Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #72

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!

When I said last week that I expected we might get some answers on the immigration white paper from the Home Secretary at the Home Affairs Select Committee, I will admit that I had not yet watched this committee in action with this Home Secretary. I will not expect much from them in future. This write up was spot on. 

The problems with eVisas continue as detailed in this excellent write up, which looks at the impact on people who have lost job opportunities and had their mental health affected by the errors. Judging by that article, the Information Commissioner’s Office continues to be as useful as ever, so it is unclear where the impetus for the Home Office to actually resolve these problems will come from. 

The Home Office must be held accountable for its actions, but it is increasingly unclear where much of that accountability will come from. There are still lawyers I suppose, but it is not really ideal if everything needs to be resolved by the courts, and should unlawfulness really be the bar for Home Office behaviour?

Meanwhile, with UK asylum and settlement claims remaining paused, the situation in Syria remains incredibly unsafe, with tens of thousands of people fleeing to Lebanon.

On the blog, today we have a look at the position of Afghan women seeking asylum in the UK. Last week there were a couple of Court of Appeal decisions, including this one on Cart judicial reviews and this on a refusal of a certificate of travel. 

We also looked at a decision where the High Court found that the Home Office had unlawfully revoked a sponsor licence after failing to allow the company to make representations before the revocation decision. For everything else on Free Movement and elsewhere, read on.

Cheers, Sonia

What we’re reading

Farms and supermarkets could pay seasonal workers’ recruitment costs, says report – The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

Asylum families left unprotected from mob as ‘confused’ police were sent to the wrong hotel – Bristol Live, 3 June

University Finances – London Review of Books, 5 June

International students and asylum claims – Wonkhe, 1 April

‘Smash the gangs’: is Labour’s migration policy just a slogan? – The Guardian, 8 June

Mahmood obtains injunctions over hacked LAA data – Law Gazette, 6 June

Government struggles to cut foreign aid spent on asylum hotels – BBC News, 7 June

A candle in the dark: the CJEU rules against criminalising parents for smuggling their children – EU Law Analysis, 3 June

UK ministers draw up law to fast-track removal of migrants arriving from ‘safe’ countries – The Guardian, 3 June

Less than 4% of exploited care workers helped by UK government scheme – The Guardian, 6 June

Four myths about ‘low-skilled’ migration busted – The Conversation, 5 June