Category Archives: Immigration and asylum

Afghan applying to resettle in UK asked to provide Taliban approval

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Despite MoD assurances, applicant and former British Council worker still being asked for Taliban-stamped papers

An Afghan who worked with the British Council and is applying to come to the UK has been told to retrieve documents from the Taliban or risk rejection, despite assurances earlier this month that such demands would end.

The Ministry of Defence apologised on 18 March after an investigation found that applicants to the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap) scheme were required to provide birth and marriage certificates in English and bearing stamps from Afghan government departments.

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Military sites to house asylum seekers to meet ‘essential living needs and nothing more’, says minister – as it happened

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Eagle how the pay settlement for health workers will be funded.

Hunt says, as with all pay settlements, departments fund them from the money they get in the spending review. But in exceptional circumstances they can speak to the Treasury about extra help.

But we make a commitment that there will not be a degredation of frontline services for the public.

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Tory row brewing over Sunak pledge to end small boat crossings

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Tory MPs at odds with No 10 over commitment to end crossings, with PM’s office saying he set no deadline

A row is brewing within the Conservative party over Rishi Sunak’s promise to end small boat crossings in the Channel, as backbench MPs warn the prime minister not to wriggle out of a pledge he made earlier this year.

Sunak announced in January he would bring an end to the small boat crossings, which have escalated rapidly over the past four years, with more than 45,000 people having made the crossing last year.

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Home Office planning to house asylum seekers on disused cruise ships

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Exclusive: Ministers facing growing anger from Tory backbenchers over use of hotels in their constituencies

The Home Office is planning to use disused cruise ships to house asylum seekers amid growing anger from Conservative backbenchers over the use of hotels in their constituencies.

Ministers are looking at possible vessels including a former cruise ship from Indonesia, which would be moored in south-west England, the Guardian understands.

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Afghan refugees face homelessness under UK plans, say rights groups

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Ministers announce refugees in hotels will be offered move to a home on condition they accept first offer

People who fled the Taliban in Afghanistan are at risk of homelessness in the UK, humanitarian groups have warned, after ministers announced plans to move the refugees out of hotels and into homes on the condition they accept the first offer made to them.

Afghans living in “temporary bridging accommodation” in the UK under the UK’s two resettlement schemes would be given additional support to find settled accommodation after 18 months in hotels, the Home Office said.

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Tory former policing minister warns Braverman that laughing gas ban could boost trade for drug dealers – UK politics live

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Kit Malthouse tells home secretary of risks of moving substance from legitimate market into the illegitimate market

As Alex Wickham from Politico points out, the questions Rishi Sunak is getting this morning suggest this audience is not happy with the government’s record on crime.

Q: The Conservatives have “dropped the ball a little bit, to be honest”. The questioner says laughing gas is the least of their problems. People are using much harder drugs. He has skimmed through the action plan document. Some of it is good. But punishments need to be firmer. People probably won’t turn up for community sentences. And the government needs to tackle drugs at source.

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‘It’s a con’: Labour amendment to put Sunak’s migrant bill under fresh scrutiny

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Prime minister told to expect ‘biggest rebellion of this parliament’ as migration bill returns to Commons

Labour will seek to put Rishi Sunak’s inability to secure an EU migrant returns deal under fresh scrutiny with a vote on the government’s migration bill.

The bill will return to the Commons on Monday for its committee stage, where MPs will examine it line by line over two days. The prime minister has been told to expect the biggest rebellion of this parliament, with at least 60 Conservative MPs likely to vote against the bill amid concerns that it is not tough enough.

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US calls conditions in Rwanda’s detention centres harsh to life-threatening

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Ally’s criticism will be hard to dismiss as UK tries to push through £120m migrant scheme

Britain’s closest ally, the US, has criticised Rwanda’s dire human rights record, describing conditions in the country’s detention centres as harsh to life-threatening.

The British home secretary, Suella Braverman, took a group of journalists on a trip last week to reveal details of her £120m scheme to send all migrants arriving in the UK through irregular means to Rwanda whether they claim asylum or not. The legality of the scheme is due to be tested shortly in the UK court of appeal.

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‘Vanity project’: Braverman under fire for taking only rightwing press to Rwanda

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Home secretary’s trip to publicise refugee policy has been compared with Donald Trump’s news management

Outrage at the unusual level of control imposed on media coverage of the home secretary’s trip to Rwanda has grown this weekend during Suella Braverman’s first hours in the country.

Prominent names, including news presenters, academics and opposition MPs expressed shock at what they considered the partisan reporting of the trip from the right-wing news organisations invited to join the trip. The Guardian, BBC, Mirror, Independent and i Newspaper were barred.

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MoD apologises for asking Afghans to get Taliban’s approval to come to UK

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Citizens who worked with British government or helped army told to get necessary documents stamped by the authorities

The Ministry of Defence has apologised after an investigation found Afghan applicants to a resettlement scheme were told they could only come to the UK if their documents were approved by the Taliban.

The Independent revealed that the mistake affected applicants to the Afghan relocations and assistance policy scheme (Arap), which aims to relocate Afghan citizens who worked with the UK government or helped its armed forces in Afghanistan. The MoD decides which applicants – who may apply with their families – are eligible for relocation to Britain.

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Alan Shearer talks of ‘difficult week’ as he and Gary Lineker return to MotD

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Presenters back to cover FA Cup quarter-final after row that nearly cost BBC director general and chairman their jobs

Gary Lineker returned to presenting Match of the Day on Saturday evening after a row that threatened to topple the BBC chairman and director general.

As the former England international introduced live BBC coverage of the FA Cup quarter-final between Manchester City and Burnley, pundit Alan Shearer touched on the recent controversy.

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Boris Johnson ‘Partygate’ evidence to be heard next Wednesday afternoon – UK politics live

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Former prime minister’s session with inquiry will be televised

Humza Yousaf, the Scottish health secretary who is seen by many as the frontrunner in the SNP leadership contest, claimed this morning that his support has “dramatically increased” among SNP voters.

Speaking on a visit in Dundee, he acknowledged that he and his opponents’ approval ratings were a long way behind Nicola Sturgeon’s. “What we’re trying to do is build upon that legacy,” he said.

In three weeks I’ve also quadrupled my support among the Scottish public.

If I’ve been able to do that in three weeks, I believe that bodes well for the next three months and even the next three years.

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Asylum seekers win permission for Rwanda policy legal challenge

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Ten people from conflict zones threatened with removal to Africa claim there has been a failure to consider risks of deportation

A court of appeal judge has ruled that a group of asylum seekers can bring a legal challenge against the Home Office for what they claim has been a failure to consider the dangers and risks of deporting them to Rwanda.

Lord Justice Underhill, the vice-president of the court of appeal’s civil division, has granted permission for the group to appeal against the government’s controversial policy on some grounds.

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Hundreds gather in Parliament Square to protest over illegal migration bill

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Crowd demonstrate in Westminster as MPs debate government’s controversial immigration reforms

Hundreds of people have gathered in Parliament Square to protest against the government’s controversial new asylum and migration law as MPs debated the measures in the Commons.

The crowd, which first congregated around the Winston Churchill statue, chanted “What do we want? Safe passage. When do we want it? Now”, and “Who built the NHS? Migrants built the NHS.” Many held placards, which read “migrants and refugees welcome here: blame austerity, not migrants”.

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Braverman policies are ‘heartless’, says ex-Home Office adviser Nimco Ali

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Exclusive: Home secretary’s ‘racist’ immigration plans condemned by former Tory campaigner

Suella Braverman should consider her position for putting forward “cruel and heartless” immigration policies that discriminate against war refugees of colour, a former Home Office adviser has said.

Nimco Ali, a one-time Conservative campaigner who in December left her job as an adviser on violence against women, said the home secretary was “the wrong person not just for the Conservative party but for the country”.

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Revealed: child refugees will be detained or deported under small boats plan

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Senior Tories condemn ‘sickening’ plans which would allow unaccompanied minors to be held, in U-turn on past legislation

Rishi Sunak’s plan to reduce small boat crossings will effectively reverse a ban on child detention implemented under David Cameron and open the door to an expansion of the practice, the Observer understands.

With a potential Tory rebellion already brewing over the proposals, it has emerged that the Illegal Migration bill will allow the detention of families with children and even allows the deportation of unaccompanied children if it is deemed to be safe in their country of origin.

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Rishi Sunak’s ‘show, don’t tell’ approach brings hope back to Tories

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Some of party’s MPs even believe they could narrowly win next election – but the odds remain stacked against them

When Rishi Sunak took over, most Conservative MPs were in despair. Some even suggested the party did not deserve to be in power. “We need a reset,” one said at the time. “A period out of office to get our act together.”

But almost five months on, Sunak has given them hope that they can avoid a total wipeout at the next election. Despite 13 years in office and all the problems the UK is facing, they now believe they could hang on, albeit with a significantly smaller majority.

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BBC has undermined its credibility over Gary Lineker, says Greg Dyke

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Ex-director general says decision to suspend presenter for criticising government’s asylum policies is mistaken

The BBC has undermined its own credibility with its decision to stand Gary Lineker down from hosting Match of the Day because it will be viewed as having bowed to government pressure, its former director general Greg Dyke has said.

Dyke’s comments come after the corporation suspended Lineker on Friday for breaching impartiality guidelines by criticising the government’s asylum policies.

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UK to help fund immigration detention centre in France, says Rishi Sunak

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PM announces £500m package to stop people trying to cross Channel, after meeting Emmanuel Macron in Paris

Britain will help fund a detention centre in northern France as part of a £500m package to stop refugees trying to cross the Channel, Rishi Sunak has said, amid continuing criticism of his plans to lock up and deport those arriving in small boats.

After a meeting in Paris, Sunak and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said they had agreed joint funding for more French border patrols, including 500 additional officers and new drones.

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Gary Lineker stands by his immigration policy remarks

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Match of the Day host says he does not fear BBC suspension for comparing government language to that of 1930s Germany

Gary Lineker has said he will stand his ground after a day of attacks from ministers over tweets he posted earlier this week criticising the government’s asylum policy, and dismissed suggestions he could face suspension from his £1.35m-a-year job at the BBC.

Pressure continues to mount on Lineker, with the culture secretary, the home secretary and two former BBC directors adding to the criticism of the Match of the Day presenter’s comments on social media, in which he likened the language used to set out the government’s immigration plans to “that used by Germany in the 30s”.

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