The shocking discovery of the bodies of 39 people in a lorry has reopened the debate about the EU’s harsh ‘Fortress Europe’ immigration policies
Continue reading...Category Archives: Immigration and asylum
We must not ignore children who seek sanctuary in the UK | Alf Dubs
Offering safe and legal routes into Britain must be at heart of efforts to tackle trafficking
The plight of people who arrive in the UK in refrigerated lorries, or rubber dinghies, or between wheel caps, rarely makes the news. But last week, the discovery of 39 dead people in a container lorry in Essex was a story that made headlines across the world. While their individual stories remain unknown, we can be certain that they have left behind families and friends, who even now may not know the fate of their loved ones.
The deaths of these 39 victims lay bare the perilous dangers facing those who travel to the UK via dangerous routes. I do not know why these 39 people were in that lorry. I do not know if they had climbed inside hoping to reach a place of safety, in this country or elsewhere, or whether they were forced into that journey against their will.
Continue reading...Relief for Windrush sisters as removal threat overturned
Bumi Thomas, whose sister got citizenship, wins appeal against removal from UK
Two Windrush sisters who describe themselves as inseparable are celebrating after a judge ruled that one of them should not be sent back to Nigeria.
Bumi Thomas, 36, was at risk of removal from the UK and at one point was given 14 days to leave, while her sister Kemi, 38, was not because of their different dates of birth.
Continue reading...Refugee age rows having ‘devastating’ impact on children
UNHCR says children arriving in UK whose age is disputed likely to be denied services
Age disputes are having a “devastating impact” on unaccompanied and separated refugee or asylum seeker children arriving in the UK, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has warned.
Evidence from an assessment conducted by the UNHCR found disputes over a refugee or asylum seeker’s age impeded and delayed access to services and environments that can assist integration.
Continue reading...Home Office ‘infiltrating’ safe havens to deport rough sleepers
Attendees at ‘immigration surgeries’ at churches and centres told it won’t involve enforcement
The Home Office is using information gathered in “immigration surgeries” at charities and places of worship to deport vulnerable homeless people who are told that attending will help them get financial support, the Guardian has learned.
Interviews and internal emails revealed the Salvation Army, Sikh gurdwaras and a Chinese community support centre are among the bodies allowing Home Office teams in London to run sessions in spaces that are intended to be safe havens for homeless people.
Continue reading...Tories aim to distract from Brexit with crime-focused Queen’s speech
Heavier sentences for violent criminals among policies aimed at wooing Labour voters
Violent and sexual criminals as well as foreign national offenders who return to the UK will face drastically heavier penalties under measures that will form the centrepiece of a Queen’s speech aimed at wresting the agenda away from the delicate Brexit negotiations.
With just days to go before the deadline for Boris Johnson to clinch a last-ditch Brexit deal in Brussels, the Queen will on Monday set out his government’s priorities for a new session of parliament, including 22 new bills.
Continue reading...The last of the Windrush arrivals in 1962 – in pictures
In 1962, the young photographer Howard Grey captured the last of the Windrush immigrants as they disembarked from the boat train at Waterloo station in London. The extraordinary pictures he took, however, were not processed for more than five decades until advances in scanning technology brought the underexposed negatives to life. Here the photographer talks us through some of his favourite images from the three films he exposed.
Continue reading...NHS doctor may leave UK over refusal of permission to remain for mother
Top child psychiatrist appeals to Johnson over Home Office’s ‘almost callous’ decision
A leading children’s psychiatrist plans to quit the NHS and move to Australia because of the Home Office’s “almost callous” refusal to let his mother stay in Britain.
Dr Nishchint Warikoo, the lead psychiatrist for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in Hampshire, said he and his family were being “forced to leave” the UK in order to stay together.
Continue reading...Public invited to 100-year-old Jamaican war veteran’s funeral
Oswald Dixon served in RAF in second world war and died at care home in Salford
A care home is inviting members of the public to attend the funeral of a second world war veteran from Jamaica with no family in the UK.
Oswald Dixon died on 25 September aged 100 after living his last four years at a home for retired service personnel in Salford, Greater Manchester.
Continue reading...Ministers accused of ‘disgraceful U-turn’ over post-Brexit funds for refugees
Charities say 30,000 people will lose support and vital services in event of no deal
Thousands of vulnerable refugees living in the UK are at risk of losing access to vital services including housing, healthcare and school places for children after it emerged millions of pounds of funding will come to a halt in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
The asylum, migration and integration fund (AMIF), which the EU set up in 2014, is a pot of billions of pounds to be used by EU member states to support integration of non-EU nationals, including newly recognised refugees.
Continue reading...Revealed: Jennifer Arcuri got visa from scheme run by former Johnson official
Exclusive: Whistleblower tells of links between Paola Cuneo, PM and US businesswoman
A Whitehall official who ran the scheme that granted Jennifer Arcuri a coveted entrepreneur visa had worked for Boris Johnson when he was mayor, the Guardian has learned.
The US businesswoman, who is at the centre of a conflict of interest row over her friendship with the prime minister, beat nearly 2,000 applicants to gain one of 200 sought-after tier 1 entrepreneur visas on the government’s Sirius programme after Johnson helped promote her firm, Innotech, by giving keynote speeches at her events.
Continue reading...Rise in number of world’s rich buying UK ‘golden visas’
Increase comes despite clampdown on scheme after Skripal novichok poisoning
The number of wealthy foreigners investing at least £2m in the UK in exchange for a “golden visa” has risen to a five-year high, despite a clampdown on the scheme in the aftermath of the Skripal novichok poisoning attack.
The Home Office granted 255 people tier-1 investor visas in the first half of 2019, allowing them to live and work in the UK for five years. This was the most in a six-month period since 2014, according to the department’s data.
Continue reading...UK deportation of three men halted after detention centre death
Court rules deportees may have evidence about death of Oscar Okwurime in Harmondsworth
The deportation of three men from the UK to Nigeria on Tuesday night was halted by the high court because they may be able to provide evidence about the death of a man in a detention centre.
Oscar Okwurime died in Harmondsworth detention centre next to Heathrow airport last Thursday. In an order made in the high court on Tuesday preventing the three men flying, Mr Justice Butler said: “There is a serious issue that there should not be a removal of persons for whom there are grounds to believe that they may have material evidence to give in relation to the death of Oscar Okwurime.”
Continue reading...US academic given two weeks to leave UK after eight years
Visa system for researchers is hostile and costly and risks jamming a pipeline of talent, universities warn
After eight years researching music history at Glasgow University, Elizabeth Ford hoped her request for a visa extension would sail through this summer. Instead, the Home Office gave the American academic two weeks to pack up her life and leave the country.
Ford has held a research fellowship at Edinburgh University – which, like Glasgow is in the elite Russell Group – and is due to begin a new research fellowship at Oxford University. But this is in jeopardy after a letter from the Home Office in July, which said that her leave to remain, granted a year before, was erroneous, and that she must leave within two weeks.
Continue reading...Guarantee the legal status of all EU migrants living in the UK | Letters
Signatories including Diane Abbott and Alf Dubs say the rights of EU nationals should be guaranteed. Plus Richard Griffiths on his Swedish wife’s difficulty in getting settled status and Emanuele Maindron on her family being torn apart. And another contributor says spare a thought for non-EU nationals too
In his first statement as prime minister, Boris Johnson gave “unequivocally our guarantee to the 3.2 million EU nationals now living and working among us … that, under this government, they will have the absolute certainty for the right to live and remain”. In less than a day, the prime minister’s spokesperson rushed to clarify that this did not mean new legislation would be proposed. Instead Johnson would maintain the EU Settlement Scheme.
As campaigners have pointed out, the current scheme implies that migrants who fail to apply will lose their legal status and residency rights. Figures suggest at least 2 million EU nationals have not applied for settled status yet. In order to be given settled status, migrants have to prove they have lived in the UK for at least five years.
Continue reading...Home Office refused thousands of LGBT asylum claims, figures reveal
Exclusive: ‘culture of disbelief’ excludes at least 3,100 nationals from countries outlawing same-sex acts
The UK Home Office has refused at least 3,100 asylum claims from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) nationals of countries where consensual same-sex acts are criminalised, figures reveal.
At least 1,197 LGBT Pakistanis were refused asylum after making a claim for protection on grounds of sexual orientation between 2016 and 2018, analysis by the Liberal Democrats of figures published by the Home Office shows. A further 640 LGBT Bangladeshis and 389 Nigerians had their claims on same grounds refused during the period.
Continue reading...Home Office planning to end family reunion for children after Brexit
Exclusive: Current system for asylum-seeking minors set to end the day after UK leaves EU
The Home Office is preparing to end the current system of family reunification for asylum-seeking children if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the Guardian has learned.
The government has privately briefed the UN refugee agency UNHCR and other NGOs that open cases may be able to progress, but a no-deal Brexit would mean no new applications after 1 November from asylum-seeking children to be reunited with relatives living in the UK. Even if there is a deal, the future of family reunion is not certain.
Continue reading...Javid defends settled status scheme in response to criticism
Campaigners point to rise in grants for pre-settled status, which has fewer rights
Sajid Javid has responded to concerns raised over thousands of EU citizens in the UK having no legal rights after 31 October , by saying “there shouldn’t be a single person that should be concerned about their status”.
The settled status scheme has been running since March for EU nationals living in the UK to establish their permanent right to live in Britain.
Continue reading...Westminster looks at giving France money to curb Channel crossings
Priti Patel discusses increasing financial support amid hike in attempted crossings
The UK government is considering increasing the amount it pays France to help deal with people trying to make the perilous Channel crossing to England using small boats, Paris has said.
The proposal was discussed during talks on Thursday between the British home secretary, Priti Patel, and her French counterpart, Christophe Castaner, that were prompted by an increase in the number of such attempted crossings over the summer.
Continue reading...Johnson warns against Channel crossings after dozens intercepted
People arriving illegally will be sent back to France, says prime minister
Boris Johnson has warned those thinking of crossing the Channel illegally that they will be sent back to France after dozens of people, including children, were intercepted on Thursday in several incidents at sea and on the south coast.
The prime minister’s comments came as the home secretary, Priti Patel, prepared to hold talks with her French counterpart about the crossings, which have sometimes been linked to fairer weather conditions.
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