Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #80

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! 

Because of the way that people in the asylum system are treated, the period while waiting for a decision is often an undignified and dangerous time. It is understandable that where other options are available people will choose those so as to avoid entering the asylum system ideally forever, but for at least as long as possible. There is a quote from a Canadian case referred to in a practitioners’ guide (footnote 94) that I have used in the past:

If one can depart the place where one fears persecution by lawful emigration, that would seem an eminently satisfactory resolution. That a person has sought to emigrate strikes me as a feeble basis for questioning the credibility of that person’s evidence of fear of persecution at home.

I mention this because of the latest plan by the Home Office to somehow “crackdown” on the number of students who go on to claim asylum. Nationalities mentioned as targets are Pakistani, Nigerian and Sri Lankan. The quote above is from a handbook on asylum claims based on sexual identity and gender identity. This is a group that seems likely to be disproportionately affected by such a crackdown, given the risks they face in those countries. It is completely logical that anyone who can, will use one of the immigration routes available to them to come to the UK. Some of those people will no doubt move into work routes, others will claim asylum only once they have run out of any alternatives. 

I could have filled this newsletter with my views on the racists who have chosen to spend their summer harassing vulnerable people, but I think the topic has been given more than enough oxygen. ILPA put out a good statement last week and there are also resources for those affected. 

On Free Movement, I commented in last week’s newsletter that the Home Office’s insistence on biometrics enrolment continues to put lives at risk in Gaza. That was in relation to a group of students yet later the same day we had another example, as a family successfully challenged the Foreign Secretary’s refusal to provide them with consular assistance to help them to safety.

We have updated our statelessness course for members and published a look at the recent ICJ advisory opinion on climate change, as well as a post on the new, simplified process for Irish citizens to register as British. For everything else on Free Movement and elsewhere, read on.

Cheers, Sonia

What we’re reading

The Metropole: Closer to a prison than a holiday for asylum seekers – The Blackpool Lead, 27 July

Number of asylum seekers at ex-RAF base in Essex to rise by more than 50% – The Guardian, 30 July

Legal aid cyber-attack has pushed sector towards collapse, say lawyers – The Guardian, 3 August

Are Small Boat Migrants Really 24x More Likely to Go to Prison? – Monk Debunks: Beyond the narrative, 5 July

Demonising migrants won’t fill jobs or boost falling populations – The Observer, 2 August

Social media ads promoting small boat crossings to UK to be banned – The Guardian, 2 August

‘At last I have peace’: Windrush-era grandmother has right to remain reinstated after 50 years – The Guardian, 2 August

A hostile environment: language, race, surveillance and the media – Runnymede Trust, August 2025

Comment: ‘I (do not) predict a riot – but cohesion demands more’ – Eastern Eye, 31 July