Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #64

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!

On Friday the Home Office announced a new £1.5 million fund to help people with the Windrush Compensation Scheme. Assistance is needed and welcome, but the announcement does not include help with legal fees and instead makes a point of saying that “Many victims have reported that while this process is not legally complex”. We don’t hear from anyone who says otherwise, although I am certain that those people exist. 

While some people’s cases may be more straightforward, that is certainly not the case for everyone, as this recent case very ably demonstrated, and the ongoing failure to provide legal support is a barrier to justice. It has also been reported that the community advocates who will receive the funding have expressed doubt about how much additional work the funding will cover, given how labour intensive the applications are.

In another announcement last week, the Home Office has confirmed that inadmissibility action has been discontinued in respect of all of the people who were issued with a notice threatening them with removal to Rwanda between 1 January 2022 and 29 June 2023. It is estimated that these claims will all have been decided by the end of the year. It is worth remembering the impact that this delay will have had on people, not least Afghan nationals who now face a much higher chance of their claim being refused, and Syrians whose position remains uncertain, whereas if these claims had been processed at the time they would have almost certainly been granted refugee status.

On the blog, this morning’s post is my look at what amendments have been made to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill during its committee stage. Most people are probably unaware that during this stage the government amended the Bill to give itself wide new powers to impose conditions on a person who holds lawful leave in the UK, including electronic monitoring and any other conditions the Home Secretary sees fit.

The lack of a fee waiver option for indefinite leave to remain applications has left an unknown, but likely high, number of people stuck on limited leave to remain. A case last week has made some progress on this point in relation to children and hopefully can be built on in future with a view to opening up these fee waivers much further. The Home Office will of course insist on making things as difficult as possible for people, and has appealed the decision.

Also on the blog last week, we updated our guide to making a fresh claim and, with thanks to Andrew Jones for stepping in to cover Barry for a few months, the March podcast came out.

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

Cheers, Sonia

What we’re reading

Home Office haunted by 25-year-old asylum system – The Register, 4 April

Post-Brexit youth mobility scheme with EU on the table – but under different name – Independent, 12 April

Trump is pushing students towards Britain – ministers, don’t let your immigration obsession stand in the way – The Guardian, 11 April

Changes to Right to Work Guidance for gig economy workers: A major shift in immigration compliance – DAC Beachcroft, 3 April

Threadbare: The Quality of Immigration Legal Aid – Migrants Organise, 3 April

People held at UK asylum centre sue government for human rights breach – The Guardian, 7 April

Asylum seeker billed £10,000 for NHS maternity care ‘could only afford penny a month’ – The Guardian, 13 April

Afghan rights defender told she faces ‘no risk’ from Taliban as Home Office denies asylum – The Guardian, 5 April

I’m a survivor of modern slavery – this is the shocking way I was treated by the UK government – Big Issue, 6 April