Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #94

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! 

Over the weekend the BBC reported that the Home Secretary will announce “a major shake-up of the immigration and asylum system later this month”. We expect a policy paper from the Home Office shortly, but it was reported by the BBC that they are specifically seeking to learn from what is being done in Denmark. Personally, I feel strongly that a system that includes different treatment of people living in what has been deemed “parallel societies” is not something that the UK should be seeking to emulate any aspect of. On it as ever, the House of Commons Library has produced this briefing on asylum policy in Denmark. 

The Home Affairs Committee spoke to the Migration Advisory Committee last week. They covered topics including the huge fall in net migration, differing regional needs on migration, the impact of additional investment in training the domestic workforce, and settlement. 

My favourite quote? “The data in the Home Office is absolutely awful—spreadsheets here, spreadsheets there that do not link, and people have lost identifiers that would have allowed you to match datasets across.” On that note – the latest on the HMRC scandal I mentioned last week is that almost half of the families that had been flagged in Home Office data as having moved out of the UK were in fact still living here.

A couple of points I wanted to mention on specific asylum related cases. First, the situation for Syrian nationals with pending settlement protection applications remains unclear, with the Home Office seemingly having no idea how many applications are even pending. Second, anyone working on a case involving trafficked men from Albania where the Home Office is disputing that they form part of a particular social group should take a look at the useful resources provided by MiCLU. A country guidance case is pending.

On the blog, there is a new report out from Asylos which is a must read for anyone working on Afghan cases. Important rule changes take effect from tomorrow for family members of stateless people. Freedom of information data has disclosed that there are huge delays in the processing of administrative reviews in EU Settlement Scheme applications, with 80% of them waiting for over two years. 

We also had lots of case write ups, including two newly reported Upper Tribunal decisions. One of those looked at the Home Office’s attempted withdrawal of a concession in an EUSS appeal and another at overseas adoptions. For everything else on Free Movement and elsewhere, read on.

Cheers, Sonia

What we’re reading

You can’t promote immigrant integration by making it harder – Colin’s Substack, 4 November

EU: New Handbook offers guide to privacy and data protection for immigration and asylum practitioners – Statewatch, 31 October

Strike-off for solicitor who lied to Home Office and MP – Legal Futures, 6 November

TfL staff urge skilled worker visa rule change – BBC News, 7 November

Further success for Gazan students as the Home Office and Foreign Office commit to supporting the evacuation of their dependants – Doughty Street Chambers, 7 November

Imagined immigration is shaping our politics – LSE, 5 November

The Use of Mobile Data in the European Asylum System – Border Criminologies, 7 November

Government recovers £74m from asylum hotel firms – BBC News, 6 November

Crime fixer caught by BBC offering to erase £60k fines on migrant workers – BBC News, 5 November

Refugee families in the UK must have a safe route to reunite with a lost child – PoliticsHome, 4 November