Immigration expected to fall because of economy, not policy
A report, published on New Year’s Day, has predicted that net migration will fall by tens of thousands this year. However, the report also suggests that this fall will be the result of economic conditions and not government policy. The report, Migration Review 2011/12 was published by the independent think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research. The predictions made in the report (detailed below) include that net migration will fall to 180,000 in 2012 but the report is also highly critical of the impact the Coalition’s policy changes will have on this. (more…)
Appealing immigration and asylum decisions from 19 December 2011
From today, the UK government’s Ministry of Justice is introducing new fees for some asylum and immigration appeals, and changing the way customers can submit their appeals. This new policy reflects the government’s view that users of the appeals system, who can afford to pay, should contribute to the system’s cost. Fees of £80 for a paper consideration and £140 for an oral hearing will be applied to appeals against decisions taken on or after 19 December 2011. These are low-level fees that should be affordable for people who are required to pay. The proposed fees are not set at full cost recovery, but only recover around 25 per cent of the full cost of administering the appeal system. The government considers that it is an appropriate balance between low, affordable fees which enable access to justice, and a meaningful contribution towards the costs of the Tribunal. Applicants who appeal decisions dated 19 December 2011 or later from outside the UK will be required to submit their appeals directly to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in Leicester and will no longer be able to send them to the visa application centre overseas that made the initial decision. For more information about this process please see the Ministry of Justice website. Applicants who want to appeal a decision dated before 19 December 2011 from outside the UK are still able to send their appeal to the visa section that made the initial decision. For further information about this process please see the Appeals section on our website. A new online payment facility will be available shortly. This will allow applicants to make an appeal and payment online for decisions dated from 19 December 2011. Appellants must be able to pay using a MasterCard or a Visa credit or debit card or be submitting an appeal which does not require a fee to be paid. Appellants can ask another person to pay the fee on their behalf using their payment card details, with their permission
SIX people, including a child, have died and another 20 are missing after the sinking of an asylum-seeker boat in Indonesian waters
. Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor said the tragedy occurred off the west coast of Java early yesterday and 46 people had been rescued. He said it hadn’t been confirmed the vessel had been heading for Australia, although that appeared likely. “This is a tragic event which underscores the absolute dire need to put in the strongest possible deterrence to combat people smuggling and to prevent dangerous vessels embarking on a journey to Australia,” (more…)
New fund for legal help for young people welcomed
The Refugee Council today welcomes the launch of a new project that will help children and young people seeking asylum in the UK will in future be able to access the legal advice they need. The Strategic Legal Fund for Refugee Children and Young People (SLF) is a new pilot project to support strategic legal work – that is work that goes beyond securing justice for an individual and makes a significant contribution to law, practice and procedures that upholds and promotes the rights of refugee and asylum seeking children and young people.
In the context of unprecedented cuts to legal aid and the advice sector, the primary aim of SLF is to achieve the best possible outcomes for this vulnerable group. It will do this by funding interventions in Court and pre-litigation legal research for cases involving asylum seeking and refugee children and young people.
Judith Dennis, Refugee Council Advocacy Officer said:
“We welcome the timely launch of this fund that will enable organisations to make a lasting change to the provision of legal advice for refugee children and young people.
“Research we carried out earlier this year showed that the quality of legal advice given to young people seeking asylum is often poor, and with cuts to legal aid, the situation will no doubt worsen. It is vital that young people can access high quality legal help to ensure they are given the protection they need, so we are delighted that this fund will provide an opportunity to improve legal provision from a strategic level.”
The SLF is funded by The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and is being delivered in partnership with Trust for London. The day-to-day management and administration of the fund will be carried out by MigrationWork CIC.
For more info and details on how to apply please visit www.migrationwork.org/strategic-legal-fund
Court of Appeal has confirmed that local authority care services
Mind is delighted that the Court of Appeal has confirmed that local authority care services, such as counselling or befriending and social work support, for people with mental health problems, qualify as care and attention under the National Assistance Act 1948. The judgment also clarifies that a council will have a duty to provide accommodation to a person who is homeless and has need for such care services, where this accommodation is required to ensure that the care services are effective. This case is a welcome development in the care of people with mental health problems who are not living in suitable accommodation, clarifying a previously unclear area of the National Assistance Act. Mind would like to acknowledge and give thanks for the pro bono support provided by Kate Markus at Doughty Street Chambers.
One week to go on family consultation 29 September 2011
The 12 week public consultation on reforms to family migration closes on Thursday 6 October 2011. The consultation, which has so far received over 4,000 responses, focuses on tackling abuse, promoting integration and reducing burdens on the taxpayer. Key proposals include: defining more clearly what constitutes a genuine and continuing marriage, to help identify sham marriages and forced marriages; introducing a new minimum income threshold for sponsors of spouses, partners and dependants, to ensure that family migrants are adequately supported as a basis for integration – the independent Migration Advisory Committee has been asked to advise on what the threshold should be; extending the probationary period before spouses and partners can apply for settlement in the UK from 2 years to 5 years, to test that relationships are genuine and to encourage integration into British life; requiring spouses, partners and adult dependants aged under 65 to demonstrate that they can understand everyday English (B1 level on the Common European Framework for Languages) when they apply for settlement; exploring the case for making ‘sham’ a lawful impediment to marriage in England and Wales, and for giving the authorities the power to delay a marriage where sham is suspected; working closely with local authorities to ensure that vulnerable people are not forced into marriage; reviewing the full right of appeal for family visitor visas, and inviting views on whether there are circumstances (beyond race discrimination and human rights grounds) in which a right of challenge should be retained; and looking at the operation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to respect for private and family life) and immigration.
Deportation flight to Iraq blockaded and stopped
On Tuesday afternoon, 21st June 2011, No Borders and refugee solidarity activists blockaded the Harmondsworth and Colnbrook immigration prisons, near Heathrow airport, to stop a mass deportation flight to Baghdad. About 70 Iraqi refugees, mostly Kurds, were due to be forcibly flown on a specially chartered flight from an undisclosed airport at 11pm. A last-minute court injunction forced the Home Office to call it off, so the blockaders decided to end their potest at 9pm, after making sure that the migration prisoners were safely off the buses. The action was an important step in escalating resistance to the deportation machine, in solidarity with the hunger strikers in Campsfield, the rioters in Brook House, the Yarlswood four, and all migration prisoners in their everyday struggle.
Unnecessary immigration appeals to end
An end to late evidence in points-based system appeals will help stop misuse of the system, Immigration Minister Damian Green said today. From Monday 23 May, tribunals will not consider evidence submitted after an application has been made, in appeals relating to applications made in the UK under the points-based system. UK Border Agency statistics show that around two-thirds of appeals allowed by immigration judges are due to late evidence being submitted. The rules change is designed to end unnecessary appeals and help make sure that applications are right first time. It will apply to all applications made within the UK through the points-based system. Damian Green said: ‘For too long, the taxpayer has had to shoulder the burden of a system which allowed individuals to drag out their appeal by submitting new evidence at the last minute. ‘The changes I am making today will put an end to this practice for good.’ The minister added that this is one of a raft of improvements that will make the system ‘more robust, efficient and cost effective’. The government has already introduced an annual limit on economic migrants from outside the EU, as well as making major reforms to the student visa system. These measures are aimed at attracting the brightest and the best, while reducing net migration and tackling abuse of the system. The Minister announced the commencement of the rules change in a written ministerial statement, which you can download from the right side of this page.
David Cameron immigration speechContinue reading the main story Related Stories Who gains from Cable’s outburst
? UK ‘failings over visa controls’ Failed asylum seekers ‘neglected’ Here is Prime Minister David Cameron’s speech on the government’s immigration policy which sparked a row with Business Secretary Vince Cable. A year ago, we were in the middle of a General Election campaign. And there was one message I heard loud and clear on the doorstep: we want things to be different. People said they wanted a government that didn’t just do what was good for the headline or good for their Party but good for the long-term and good for our country. That’s what we’re engaged in. Clearly, (more…)
Human Rights Community in the Iran has been decimated
| Iran: Authorities Attempt to Crush Remaining Active Human Rights NGOs |
 (6 January 2009) Islamic Republic authorities are attempting to shut down the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, one of the few human rights organizations still active in the country, and to stop the human rights activities of the student alumni group ADVAR, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported today. Some members of the groups are being arrested, and others are under intense pressure to halt their work. “In illegally shutting down independent, domestic human rights reporting, the authorities are attempting to preserve their own impunity before Iranian and international law,” said Campaign spokesperson Hadi Ghaemi.On 2 January 2010, Parisa Kakaie and Mehrdad Rahimi, members of the Committee who had been summoned to the Intelligence Ministry and threatened by telephone, were arrested when they appeared at the Intelligence Office. Activists Shiva Nazarahari, Kouhyar Goudarzi and Saeed Hayeri, also members of the Committee, have been arrested [http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2010/01/arrests-womens-activists/] as reported by the Campaign. Previously, on 1 December 2009, Committee members Saeed Kalanaki and Saeed Jalalifar were arrested. Kalanaki was arrested at his office, and his house was later searched and his personal belongs confiscated. Jalalifar was arrested in front of his house by Intelligence Officers who were waiting for him. Both are being held in the public ward in Evin prison. Kalanaki was visited by his family once, but Jalalifar has been denied any visits. Previously, Kalanaki was arrested and convicted by the Revolutionary Court to a three-year suspended prison term. Jalalifar was expelled from Zanjan University during the student protests against the alleged sexual abuse of a female student by the University Deputy. Two other members of the Committee, Saeed Habibi and Hesam Misaghi, have been summoned and threatened by phone, but they refused to appear at the Intelligence Ministry because according to the law, a written summons is required. Previously, Habibi was arrested in November 2007 and released after 70 days on bail of 1,500 million Rials ($150,000) and tried and convicted to a three-year prison term, which has been appealed. In the week of 28 December 2009, Kalanaki and Jalalifar contacted two other members of the Committee by telephone from prison and requested them to stop running the Committee’s website. After they had spoken to their colleagues, their interrogators took the phone and threatened the members, and said that if they did not stop posting information, they would be treated “either within prison or out of the prison.” According to the Committee, the arrested members are being forced to confess that they have relationship with the Mojahedin Khalq Organization, which has been an opposition group operating abroad. The student alumni group ADVAR, which has a unit devoted to human rights violations, still monitors human rights issues from an independent perspective, but the government has [http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2009/12/anni-advar-letter/] arrested key personnel including members who have studied and worked in human rights. On 2 January, ADVAR members Rouzbeh Karimi, a trained human rights defender and journalist, and Forouq Mirzaie, who is educated in human rights and law, and works in the office of human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani, were arrested. Rashid Esmaieli, a human rights student who was expelled from studying and a member of the Central Council of ADVAR, was arrested in Isfahan on 24 December 2009 while suffering from serious health problems. The Committee of Human Rights Reporters and ADVAR are among the fewindependent human rights monitoring groups still operating in the Islamic Republic, while numerous leading human rights defenders have been jailed or driven into exile. The Defenders of Human Rights Center, headed by Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi, was [http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2008/12/reverse-closure-of-nobel-laureate%E2%80%99s-rights-group/] closed by the authorities in December 2008. The director of the Human Rights Organization in Kurdistan, Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand has been in prison since 2007 and is serving a 10 year and 6 month prison term, having been [http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2009/01/mohammad-sadiq-kaboudvand/] sentenced for his human rights activities. The founder of the Association of Prisoners’ Rights, Emad Baghi, was [http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2009/12/release-arrested/] arrested on 28 December 2009, and no further information about his status has been provided. For the latest human rights developments in Iran visit the Campaign’s For more information: Hadi Ghaemi, in New York: +1 917-669-5996 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +1 917-669-5996 end_of_the_skype_highlighting |
