Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #95

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! 

The far right were openly celebrating on social media over the weekend, as the Home Secretary heavily trailed the Labour government’s new asylum policy. The statement will include a proposal that people who have been recognised by the UK as refugees at risk of persecution in their home country will only be granted leave for two and a half years at a time, with the ability to settle only after 20 years. The threat to remove them from the UK should their home country be deemed “safe” will remain active throughout that time. She expects families to live with that stress and fear for two decades – whole childhoods, gone. Just think about that for a moment. Let alone the fact that the Home Office is completely unequipped to undertake such a monumental amount of additional work, apparently estimated by Refugee Council to be 1.4 million applications over the next ten years.

Other horrors have also been trailed, including taking jewellery and other valuables from people. The Home Secretary’s plan to get support from Labour MPs and others whose stomachs are rightfully turning at the proposals is seemingly to threaten them with a Reform government. This strategy is somewhat undermined by Farage apparently telling the Mail that she “sounds like a Reform supporter”. Fortunately for the Home Secretary, the Tories are already offering their help to get the legislation through.

We will be on the case as usual as soon as the statement is out (it is expected to be published at 2pm, with the Home Secretary making a statement to the Commons at 3.30pm). You can pre-emptively arm yourselves with evidence to rebut the assertions she is likely to make with the Home Office research on “pull factors”, as well as my recent briefings on the reality behind “last minute” challenges to removal and “abuse” of the modern slavery system. Although really, we’ve been here before, and not that long ago, so I am sure everyone has resources ready to show how harmful and unworkable the proposals are.

And the most important point to remember is that none of this will, of course, “stop the boats”. It will simply immiserate the lives of those here, and make it practically impossible for them to ever integrate. We know that holding a temporary status makes it much harder for people to get jobs and homes as well as being damaging to mental health. People will inevitably need more government support as a result of these proposals.  

On Free Movement, today you will all hopefully be getting in touch with your Labour MP to communicate your concerns over the rhetoric and content of their asylum policies, but we have a post today looking at another way getting in touch with an MP can be useful. Namely, to assist in an immigration or asylum matter. Written by a caseworker, this is a really useful look at what can and can’t be done from their side.

I did a quick write up of the latest in the Epping Hotel litigation and there was also a deprivation case and a challenge to a good character naturalisation refusal which was unsuccessful in SIAC. We have started the process of updating our general grounds of refusal posts in line with new Part Suitability, starting with owing a debt to the NHS.

Also last week, the October round up podcast came out (in which I foreshadowed today’s announcement) and we published this look at the criminalisation and racism faced by people at the border in France. For everything else on Free Movement and elsewhere, read on.

Cheers, Sonia

What we’re reading

Think twice before copying Denmark’s asylum policies – The Conversation, 14 November

The UK wants to emulate Denmark’s hardline asylum model – but what does it actually look like? – The Guardian, 14 November

Profiting From People: Inside the UK’s Asylum Hotels – RAMFEL, 11 November

New Council of Europe Guide to help national authorities protect migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls – Council of Europe, 5 November

Departments Split On Size Of International Student Levy – PoliticsHome, 13 November

“It’s About Earning Consent”: Inside The Labour Government’s “Difficult Tightrope” On Immigration – PoliticsHome, 11 November

Jailed climate activist wins appeal against deportation from UK – The Guardian, 10 November

Prisons ‘could collapse’ under new visa rules as more than 2,500 prison staff could face deportation – itv News, 12 November

Drugs, violence and profit: Inside Britain’s Brook House detention centre – euobserver, 17 November