Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #66

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!

It looks like further government amendments will be made to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. The Home Office has announced an increase to the penalties for people who give immigration advice without being appropriately regulated. The announcement also said that they will close a loophole that allows someone currently banned from giving immigration advice to continue giving advice under “supervision”. I can’t see that the actual amendments have been published yet but presumably this will happen shortly.

Last week it was reported that the US has sent an Iraqi national to Rwanda and intends to send further people there. Details remain unclear but it was reported that the man is a refugee and was sent to Rwanda because he could not be returned to Iraq. It certainly seems that the US may be taking over at least some elements of the UK’s abandoned Rwanda agreement and it is a good reminder of how these policies all feed into the international race to the bottom on the treatment of those seeking asylum. 

A US embassy cable stated that “Rwanda’s primary motivation for accepting Mr. Amen and subsequent TCNs [Third Country Nationals] is to improve U.S. relations and show it can advance the America First agenda”. It will be interesting to see whether there is also a financial motivation and if so, how much the US government is paying for these arrangements given the sums already paid by the UK.

On the blog, we have kicked off your week with some good news from Asylum Aid who have won their challenge to the family reunion rules being applied to people who are stateless. We also published a detailed look at recent changes to the country policy and information note on social media, surveillance and sur place activities in Iran.

I wrote up a High Court case where a man who has been recognised as a refugee successfully challenged a negative trafficking decision. The Home Office tried to argue that the case should not proceed because of his grant of refugee leave, however this was rejected by the judge who said that there are other benefits to recognition as a survivor of trafficking. 

There was also this case in the Upper Tribunal where, due to various failings by the Home Office, a woman encountered working at a nail salon while on a skilled worker visa won her challenge to the cancellation of her leave. For everything else on Free Movement and elsewhere, read on.

Cheers, Sonia

What we’re reading

Partner struck off for misleading client and firm over visa progress – Legal Futures, 24 April

Over 100,000 Syrian lives on hold in EU and UK amid lingering asylum freeze – Middle East Eye, 26 April

5 ways to tackle Australia’s backlog of asylum cases – The Conversation, 24 April

Top cancer experts ‘being put off UK by politicians’ messaging on immigration’ – The Guardian, 21 April

Home Office backlogs: lessons to be learnt – Amnesty International, 23 April

Labour MPs urge Starmer to back youth mobility scheme amid EU trade reset – The Guardian, 23 April

‘One mistake and their Germanness is gone’: how idea of stripping citizenship for crimes spread across Europe – The Guardian, 26 April

‘It was steer or they would kill me’: why Sudanese war refugees are filling prisons in Greece – The Guardian, 28 April

Victory for asylum seekers as TfL pledges better access to cheaper travel after City Hall protest – Harrow Online, 25 April

Ongoing challenge to SSHD’s policy regarding the identification of victims of trafficking – Landmark Chambers, 22 April

Give abused migrant workers new visa to stay in the UK, home secretary urged – The Independent, 24 April