Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #51

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!

The Times reported last week that Professor Brian Bell, chair of the Migration Advisory Committee, supports people in the asylum system being allowed to work in any role after waiting six months for their claim to be decided. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise given the committee has previously said that permission to work should not be restricted to the shortage occupation list (now immigration salary list).

The government’s response in that article was that implementing this change would act as a “pull factor”. This is an evidence free assertion that has previously been criticised by the committee. It is also worth remembering that the Home Office’s own research states that “access to the labour market does not drive migration” and “economic rights do not act as a pull factor for asylum seekers”.

A Syrian man in his 20s died while attempting to cross the Channel last week. In France, there were further calls for improved search and rescue capacity along the coast. The latest response from the government continues to focus on “smashing the gangs”, this time they are proposing sanctions as part of the solution. This article by Diane Taylor is well worth a read on the questions that ministers refuse to address on what alternatives to the Channel are available for refugees to come here.

On Free Movement, we have a brand new online course on immigration appeals. It is an introductory level course looking at how to lodge and prepare for an appeal, what makes a good witness statement, how to draft a skeleton argument and how to prepare an appeal bundle. It is for members only, so if you haven’t yet taken advantage of our half price sale on membership then best do that before the offer ends tomorrow.

On the blog, we updated and republished our post on Electronic Travel Authorisations to reflect the expansion of the scheme last week. If you work with people in immigration detention then I am afraid you should read this write up of a decision in Northern Ireland that has the potential to cause chaos.

We also covered the latest few cases in the European Court of Human Rights, two on family life between adults and one on Greece unlawfully pushing people back to Turkey without considering their asylum claims. For everything else on Free Movement and elsewhere, read on.

Cheers, Sonia

What we’re reading

A Sharp Fall In Overseas Students Is Hitting University Finances, Accounts Show – PoliticsHome, 11 January

Life and death on the Bibby Stockholm: ‘No one wanted to go inside – but we had no choice’ – The Guardian, 8 January

Home Office concedes age dispute challenge and accepts child refugee wrongly assessed as adult in Criminal Court – Garden Court Chambers, 6 January

Memory and trauma in LGBTQ+ women’s asylum claims on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) grounds: disregarded, dismissed and denied – RLI Working Paper No. 74, December 2024

UK sees huge drop in visa applications after restrictions introduced – Independent, 13 January

The UK-Iraq border deal is a betrayal of vulnerable communities – Border Criminologies, 10 January

Allow Syrians to go back for short visits, EU activists say – DW, 8 January

Visa-waiver system could overwhelm UK immigration services, law firm warns – The Guardian, 10 January

Head of security at Essex centre for disabled asylum seekers removed over alleged far-right views – The Guardian, 9 January

Clearing the UK’s asylum backlog has led to rising refugee homelessness – The Conversation, 6 January