described “truly shocking” conditions in an immigration removal centre close to Heathrow airport as the worst its inspectors had ever seen.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons has published a damning report on conditions at Harmondsworth, a 658-bed centre, the largest of its kind in Europe.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Civil servants obliged to carry out Tory Rwanda deportations, court rules

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Union for civil servants claimed Home Office staff could be open to prosecution if Strasbourg rulings on Rwanda ignored

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Guidance drawn up by Conservative ministers which told civil servants to ignore Strasbourg rulings and remove asylum seekers to Rwanda is lawful, the high court has ruled.

The FDA trade union, which represents senior civil servants, brought legal action claiming senior Home Office staff could be in breach of international law if they implement the government’s Rwanda deportation bill.

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Rishi Sunak hints he might not quit as Tory leader immediately if he loses election – as it happened

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PM says he ‘loves this party dearly’ and would always put himself at the service of it’

Rishi Sunak is speaking at a campaign event in Staffordshire. As the advance briefing predicted, he has just told his audience.

I tell you this: once you have handed Keir Starmer and Labour a blank cheque, you won’t be able to get it back.

We’ve had a strategy in place and we’ll try to keep to it, which is to carve out really protected time for the kids, so on a Friday – I’ve been doing this for years – I will not do a work-related thing after six o’clock, pretty well come what may.

There are a few exceptions, but that’s what we do.

[In politics] some people think, if you fill your diary 24/7 and don’t do anything else, that makes you a much better decision maker. I don’t agree with that, I think you’ve got to make space, so we do it …

Actually, it helps me, it takes me away from the pressure, it relaxes me, and I think, actually, not only is it what I want to do as a dad, it is better.

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More than £320m spent on Rwanda policy will be lost if Tories lose election

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Costs of trying to deport asylum seekers cannot be recovered if Labour wins and disbands policy

More than £320m spent by the government on the controversial scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is likely to be lost if the Conservatives are voted out of power at Thursday’s general election.

The sum has been spent on economic development money for Rwanda, along with set-up costs for the scheme, which cannot be recovered if it does not go ahead.

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Sunak cites ‘confidential’ inquiry as he refuses to answer questions over aide and election date bet – live

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PM again declines to say whether he told Craig Williams in advance about his decision to hold the election in July

Rishi Sunak is returning to the campaign trail on Thursday, PA reports, after a two-day hiatus for the Emperor and Empress of Japan’s state visit and preparations for the final head-to-head debate with Sir Keir Starmer.

With one week to go until polling day, the deepening gambling scandal is still likely to feature heavily when he faces the media during a tour of the East Midlands and Yorkshire.

He is expected to visit a factory in Derbyshire and hold an evening campaign event in Leeds.

Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of using transgender issues “as a political football to divide people” during their head-to-head debate on Wednesday.

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Sunak and Starmer clash over tax, borders and Brexit deal in final head-to-head before polling day – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed, you can read our full report on this debate here

YouGov will have a snap poll on who won the debate, with the results available minutes after it finishes.

This is what Labour is putting out ahead of the debate, in a stateement from Pat McFadden, the national campaign coordinator.

Tonight, the British people will witness the choice at this election: five more years of chaos with Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives or change with Keir Starmer and Labour.

On 4 July, the British people will have the chance to vote for change. To stop the chaos, turn the page and start to rebuild our country with Keir Starmer and a changed Labour party.

Tonight, Keir Starmer has the opportunity to announce loud and clear to the British public what his intentions are.

Throughout this campaign we have challenged the Labour party, time and time again, to come clean on their plans for taxes. Time and time again they have declined to do so.

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African and Asian artists condemn ‘humiliating’ UK and EU visa refusals

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‘Unfair’ rejection rates of up to 70% harm cultural diversity and create a ‘global apartheid’, say promoters and musicians

Musicians, authors, producers and festival managers have hit out at “humiliating” and costly visa-rejection rates for African and Asian artists visiting Britain and European Union countries, saying it is having a chilling impact on cultural diversity.

Analysis shows the UK last year raised £44m in fees for visa applications that were then rejected, mainly coming from low- and middle-income countries. The EU made €130m (£110m).

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Sunak defends decision not to take immediate action against Tories in betting scandal – as it happened

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Prime minister faces claim Tories are ‘stealing the candlesticks’ on the way out of government

After a passage in his speech attack Labour on familiar grounds, Rishi Sunak also hit out at Reform UK.

[Reform UK] are not on the side of who you think they are.

Reform are standing candidates here in Scotland that are pro independence and anti monarchy.

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Record number of people have crossed Channel in small boats since January

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Total of 12,901 people seeking asylum have crossed this year, passing previous six-month record of 12,747 in 2022

A record number of people seeking asylum in small boats have crossed the Channel in the first six months of this year.

Home Office figures show that 257 people made the journey in four boats on Sunday, taking the provisional total for the year so far to 12,901. The previous record for arrivals in the six months from January to June was 12,747 in 2022. In the first half of 2023, arrivals stood at 11,433.

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Tory government ‘worst in postwar era’, claims expert study – as it happened

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Sir Anthony Seldon leads analysis that concludes that equality, growth and the UK’s standing in the world have all declined since 2010

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And here are some of the best pictures from yesterday’s campaigning. As more voting people than ever appear poised to turn away from the Tories, Sunak appeared in several photographs with sheep and lobsters as he visited North Devon, held by the Tories since 2015. The Guardian’s Archie bland named the sheep the “Dubious photo opportunity of the day”, after the sheep ran away:

Starmer, meanwhile, appeared on LBC where he clarified that Premier League Football Clubs would not be subject to a 10% transfer tax to fund clubs lower down the pyramid. “Let me just kill it dead, we’re not looking at that,” Starmer said. He also visited a tennis club and a pub in Reading West and mid Berkshire.

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Moroccan authorities pushed asylum seekers into ‘death trap’, NGO claims

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Border Forensics say dozens of deaths in 2022 at EU’s Melilla border was result of antagonistic security policy

Moroccan authorities took a series of fateful decisions that led to the deaths of dozens of asylum seekers attempting to scale the border fence into the Spanish north African territory of Melilla two years ago, survivors and an investigation by an NGO have claimed.

At least 27 migrants and asylum seekers died when up to 2,000 people tried to climb over the fence on 24 June 2022 – the deadliest day in recent memory along the EU land border with Africa – while 70 others are still missing and unaccounted for.

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‘Rushed’ deadline for UK digital visas puts millions at risk of losing legal rights

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FOI reveals non EU migrants could be caught in ‘Windrush style scandal' at end of 2024 as Home Office struggles to contact them

More than 4 million non-EU migrants living in Britain will need to switch to digital “eVisas” by the end of this year or risk being unable to prove their legal rights, according to figures seen by the Observer.

Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) – given to all foreign nationals with permission to live in the UK for at least six months – demonstrate proof of an individual’s right to study, access public services and claim benefits. But they are being replaced under the Home Office’s digitisation programme.

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Children trapped in war zones because of UK refusal to ease refugee visa rules

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‘Abject failure’ of family reunion scheme to provide legal route is leaving children at risk of trafficking or even death

Children are being trapped in war zones as a result of “impossible” bureaucratic requirements imposed on one of the few legal routes for asylum seekers, a charity has found.

The government has championed family reunion processes as a means for refugees to safely reunite with loved ones in Britain, but according to a new report by Ramfel, a charity that supports vulnerable migrants, the scheme is “not fit for purpose” and applicants have been abandoned, leaving them at risk of trafficking or even death.

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