Exclusive: sources say most have hosts ready under Homes for Ukraine scheme but have heard nothing
More than 500 Ukrainian children who fled the war without their parents are stuck waiting in limbo across Europe after applying to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, sources working closely with the Home Office say.
Most are teenagers who thought they would be eligible and have British families waiting to host them, but have heard nothing from the Home Office.
Continue reading...After an error on a visa application form, Sarah slipped into immigration limbo
Six years ago, when she was 24, Sarah received an unexpected letter from the Home Office telling her she faced arrest and removal from the UK within seven days. She was so terrified that she climbed out of the back window of the house where she was living, taking her seven-year-old son with her, and they became homeless.
Sarah, who asked for her real name not to be published, had been in the UK since she arrived in 1994 as a two-year-old refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She had attended primary and secondary school in the UK and was working and paying taxes in London, but her uncertain immigration status had not been resolved when she was a child. As an adult she was required every three years to pay fees of about £1,000 to apply for visas that would allow her to remain. An error on her 2016 application form meant the visa was refused, but the fees were not refunded and she could not afford to reapply, and she slipped into immigration limbo. Even now, 28 years after arriving in the UK, she is still battling to get British citizenship.
Continue reading...Pre-action letter questions Home Office claims that east African country is ‘generally safe’
Priti Patel’s plan to send refugees on a one-way ticket to Rwanda is being legally challenged over the government’s alleged failure to identify risks facing vulnerable groups such as LGBTQ+ people.
A pre-action letter sent to the Home Office on behalf of the pressure group Freedom from Torture questions government claims that the east African state is “generally a safe country” for refugees.
The government’s claim that Rwanda is “generally” a “safe third country” is irrational.
It relies upon apparent pre-determination or bias.
The home secretary has breached her duty not to induce breaches of the European convention on human rights by her agents.
Removing asylum seekers to Rwanda is beyond Patel’s legal authority because it is contrary to the refugee convention.
Continue reading...Grenfell United criticises Home Office papers outlining reason for retaining policy against inquiry recommendations
Bereaved relatives of the Grenfell Tower blaze have said they are “enraged” by government plans to keep the controversial “stay put” policy instead of adopting an inquiry recommendation.
Grenfell United has criticised new Home Office papers which outline its reasons for retaining the policy – meaning that residents of most buildings should wait for rescue services rather than leaving in the event of a fire.
Continue reading...Mohammed is among first asylum seekers to face removal under Home Office’s controversial scheme
It took Mohammed more than three years and a journey of more than 5,000 miles to reach the UK after fleeing a massacre in his village in Sudan.
Now, just over a week after arriving by kayak across the Channel, he is among the first tranche of asylum seekers facing forced removal to Rwanda, on the continent where his journey began.
Continue reading...High court to hear claims that judges ‘in a very precarious position’ hiding from Taliban have faced long delays
Alleged inconsistencies in the way the UK Home Office and Foreign Office process asylum applications from vulnerable judges in hiding in Afghanistan are being challenged at the high court on Tuesday.
If successful, the three separate judicial reviews will require the Home Office to undertake a wholesale rethink of how it is handling cases. The reviews – anonymised to protect the claimants from persecution by the Taliban – cover a male judge and a female judge who have had their applications for asylum rejected, and a prominent female women’s rights activist.
Continue reading...Home Office plans have been described as a power grab by chief constables and crime commissioners
The home secretary faces fresh criticism over plans described by chief constables and police and crime commissioners (PCCs) as a “power grab”.
It comes as the Guardian publishes private documents at the centre of an extraordinary row between Priti Patel and police leaders.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Comments raise concerns UK will find it difficult to refuse requests from Kigali on sensitive issues
Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda, has suggested the UK extradite suspects wanted in the east African country for alleged roles in the 1994 genocide, after a controversial deal with the Home Office to process asylum seekers there.
Speaking less than two weeks after the deal was announced, Kagame told an audience of diplomats in Kigali that included the British high commissioner he hoped “that when the UK is sending us these migrants, they should send us some people they have accommodated for over 15 years who committed crimes [in Rwanda]”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: chief constables and commissioners criticise plans to make it easier for home secretary to intervene
Police leaders have accused Priti Patel of a “power grab” that would allow the home secretary to intervene in local law enforcement matters and silence chiefs who want to speak out on issues deemed politically sensitive.
An extraordinary row has broken out behind the scenes, with police bosses accusing Patel of trying to obtain new powers without parliamentary approval.
Continue reading...Home secretary announces the end of limitations on use of section 60 powers where serious violence anticipated
The government is lifting restrictions placed on police stop and search powers in areas where they anticipate violent crime, the home secretary has announced.
In a letter to police forces on Monday, Priti Patel outlined the easing of conditions on the use of the tactics under section 60 of the criminal justice and public order act.
Continue reading...Many are struggling to pay fee – which is five times higher than administrative cost – and face destitution and deportation
Bereaved spouses with the right to remain in the UK are facing destitution and deportation because the Home Office is charging them thousands of pounds to stay, the Guardian has learned.
People whose British spouses or partners have died are calling on the Home Office to waive the £2,404 fee for the “bereaved partner concession”, which grants a husband or wife indefinite leave to remain.
Continue reading...Concerns grow for safety of those heading to Britain as government scrambles to fix flaws in housing scheme
• Russia-Ukraine war: latest developments
Ukrainians fleeing the war are being housed with UK hosts who have not had a criminal record check, in the latest concern to blight the government’s response to the refugee crisis.
Under increasing pressure to iron out flaws in its schemes, government sources told the Observer they were creating a “rematching” service to house Ukrainians with people willing to help.
Continue reading...PM says he will ‘dig in for the fight’ with ‘leftie lawyers’ challenging government’s plan for refugees
Boris Johnson said 50 people have been told they will be sent to Rwanda within the next fortnight, and that he was ready to fight with “leftie lawyers” seeking to challenge the government’s plans for refugees.
Under the £120m scheme announced last month, people deemed to have entered the UK unlawfully will be transported to the east African country, where they will be allowed to apply for the right to settle.
Continue reading...The man, who has been awaiting a Home Office decision for almost two years, says the anxiety has had a significant impact on his wellbeing
A Syrian interpreter who has worked for the British government and the White Helmets has tried to kill himself after waiting nearly two years for a decision on his asylum claim.
Ali [not his real name] worked as an interpreter and translator for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in Istanbul, and for Mayday Rescue, a humanitarian organisation that supported the work of the White Helmets (officially known as the Syria Civil Defence) across Syria.
In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here
Continue reading...Minister also refuses to say whether Ukrainians who cross Channel in small boats could be sent to Africa
Undocumented people who travel from Ukraine to the UK via Ireland could be considered for removal to Rwanda, a senior Home Office official has told MPs.
During the same select committee hearing, a minister refused to say under repeated questioning whether Ukrainians who arrive in the UK across the Channel by boat could also be sent to the central African country.
Continue reading...Rights organisations say refugees going into hiding as Home Office admits LGBTQ+ people could face persecution in African country
Ministers’ threats to send unauthorised migrants to Rwanda are having a detrimental impact on the physical and psychological health of people seeking asylum, according to two major refugee charities.
The British Red Cross and the Refugee Council, which worked with nearly 44,000 people in the asylum process, warn that they are disappearing from hotels and are reluctant to claim support for fear of deportation, detention and other harsh measures.
A Rwandan asylum seeker who contacted the Red Cross in south-east England fearing he could be sent back to the country. He disclosed that he would be in hiding and refraining from accessing support so he is not identified by the authorities.
An Afghan man living in temporary accommodation in the east Midlands who disclosed that he had gone into hiding, fearing that he would be detained and sent to Rwanda. He said that many of his friends were in the same situation and planned to go underground.
An asylum seeker from Ethiopia based in the West Midlands said that he feels anxious about the passing of the Nationality and Borders Act and disclosed he had left his accommodation out of fear that he will be sent to Rwanda.
An Afghan asylum seeker also based in the West Midlands who said he feels he is a second-class refugee as he is not eligible for recent schemes designed to support Ukrainians.
Continue reading...Eighteen-year-old orphan to receive £300 for transport costs to site of exams after case brought to court
The Home Office has backed down part way through a high court hearing after an orphaned teenage asylum seeker from Eritrea feared she would be unable to sit her GCSE exams next week due to not being accommodated close to her college.
During Tuesday’s hearing the department agreed to pay for travel until her exams finish next month – a sum of about £300. The ongoing court proceedings are likely to have already cost many thousands of pounds. Officials also guaranteed her a bedroom to herself so she can study in peace and quiet.
Continue reading...Charity Freedom from Torture says it has ‘serious concerns’ about lawfulness of policy
Priti Patel’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is facing its first legal challenge after a charity instructed lawyers to demand the disclosure of documents because of fears the policy is contrary to international law.
In a pre-action letter to the Home Office, which is expected to lead to a judicial review claim, the solicitors Leigh Day stated that the charity Freedom from Torture “has serious concerns about the lawfulness of the policy”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: poor healthcare and conditions at sites such as Napier worsen mental and physical illness, Doctors of the World says
Asylum seekers’ accommodation is “unsafe” due to inadequate healthcare, while poor living conditions are exacerbating or creating mental and physical health problems, according to a new report by Doctors of the World.
The charity’s research, published on Wednesday, details the barriers to medical care and medication for asylum seekers in initial accommodation across the UK.
Continue reading...Government lawyers confirm Home Office plan to force small boats back to France has been abandoned
Priti Patel’s refugee pushback policy has been officially withdrawn by the government days before a judicial review of the tactic was due to be heard in the high court.
The government’s legal department acknowledged in a letter on Sunday that the plan to try to force people in dinghies back to France has been abandoned after Boris Johnson’s announcement that the Royal Navy would take over operations in the Channel.
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