In SS (Malaysia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWCA Civ 888 a child’s Christian mother had fled with the child from Malaysia after the father said he was to convert to Islam, fearing that their child would be brought up a Muslim not a Christian. The...
After my impromptu Snowden mini series a couple of weeks ago, ECRE got in touch to ask for a “didactic commentary regarding general asylum procedures in the context of Snowden’s situation”. With permission, here is the article below, reproduced from the ECRE Weekly Briefing for 12 July 2013:
...In the case of Kapri v The Lord Advocate (representing The Government of the Republic of Albania) [2013] UKSC 48 the Supreme Court has given guidance on the application of the ‘flagrant breach’ test for determining whether a court process abroad is so dysfunctional that removal to face that process...
Last Friday evening Renaissance Chambers’ immigration group hosted a seminar about the new Sri Lanka Country Guidance: GJ and Others (post-civil war: returnees) Sri Lanka CG [2013] UKUT 00319 (IAC). I had the pleasure of speaking together with Shivani Jegarajah, Nishan Paramjorthy, Jan Janayagam from Tamils Against Genocide and Dr...
A long awaited and much needed new Country Guidance cases has finally been issued by the Upper Tribunal: GJ and Others (post-civil war: returnees) Sri Lanka CG [2013] UKUT 00319 (IAC). One of the three appellants succeeded on refugee grounds – congratulations to the legal team behind that result, my...
Why are asylum seekers so often disbelieved? How is it that clinical evidence of torture is oftentimes rejected on the grounds of ‘credibility’? Why has the UK judged so many Tamil asylum seekers not to be at risk, forcibly returning them to Sri Lanka where they have gone on to...
Edward Snowden, the private contractor who exposed the industrial scale intelligence gathering methods of the United States’ National Security Agency and our own GCHQ, is seeking asylum in Russia and a host of other countries. He fears that his ‘freedom and safety’ are under threat. The US government asserts that...
Edward Snowden is coming across as pretty desperate and is reported to have made asylum applications to a host of different countries, all from his reported current location of Russia. The Guardian is keeping tabs on which countries have so far responded and what they have said. It is doubtful...
Finally, there has been a breakthrough in cases where victims of trafficking find themselves prosecuted and convicted here in the UK for engaging in the very activity into which the victim was forced. It may seem strange that it is the victims of trafficking that have ended up with criminal...
“There are now more than 45 million refugees and internally displaced people – the highest level in nearly 20 years. Figures give only a glimpse of this enormous human tragedy. Every day, conflict tears apart the lives of thousands of families. They may be forced to leave loved ones behind...
In the case of MJ (Singh v Belgium : Tanveer Ahmed (unaffected) Afghanistan [2013] UKUT 253 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal found: The conclusions of the European Court of Human Rights in Singh v Belgium (Application No. 33210/2011) neither justify nor require any departure from the guidance set out in Tanveer...
Confirming the earlier Opinion in the same case the Court of Justice of the European Union has today held in MA and Others v UK (Case C‑648/11), in effect, that the Dublin II regulation does not apply to separated children who have claimed asylum. The key conclusion is as follows:...
Many thanks to Eric Fripp of Lamb Building for the following note: On 8th May 2013 in the First Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) at York House, a panel consisting of First Tier Tribunal Judges Woodcraft and Samimi dealt with two cases (references AA/04010/13 and AA/04016/13) in which asylum...
As most of you know, Renaissance Chambers has developed expertise in conducting Tamil asylum claims. The issues involved in these cases have been previously covered on Free Movement here and these include in particular Chambers’ and the NGOs’ efforts to combat recent charter flights set by the UK Border Agency...
DSG & Others (Afghan Sikhs: departure from CG) Afghanistan [2013] UKUT 148 (IAC) Having done quite a few Afghan Sikh cases myself I can say this looks like a very sensible and pragmatic decision essentially disavowing the rather antiquated existing Country Guidance case on this group. A new CG case...
JL (medical reports-credibility) China [2013] UKUT 145 (IAC) Important read for anyone commissioning, writing or relying on medical reports in asylum cases. Official headnote: (1) Those writing medical reports for use in immigration and asylum appeals should ensure where possible that, before forming their opinions, they study any assessments that...
OO (gay men: risk) Algeria [2013] UKUT 63 (IAC) Official headnote: a) “Sodomy” and “acts against nature with a member of the same sex” are illegal under Penal Code Article 388 and 333 in Algeria and on conviction carry a criminal sentence of up to 3 years imprisonment and/or a...
The Court of Appeal in the UK has very recently granted stays preventing the removal of asylum-seekers to Cyprus under Dublin II. The proceedings have been stayed pending the appeal against the judgment in EM (Eritrea) & Ors v SSHD [2012] EWCA Civ 1336. The cases are: – MD (Guinea)...
Like me, readers may have detected some uncertainty from the First-tier and Upper Tribunals about how best to determine claims of former UASCs from Afghanistan in light of EU and others (Afghanistan). In EU the Court of Appeal, Sir Stanley Burnton giving the only substantive judgement, determined the individual claimants’...
I was delighted last week to receive an email from Professor John Fitzpatrick of Kent Law School informing me that AR of WM (DRC) and AR (Afghanistan) [2006] EWCA Civ 1495 (the leading case on fresh asylum claims) fame has been granted a residence permit. Here is how it all...
In the case of Eweida v UK [2013] ECHR 37 the European Court of Human Rights famously dismissed three out of four religious discrimination applications while managing to appear sympathetic to the cause of religious freedom. The case concerned the right to manifest one’s religious views at work. The only claimant...
Last week, Asylum Aid published three research reports into the state of legal aid funding for fighting asylum cases. Taken together, they expose the corrosive effect on quality of the switch to the Graduated Fixed Fee (GFF) funding system in 2007 and the threat to the continuation of quality work...
At 2pm today a group of injunction applications for Tamils facing removal to Sri Lanka by charter flight on 28 February 2013 were heard before Mr Justice Wilkie and Upper Tribunal Judge Gleeson. A suspension on the removal of all Tamil failed asylum seekers was ordered (copy here). The cases...
In Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national, when an applicant for asylum who is an unaccompanied minor with no member of...
The Court of Appeal has in the case of KS (Burma) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWCA Civ 67 found that the 2009 Country Guidance case of TL (Sur Place activities-risk) Burma [2009] UKAIT 00017 was legally flawed, effectively overturning it in what had become a...
In preparing my two year old toddler son for another trip to the swimming pool on Saturday morning, I suddenly realise that I am teaching him how to remember details, what are the important or ‘right’ details (by my reaction when I laugh or smile at the answer) and how...
The Upper Tribunal has issued a new Country Guidance case on Ahmadis from Pakistan, the case of MN and others (Ahmadis – country conditions – risk) Pakistan CG [2012] UKUT 00389 (IAC). Shivani Jegarajah and Colin Yeo of Renaissance Chambers (and this blog) were instructed, as were Manjit Gill QC,...
After seeing the Strasbourg case of Singh v Belgium (33210/11) highlighted here on Free Movement, Balkrishna Gurung of Howe + Co Solicitors (with assistance from David Saldanha) has commissioned a translation and offered to share it with blog readers. Many thanks! The key paragraphs concerning the authentication of the documents...
The Centre for the Study of Emotion and Law (CSEL) has recently collaborated in a new article Non-clinicians’ judgments about asylum seekers’ mental health: how do legal representatives of asylum seekers decide when to request medico-legal reports? by Lucy Wilson-Shaw, Nancy Pistrang and Jane Herlihy, which considers decisions made by...
An old friend sent me this yesterday. Having not read it for years, Owen’s lines about his dreams and helpless sight struck me even more forcefully than the rest. All these years later there are still those that consider that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is not debilitating and serious and...
It is Sri Lanka Charter Flight day again today. Just a quick one to say that the UK Border Agency has suddenly withdrawn parts of its new October 2012 Operational Guidance Note (link to old version) on Sri Lanka. Paragraphs 3.3.4 and 13.6 have been substantially amended (see TAG website...
UNHCR has published guidelines on Working with men and boy survivors of sexual and and gender based violence in forced displacement. The document is essential reading for anyone working with such men and boys and it is the first time I can recall seeing this taboo and much misunderstood subject...
In a case that in some ways exceptional but in many ways entirely ordinary, the UK Border Agency this week rejected an asylum claim by a young Afghan man. The reason the case was exceptional is that he had previously worked with the British armed forces and been horrendously injured...
