Anthony Olubunmi George, who arrived in 1986 and has no criminal convictions, given right to remain
A disabled Nigerian man who has lived in the UK for almost 40 years has won an appeal to stay in the country despite the Home Office wanting to deport him.
Anthony Olubunmi George, 63, came to the UK at the age of 24 in 1986. He has not left the UK since and has no criminal convictions. He had two strokes in 2019 that left him with speech and mobility issues.
Continue reading...Home Office figures for Friday end a spell of more than a week with no new arrivals in Dover due to poor weather
More than 1,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Friday, according to Home Office figures, ending a spell of more than a week with no new arrivals.
Thirteen boats carrying 1,072 individuals made the crossing on Friday, which averages more than 80 people a boat. It is the third time this year the figure for a single day has surpassed 1,000 and brings the total number this year to a record 32,103.
Continue reading...Portugal has also made extradition request for Diogo Santos Coelho, who is facing cybercrime charges
A high court judge has quashed a Home Office decision that paved the way for a vulnerable autistic man to be extradited to the US on cybercrime charges carrying a possible 52-year sentence.
The UK government has accepted that Diogo Santos Coelho, 25, a Portuguese national, was groomed and exploited online by adults from the age of 14, leading to him setting up the website RaidForums, to which the alleged crimes relate.
Continue reading...Home Office says man left Heathrow for Paris early on Friday after losing high court attempt to block move
An Eritrean man has been deported to France under the UK government’s “one in, one out” deal with the neighbouring country.
The man – the second to be deported under the agreement – was on a flight that left Heathrow for Paris at 6.15am on Friday, the Home Office confirmed after he lost a high court attempt to block the move.
Continue reading...Agreement reached with France allows for removal of asylum seekers who arrive on small boats
The first Channel migrant has been deported to France under the controversial one in, one out deal, the Home Office has confirmed.
It follows three days of cancellations of tickets of asylum seekers due to fly and a high court challenge that halted the imminent removal of a 25-year-old Eritrean man to France on Tuesday evening. He was granted more time to gather evidence relating to his claim that he is a victim of trafficking.
Continue reading...Home Office says it will review modern slavery laws to save PM’s ‘one in, one out’ returns deal with France
Shabana Mahmood has accused asylum seekers of making “vexatious, last-minute claims” to avoid removal to France as the Home Office said it would review modern slavery laws to save Keir Starmer’s returns deal.
After an 11th-hour injunction that scuppered Labour’s “one in, one out” scheme, the home secretary said she would stop claimants “suddenly deciding that they are a modern slave on the eve of their removal”, adding that it made a “mockery of our laws and this country’s generosity”.
Continue reading...The 25-year-old claims to be trafficking victim and won high court challenge in what may prove major blow to Labour policy
An Eritrean man has had his deportation to France under Labour’s “one-in, one-out” scheme halted at the 11th hour after he won a high court challenge.
The 25-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is the first to win a challenge in the high court against the removal scheme, which is itself new. The first removal flights were due to take place on Monday and Tuesday of this week but were cancelled. The man had been due to be on a flight to France at 9am on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Plans to forcibly remove people who arrived in small boats abandoned for second day
Downing Street has denied that the government’s returns deal with France is in chaos after plans to forcibly remove from the UK people arriving in small boats were abandoned for a second day.
Asked by reporters if the latest delay meant the so-called “one in one out” agreement was “a shambles”, the prime minister’s spokesperson said “No”.
Continue reading...Gurpreet Singh Johal wants to know if stops are linked to his efforts to find out whether UK intelligence played a role in sibling’s arrest
The brother of Jagtar Singh Johal, a British Sikh jailed in India, has written to the Home Office to ask why he is being repeatedly stopped at the airport by British border police.
Gurpreet Singh Johal, a Labour councillor in Dumbarton, asked if it was linked to his legal efforts to discover whether British intelligence played a role in his brother’s arrest eight years ago.
Continue reading...New home secretary is expected to unveil plans to use military sites as Labour seeks to harden immigration policy
Shabana Mahmood is expected to unveil plans to move asylum seekers from hotels into military barracks as Labour seeks to harden its immigration policy amid rising numbers of crossings in the channel.
The new home secretary is reportedly set to announce the use of Ministry of Defence sites to house people after a wave of protests outside migrant accommodation over the summer.
Continue reading...Court of appeal ruling means Yvette Cooper can try to block move by protest group to have its proscription overturned
The Home Office has won a legal decision which means it can attempt to block a move by Palestine Action to have its ban under terror laws overturned.
The latest legal twist in the battle between the government and the protest group – now proscribed as a terror organisation - saw the court of appeal rule that Yvette Cooper can challenge the decision to grant a judicial review of the organisation’s proscription that was due to be heard in November.
Continue reading...Purchase of snowmobiles, timeshares and furs prohibited, despite asylum seekers receiving only £9.95 a week
Are you an asylum seeker and are you considering buying an armoured car, a snowmobile or a timeshare using your Home Office pre-paid cash card? If so, think again, for these are just some of the luxuries on a list of banned items and activities drawn up by the government.
Quite how asylum seekers living in hotels who are banned from working but are provided with meals and receive £9.95 a week are expected to afford any luxuries is unclear. Similarly, those in self-catering accommodation who receive £49.18 a week may find it tricky to foot the bill for flowers (also on the list).
Continue reading...Judges say decision to allow injunction was ‘seriously flawed’ and contained several ‘errors in principle’
More than 130 people seeking asylum will be allowed to remain in the Bell hotel in Epping after the court of appeal overturned a high court ban on housing them there, leaving police braced for further angry protests.
While the decision was a technical victory for the Home Office, as other local councils could have brought legal challenges against the use of hotels, it has already been seized on by Labour’s political opponents.
Continue reading...Outsourcing firm Mitie listed several roles aimed at providing ‘safe and productive’ environment for detainees
Jobs aimed at improving the wellbeing of people at an immigration detention centre, including holding workshops in floristry and balloon craft, are unnecessary and should be removed, a government minister has said.
The outsourcing firm Mitie, which manages the Heathrow immigration removal centre (IRC) in west London, listed several roles online, including a painting and decorating tutor and gym manager, for salaries ranging between £31,000 and £38,000.
Continue reading...Paul Bean may have breached civil service impartiality rules over alleged social media posts
Campaigners have complained to the Home Office after it was revealed a councillor for Reform UK also works for the government department processing asylum and immigration claims.
Paul Bean, who serves as a councillor for Crook ward at Durham county council, declared his day job as a civil servant at the Home Office in his register of interests.
Continue reading...Angela Eagle accuses other parties of offering ‘fag packet plans’ as ministers face mounting pressure on immigration
The Home Office has promised a “big surge” in asylum hotel closures in the new year, with five more to shut in the coming months, as ministers face mounting pressure over the government’s record on immigration.
Speaking after a weekend of protests and counter-protests over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, Home Office minister Angela Eagle said the government had inherited a “border security system in tatters” and accused opposition parties of offering “the fag packet plans without the substance on delivery”.
Continue reading...Government defends decision to proscribe protest group after mass arrests at a demonstration in Westminster over the weekend
Richard Adams is the Guardian’s education editor
Students in England are expected to receive A-level grades that are closer to normal for the first time since the Covid pandemic triggered school closures and exam cancellations.
If the student, for instance, needed three As [and] gets AAB, as long as the B is not in something that’s absolutely crucial for the course, I think there’s a very strong possibility the student would find they’d be getting a place.
Continue reading...Academic Heather Scott has been told by Home Office that being ‘acutely ill’ is not an exceptional circumstance
The Home Office is threatening to ban a Canadian academic from the UK after she was unable to renew her visa in time during a mental health crisis.
Dr Heather Scott has lived in Britain since she came in 2011 on a study visa. The renowned academic, whose area of research relates to Victorian cemeteries including Highgate, Brompton and Abney Park, is required to be based in London.
Continue reading...People detained after arriving in small boat expected to be returned within three weeks, says Home Office
Migrants who arrived in the UK on a small boat have been detained for the first time under Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” deal and are expected to be returned within three weeks, the Home Office has said.
Detentions began on Wednesday lunchtime, with those identified in the Channel boat being held in immigration removal centres pending their removal.
Continue reading...Treaty can be ended by either side at a month’s notice and France can refuse returns on certain grounds
The UK will pay the costs of transporting asylum seekers to and from France under Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” deal with Emmanuel Macron, it has emerged.
The deal will have to be renewed by 11 June next year, and can be ended at a month’s notice by either side, documents made public by the government indicate.
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