Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #40

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!

The lack of options for people to come to the UK in safety continues to make news. There was the story of the Ukrainian woman whose 11 and 15 year old children were refused permission to join here, with no right of appeal at first. Two Scottish children were evacuated from Lebanon without their mother because she is not a British national. It is no wonder that people continue to risk their lives by turning to more dangerous journeys.

Italy has now opened the two “migration centres” in Albania where single men from a list of specified countries will be kept while their asylum claims are processed in Italy. Any successful applicants will be taken to Italy. No doubt we will start hearing horror stories from those centres before very long. Here in the UK, the plan to reopen Campsfield immigration removal centre has been opposed by the local council, but that seems unlikely to change the government’s mind. The Independent Monitoring Board published a report on the use of family detention at Gatwick and recommended closure of the unit.

Following an investigation by OISC, a 33 year old man has pleaded guilty to three counts of providing unregulated immigration advice and services and four counts of fraud after pretending to be an immigration adviser and targeting young women on Facebook.

Finally, it seems we may not need to worry about the new electronic entry-exit system for the EU until at least early next year.

On Free Movement, today Colin takes a look at the immigration implications of the new Employment Rights Bill that was published on Thursday. The excellent Focus on Labour Exploitation has also provided a short briefing with five recommendations for changes. 

Last week on the blog, we published a detailed look at Appendix Child staying with or joining a Non-Parent Relative (Protection), including the upcoming changes as set out in the most recent statement of changes. We have completely updated and refreshed briefings on making applications as a bereaved partner and an adult dependent relative.

There were also a couple of decisions from the European Court of Justice, one on discriminatory measures adopted in respect of women by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan amounting to acts of persecution and the other reminding EU member states that they can only designate whole countries, not parts of countries, as safe. Oh, and I wrote this little Friday fun piece following a recent story I saw about a child who had his passport application refused because of his name, looking at when the Home Office can do this. 

For everything else on Free Movement and elsewhere, read on.

Cheers, Sonia

What we’re reading

Skills for Care report: international recruitment helps social care workforce grow – but domestic recruitment and retention struggles persist – Skills for Care, 10 October

Asylum seekers in Hull still wary of going out two months after hotel targeted during UK riots – Sky News, 8 October

UK seeks to move migrants held on secretive island – BBC News, 8 October

Council to buy homes for refugees fleeing conflict – BBC News, 10 October

Calls for investigation of Uber Eats and Deliveroo after raid on Bristol caravan camp – The Guardian, 12 October

Fall in visa applications by overseas students prompts fears for universities – Independent, 10 October

Pedro Sánchez unveils plans to help migrants settle in Spain – The Guardian, 9 October

Is irregular migration to the EU really on the rise? – Euronews, 9 October

Turkey’s EU-funded deportation machine – Lighthouse Reports, 11 October