Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #56

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!

Second reading of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill took place last Monday and more briefings have been published, including from Refugee Council, ILPA, Work Rights Centre and Amnesty. The call for evidence for the committee stage of the Bill is now open. Committee stage starts on 27 February so best to get any evidence in as quickly as possible. 

Last week I spotted a guidance change that I thought surely couldn’t possibly mean what it seemed. The Home Office had changed its good character guidance to implement a permanent ban on people deemed to have arrived illegally from being able to naturalise as a British citizen. This would obviously mainly affect refugees. 

Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that the change was exactly what it looked like, and that it had actually been trailed by the Home Secretary during second reading of the Bill, but no one realised what she meant at the time (the reference to the rules when she meant guidance obviously did not help). A Home Office minister in the House of Lords also made it clear that the government own and stand by the decision (as well as indicating that an exceptional and compelling circumstances test would apply).

The backlash to the change was hearteningly massive and continued through the week, with editorials in the Observer and Independent as well as international coverage. It was reported yesterday that a letter with 147 signatories including the general secretary of Unison has gone to the Home Secretary asking her to reconsider. People should also be contacting their MPs, to remind them of the lack of political support for this change.

I had second hand embarrassment for the minister who went on Radio 4 and when asked to justify the change said “what I want to do is I want to get these numbers down“, as though anyone in their right mind believes that those fleeing persecution are keeping up to date with the latest changes to the good character guidance. In any event, those most affected now are not currently on the other side of the Channel.

Instead they are the thousands of people who are already in the UK who have jumped through all the difficult and necessary hurdles in the asylum system in order to be recognised by the Home Office as in need of protection from persecution. They have then held refugee status for five years before successfully applying for settlement in the UK and holding that leave for at least a year. Some will have been in the process of trying to save up the hugely expensive naturalisation application fee. And now, this. 

Meanwhile, another person died trying to cross the Channel on the weekend.

I wanted to say something about the campaign run in the right wing media (who very cleverly managed to uncover the top secret UTIAC decisions database) against the Upper Tribunal last week but today’s newsletter is already long enough. Read this article “Imagined Loopholes” in the London Review of Books instead. 

On Free Movement last week, if you only read my post on the naturalisation change on Tuesday then I would recommend going and having another look as I updated it a couple of times to address various points being raised. There was also this post on a false imprisonment and delay damages case which, if you work for the Home Office or Government Legal Department, I would recommend reading through your fingers.

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

Cheers, Sonia

What we’re reading

New change to Home Office policy permanently blocks refugees from citizenship – Colin’s Substack, 11 February

Séamas O’Reilly: Appeasing the far-right won’t placate them — they’ll just want the next cruelty – Irish Examiner, 15 February

Tories spent £1.9m on ‘dehumanising’ immigration tagging that didn’t work – hyphen, 10 February

Labour’s ‘Go Home Van’ moment – The Lead, 11 February

Immigration myths are everywhere – Prospect Magazine, 10 February

Migrant workers in UK to fill care roles ‘charged up to £20,000’ in illegal fees – The Guardian, 11 February

Becoming a migrant was the best thing I’ve ever done – I was lucky that it was by choice – The Guardian, 12 February

‘My baby misses her dad’ – families plea to change ‘cruel’ UK family visa rules – stv News, 14 February

Fall in overseas students fuels threat to English universities despite rise in fees – The Observer, 16 February

‘Trapped’: Vietnamese slavery victim’s ordeal on UK dope farm – Yahoo, 13 February

Safe from war but freezing in tents on city street – BBC News, 13 February

Manston asylum seeker centre probe set for March – BBC News, 13 February