Warning: contains spoilers. And information about the plot too. See also my review of the original Paddington film. Let me say at the outset that
Carles Puigdemont, erstwhile President de la Generalitat de Catalunya, fled Spain to Belgium this week following his parliament’s unilateral declaration of independence for Catalonia. Several of
Majid Shiri, an Iranian national, arrived in Austria through Bulgaria in 2015. He made an asylum claim in Bulgaria in February of that year but
Newcomers to the UK, whether they have immigration status or not, face formidable obstacles in accessing services such as housing or social security. This is
The difficulty of presenting asylum claims based on religion is well known. Such claims raise difficult evidential problems, which are addressed in this detailed post
Stateless people in the UK face enormous hurdles in the road to becoming British citizens. One of those barriers is the extraordinarily high cost of
The Upper Tribunal overturned several decisions concerning the grant of Discretionary Leave to Remain to a victim of human trafficking in FT, R (on the application of)
What happens where the Upper Tribunal makes a mistake in a country guidance case? And in what circumstances will the Court of Appeal have jurisdiction
The Supreme Court in the case of the Lord Advocate (representing the Taiwanese Judicial Authorities) (Appellant) v Dean (Respondent) (Scotland) [2017] UKSC 44 considered the first occasion
For some reason the Home Office has just released a swathe of inspection reports into a wide range of Home Office operations. In practical terms,
After more than a decade since Limbuela, and three years after Refugee Action, Home Office policy continues to drive asylum seekers into destitution. The Refugee
The violence in Libya has reached such a high level that substantial grounds are shown for believing that a returning civilian would, solely on account
In tribute to beloved author Michael Bond (1926-2017), who died yesterday, I am republishing this blog post reviewing the film Paddington, based on the character
In March 2017 the Home Office announced a new policy of reviewing whether all refugees require protection at the end of a 5 year initial
The pilot of the Athens Refugee Legal Support Project has now run for 2 months now. We work out of a community centre in Athens
“Why don’t asylum seekers stop before they get here?” I have been asked this question many times. There are lots of safe countries on the
R (Bashir) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 397 The British Sovereign Base Areas (“SBAs”) are small British-run areas on
Case C-36/17: Daher Muse Ahmed v Bundesrepublik Deutschland The EU does not want asylum seekers to ‘shop around’ its Member States. To this end, various
Is the First-Tier Tribunal (FTT) bound to take into account a Country Guidance (CG) case that is issued by the Upper Tribunal after the date
To summarise, figuratively the Secretary of State does not have a leg upon which to stand either factually or legally. These were the words used
LC (Albania) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 340. The Home Office has relied on outdated guidance to determine asylum
In an oral decision in the case of R (on the application of AO & AM) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (stay
Shortly after Christmas in 2009, a young woman from Somalia flew into Stanstead and claimed asylum. She had just turned 18. As later accepted by
Al Chodor and Others (C-528/15) In a highly significant judgment the CJEU has shown, in effect, that the Home Office has unlawfully detained hundreds or even
“The Tribunal’s conclusion was… that [in order to fabricate an asylum claim] the appellant had allowed himself to be anaesthetised and then branded with a
The Home Office has announced a new policy of reviewing whether all refugees require protection at the end of a five year initial period of
C-573/14 Lounani (Grand Chamber, 31st January 2017) A person applying for protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention can be excluded from its provisions under certain
‘[I]t has to be said, Asmara does not feel like the capital of a country generating asylum applications with a 85% grant rate’ (sic) –
According to estimates, there are 10,000-13,000 victims of modern slavery living in the UK. In order to tackle this problem, the UK government operates a
The High Court has ruled in the case of R (On the Applications Of TN (Vietnam) & US (Pakistan)) v Secretary of State for the
If the case of Tarakhel was considered another body blow to the Dublin system, the recent Court of Appeal case of NA (Sudan) v The
In a new case on dental age assessments, the tribunal has ordered that a young asylum seeker to undergo a dental x-ray and age assessment.
Recently, after being introduced to someone, I mentioned that I work on statelessness policy. When faced with the confused look I am growing to recognise
Written by Eleanor BONNER & Beate DASARATHY Following on from the Proving Torture conference in October last year which Free Movement wrote about at the
The Home Office has made public its internal guidance for officials on the process and criteria for admitting children to the UK who were living
Can the Family Court ignore a decision by the Home Office to grant asylum to a child by ordering the child’s return to the country
In HD (Trafficked women) Nigeria CG [2016] UKUT 00454 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal considered the position of victims of trafficking returning to Nigeria. Under the
The Upper Tribunal has issued a new Country Guidance case on Eritrea: MST and Others (national service – risk categories) (CG) [2016] UKUT 443 (IAC).
The Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt, has criticised Home Office handling of applications by family members of refugees settled in the UK.
The UK government, and Europe, has spared no expense to ensure that wherever the people trying to get to Europe end up, it isn’t here.
Warning: contains spoilers. And information about the plot too. See also my review of the original Paddington film. Let me say at the outset that Paddington 2 is a deeply unrealistic film. As a Paddington fan and father of two young children I had no problem suspending my disbelief to...
Carles Puigdemont, erstwhile President de la Generalitat de Catalunya, fled Spain to Belgium this week following his parliament’s unilateral declaration of independence for Catalonia. Several of his ministers followed him into exile. A European Arrest Warrant will soon be issued seeking their extradition back to Spain to face criminal charges....
Majid Shiri, an Iranian national, arrived in Austria through Bulgaria in 2015. He made an asylum claim in Bulgaria in February of that year but claimed asylum in Austria the following month. The Austrian authorities asked Bulgaria to take Mr Shiri back under the Dublin III Regulation, which ‘take back request’...
Newcomers to the UK, whether they have immigration status or not, face formidable obstacles in accessing services such as housing or social security. This is a look at some common scenarios and how foreign nationals and their advisers deal with them. They are based on real client cases. Scenario one:...
The difficulty of presenting asylum claims based on religion is well known. Such claims raise difficult evidential problems, which are addressed in this detailed post by Colin Yeo. But AS (Iran) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 1539 seems to pose a novel difficulty: should...
Stateless people in the UK face enormous hurdles in the road to becoming British citizens. One of those barriers is the extraordinarily high cost of acquiring British citizenship, writes Asylum Aid’s Cynthia Orchard. The UK government has taken some steps to ensure its approach to statelessness complies with international law....
The Upper Tribunal overturned several decisions concerning the grant of Discretionary Leave to Remain to a victim of human trafficking in FT, R (on the application of) v the Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKUT 331(IAC). The background to the case is that of the Home Office failing to appropriately...
What happens where the Upper Tribunal makes a mistake in a country guidance case? And in what circumstances will the Court of Appeal have jurisdiction to hear an appeal against an Upper Tribunal decision that has already been remitted to the First Tier Tribunal? Both of these interesting issues crop...
The Supreme Court in the case of the Lord Advocate (representing the Taiwanese Judicial Authorities) (Appellant) v Dean (Respondent) (Scotland) [2017] UKSC 44 considered the first occasion on which Taiwan has sought to extradite a British national. On appeal from the Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary (‘the...
For some reason the Home Office has just released a swathe of inspection reports into a wide range of Home Office operations. In practical terms, this makes it impossible for the press to pick out more than one or two stories from the reports and it therefore very effectively reduces...
After more than a decade since Limbuela, and three years after Refugee Action, Home Office policy continues to drive asylum seekers into destitution. The Refugee Action report, Slipping Through the Cracks, candidly outlines these failings of the asylum support system. This is hardly the first time these sorts of flaws...
The violence in Libya has reached such a high level that substantial grounds are shown for believing that a returning civilian would, solely on account of his presence on the territory of that country or region, face a real risk of being subject to a threat to his life or...
In tribute to beloved author Michael Bond (1926-2017), who died yesterday, I am republishing this blog post reviewing the film Paddington, based on the character created by Bond. The blog post was originally published on 1 December 2014 and versions of it appeared in the New Statesman and Financial Times....
In March 2017 the Home Office announced a new policy of reviewing whether all refugees require protection at the end of a 5 year initial period of Refugee Status. This policy is effective for all existing and future applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain (‘ILR’) as a Refugee. This policy...
The pilot of the Athens Refugee Legal Support Project has now run for 2 months now. We work out of a community centre in Athens with the support of ILPA and Garden Court Chambers. Weekly reports from UK legal volunteers (solicitors, barristers, case workers) tell a similar story. The Greek...
R (Bashir) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 397 The British Sovereign Base Areas (“SBAs”) are small British-run areas on the Cyprus islands that survived the former colony’s independence. The Home Office has taken the position for a number of years that the Refugee Convention...
Case C-36/17: Daher Muse Ahmed v Bundesrepublik Deutschland The EU does not want asylum seekers to ‘shop around’ its Member States. To this end, various Regulations exist to prevent someone who has already claimed asylum in one Member State from subsequently doing so in another. But what if an applicant...
Is the First-Tier Tribunal (FTT) bound to take into account a Country Guidance (CG) case that is issued by the Upper Tribunal after the date of the FTT hearing, and after the date the FTT judge signs the determination, but before that determination is promulgated? The short answer, in general,...
To summarise, figuratively the Secretary of State does not have a leg upon which to stand either factually or legally. These were the words used by Mr Justice McCloskey, president of the Upper Tribunal, in the judicial review case of Mohamed Al-Anizy. Needless saying, he was not very impressed by...
LC (Albania) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 340. The Home Office has relied on outdated guidance to determine asylum applications from Albanian nationals, the Court of Appeal has held. The judgment in LC (Albania) will have far-reaching effects for those people denied protection under...
Shortly after Christmas in 2009, a young woman from Somalia flew into Stanstead and claimed asylum. She had just turned 18. As later accepted by the Home Office, she had experienced severe depredations in her home country. This included her rape at the age of six in the presence of...
Al Chodor and Others (C-528/15) In a highly significant judgment the CJEU has shown, in effect, that the Home Office has unlawfully detained hundreds or even thousands of individuals seeking international protection. The background facts The Al Chodor family are Iraqi nationals. They travelled to the Czech Republic and were subject...
“The Tribunal’s conclusion was… that [in order to fabricate an asylum claim] the appellant had allowed himself to be anaesthetised and then branded with a hot metal rod” – Elias LJ, KV (Sri Lanka) In this area of law, it is sometimes hard to live with the reality of what...
The Home Office has announced a new policy of reviewing whether all refugees require protection at the end of a five year initial period of leave. The policy appears to be effective immediately for all refugee settlement applications, including for refugees already resident in the UK and who were expecting...
C-573/14 Lounani (Grand Chamber, 31st January 2017) A person applying for protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention can be excluded from its provisions under certain circumstances. As the Court of Justice of the European Union explained in B and D in 2010, these circumstances include those guilty of committing terrorist...
‘[I]t has to be said, Asmara does not feel like the capital of a country generating asylum applications with a 85% grant rate’ (sic) – Informal Home Office report of UK visit to Eritrea, 9-11 December 2014 In 2014, nationals of Eritrea were the second largest group of asylum seekers...
According to estimates, there are 10,000-13,000 victims of modern slavery living in the UK. In order to tackle this problem, the UK government operates a Modern Slavery Strategy, and the Border Force plays its part by identifying potential victims, and ‘targeting’, ‘intercepting’ and ‘disrupting’ traffickers, primarily at the border. How...
The High Court has ruled in the case of R (On the Applications Of TN (Vietnam) & US (Pakistan)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Anor [2017] EWHC 59 (Admin) that over 10,000 asylum appeals had been decided under procedure rules so unfair that the determinations could...
If the case of Tarakhel was considered another body blow to the Dublin system, the recent Court of Appeal case of NA (Sudan) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 1060 has picked up the Dublin system up off the ropes for another round. The...
In a new case on dental age assessments, the tribunal has ordered that a young asylum seeker to undergo a dental x-ray and age assessment. If he refuses, his court case will be struck out. The case also gives general guidance on the correct approach to be followed in similar...
Recently, after being introduced to someone, I mentioned that I work on statelessness policy. When faced with the confused look I am growing to recognise when I tell people about my work, I began to explain: some people don’t have citizenship of any country. He (thinking hipster-type ‘citizens of the...
Written by Eleanor BONNER & Beate DASARATHY Following on from the Proving Torture conference in October last year which Free Movement wrote about at the time, Freedom from Torture has released a new report, ‘Proving Torture: Demanding the Impossible,’ which highlights UKVI’s significant failings when it comes to considering medical...
The Home Office has made public its internal guidance for officials on the process and criteria for admitting children to the UK who were living in the Calais camp. The obligation to admit the children comes from section 67 of the recently passed Immigration Act 2016, a section otherwise known...
In HD (Trafficked women) Nigeria CG [2016] UKUT 00454 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal considered the position of victims of trafficking returning to Nigeria. Under the previous country guidance case, PO (trafficked women) Nigeria [2009] UKAIT 00046, in order to demonstrate a real risk of persecution on return to Nigeria, a...
The Upper Tribunal has issued a new Country Guidance case on Eritrea: MST and Others (national service – risk categories) (CG) [2016] UKUT 443 (IAC). It weighs in at 459 paragraphs plus voluminous appendices. The findings are good news for Eritrean refugees seeking sanctuary; the tribunal recognises the danger they...
The Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt, has criticised Home Office handling of applications by family members of refugees settled in the UK. His new report found the Home Office was too quick to refuse applications which might ultimately succeed once fuller evidence was provided, particularly where it...
The UK government, and Europe, has spared no expense to ensure that wherever the people trying to get to Europe end up, it isn’t here. But the courts are seemingly doing their best to help. The Court of Appeal’s judgment in Secretary of State for the Home Department v ZAT...
