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New Reports and Publications

Webmaster — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:00:28 +0000

The Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities (NICEM) has published a report: ‘BAYANIHAN! The Filipino Community In Northern Ireland’.
Download the report at:
http://www.nicem.org.uk/uploads/publications/Bayanihan!_January_2012.pdf (pdf file, 1.3mb)

Asylum Aid has published a report: ‘”I feel like as a woman I’m not welcome”: A gender analysis of UK asylum law, policy and practice’.
Download the report at:
http://www.asylumaid.org.uk/data/files/ifeelasawoman_reportv2.pdf (pdf file, 2.8mb)
Or download the executive summary at:
http://www.asylumaid.org.uk/data/files/ifeelasawoman_exec_sum_web.pdf (pdf file, 1.3mb)

Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association (JENGbA) has published issue 12 of its newsletter.
View and download at:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bxj7944-uHp6NjYwMDcwYmQtNGNjMC00YzJhLWFiNTUtM2ZmZWUwNTJhMjZj (pdf file, 928kb)

The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee has published a report: ‘Rules governing enforced removals from the UK’.
Download the report at:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmhaff/563/563.pdf (pdf file, 1.1mb)

The Home Office has published statistics on: ‘Children entering detention held solely under Immigration Act powers December 2011′.
Download the statistics at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/child-detention-dec2011?view=Standard&pubID=976700

Unsafe return

Webmaster — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:14:45 +0000

By Frances Webber| Institute of Race Relations

A new report on returns to the DRC challenges the government’s assertion that refused asylum seekers are not at risk.

In Unsafe return: refoulement of Congolese asylum seekers, Catherine Ramos examines the experiences of seventeen Congolese refused asylum seekers returned to Democratic Republic of the Congo and finds that most of them were subjected to some sort of ill-treatment, including detention, rape and sexual abuse, beating and extortion. They are considered ‘traitors’ for claiming asylum abroad. Even if they get through the airport, they run the risk of being arrested later.

Allegations of ill-treatment on return to Congo are not new. For over a decade, reports from NGOs, refugee and human rights groups have claimed that refused asylum seekers returned to the DRC are regularly detained and ill-treated. In 2005, a BBC investigation found that ‘failed asylum seekers were beaten and locked away in prison without trial or hiding in fear and no one appears to accept responsibility for checking if they are safe’. In 2008, witnesses from NGOs, the BBC journalist who conducted the investigation and two respected academic experts on the DRC gave evidence to the immigration tribunal on the risks facing refused asylum seekers removed to Ndjili airport, together with three former DRC officials (including two former immigration officers from the airport). A dossier of cases monitored by rights organisations was presented, containing consistent allegations of detention and abuse, including rape and beatings. But the tribunal found reasons for rejecting all this evidence. Refused asylum seekers, it held, were inherently unreliable witnesses, since their asylum requests had been rejected, so nothing they said about their treatment on return home could be taken on trust. The BBC journalist was insufficiently rigorous in her investigation of her informants. The experts, at least one of whom was generally impartial, had unaccountably veered into contention and equivocation in their reports. The DRC officials had exaggerated. The tribunal found that refused asylum seekers were likely to be detained for questioning, might have their possessions stolen by officials and would probably have to use bribery to be released, but that, provided they could pay, they were unlikely to be abused. Payment to avoid further detention and abuse was seen as perfectly acceptable. The Court of Appeal upheld the ruling.[1]

In response to parliamentary questions in 2009 and 2011, ministers have said that ‘no evidence’ has been found of mistreatment of returnees. The responses provoke the question: where have they looked? Embassy staff abroad are not renowned for their vigorous investigation of human rights abuses – a rare diplomatic exception, Craig Murray, the ambassador to Uzbekistan, was sacked in October 2004 after his forthright denunciation of the Uzbek government’s gross human rights abuses. The normal response to allegations of ill-treatment is a discreet and courteous query to the interior ministry of the relevant country, and a totally unquestioning acceptance of the assurances given in return. Unsafe return challenges the UK authorities’ complacent reliance on flawed country information, the lack of proper monitoring by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the situation in Kinshasa, the failure by the government to institute proper monitoring of the fate of returnees despite the flow of consistent allegations. The report is careful and thorough. Is it too much to hope that immigration judges will take its allegations seriously, the next time the safety of the DRC is considered?

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FOOTNOTE

Unsafe return: refoulement of Congolese asylum seekers, Catherine Ramos, Justice First (http://justicefirst.org.uk/), November 2011. Download a copy of the report here (http://justicefirst.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/UNSAFE-RETURN-DECEMBER-5TH-2011.pdf) (pdf file, 292kb. [1] BK (Failed asylum seekers: DRC CG) [2007] UKAIT 00098 (http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKIAT/2007/00098.html#para69), upheld in the Court of Appeal as BK (Democratic Republic of the Congo) v SSHD [2008] EWCA Civ 1322 (http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2008/1322.html)

Unemployment not affected by immigration

Webmaster — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:08:40 +0000

A new report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research has found that immigration into the UK has ‘little or no impact’ on levels of unemployment, and that migrant workers do not produce greater strain during economic recession.

Source: Guardian

New report documents brutal experience of refugees deported to DRC

Webmaster — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:51:00 +0000

A shocking new report documents the post return experience of 17 Congolese men and women who were forcibly removed to DRCongo from the UK between 2006 and 2011. Eleven of these were clients of Justice First a charity working with refused asylum seekers in the Tees Valley. Nine children were removed with their parents or with their mother.

The returnees trusted the integrity of those associated with Justice First and confided details of their post return experience to them.

A pattern of imprisonment and ill treatment emerged which was corroborated by similar reports from other UK civil society groups that had maintained contact with clients.

Source: ICN

Asylum-seeking children and family support suffer most cuts

Webmaster — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:24:22 +0000

Asylum-seeking children and children in need will suffer the biggest cuts in spending over the next year, according to statistics that reveal for the first time how much councils plan to spend on children’s social care in England during 2011-12.

Source: Community Care.co.uk

Refugee Council Training

Webmaster — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:40:29 +0000

Key Issues in asylum- 21st September, London – the course content includes: the distinctions between refugees, asylum seekers and other migrant groups, the current international context of asylum and the causes of flight of refugees, the current legislative structure including the New Asylum Model, where asylum applications are logged (at port and in-country),the role and structure of the UK Border Agency Asylum Teams, the asylum determination process including the appeal process,the Case Resolution programme
possible implications of future legislative changes. More…

An Introduction to asylum support - 22nd September, London – this course covers routes of access to basic entitlements, the UK Border Agency Asylum Support system,the role of UK Border Agency Asylum Teams, possible restrictions in the support process (Section 55 and Section 57), the different asylum support options, the dispersal process, support under current legislation, possible implications of future changes in policy and procedure. More…

End of Process: Support for asylum seekers who have been refused asylum – 28th September, London – course content includes: clarifies some misconceptions and misunderstandings regarding ‘categories’ of refugee and asylum seekers, identify the routes to obtaining legal advice and the processes of making a fresh asylum claim, define the eligibility criteria and entitlements under Section 4 support, recognise who is eligible for community care support,discern when different client groups are entitled to healthcare, education and employment. More…

Delegates will receive a certificate of attendance. All our courses are delivered by experienced practitioners, ensuring they are relevant, up-to-date and practical. All courses count towards OISC CPD. All courses are also available for in-house delivery and can be tailored to suit your requirements.

Looking to train five delegates or more? Our in-house courses may be more prove more cost-effective, up to 20 delegates can be trained at once, in a venue of your choice. Enquire about inhouse courses.

To book email training@refugeecouncil.org.uk All courses cost £109 for registered charities and £175

For a complete list of our current training courses, please visit our website, to make an enquiry contact us.

Assessing the impact of policy changes and cuts

Webmaster — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:10:43 +0000

Employability Forum is currently running a survey which seeks to identify the impact of policy changes and cuts and the emerging gaps in services are for refugees and asylum seekers. This is part of a national Refugee Integration Working Group, co-chaired by UKBA and Employability Forum.

Migrants and Housing in the UK: Experiences and Impacts

Webmaster — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:44:49 +0000

This briefing reviews the statistical and research evidence on migrants’ experiences in and impacts on the UK housing system. The determinants of migrants’ experiences in and impacts on the UK housing system include many factors such as migrants’ characteristics (e.g. age, income level, type of visa, time in the UK), preferences (e.g. household size, renting versus owning, minimum acceptable level of quality of accommodation) and restrictions of access to social housing. Therefore, different types of migrants, with different rights, opportunities and resources are likely to have very different experiences in and impacts on the UK housing system.

Please follow this link to read the briefing paper in full: http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/migobs/Briefing%20-%20Migrants%20and%20Housing%20in%20the%20UK.pdf

New research paper on marriage immigration

Webmaster — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 17:32:59 +0000

The Home Office have published a new piece of research they commissioned, entitled Marriage-related migration to the UK, by Katharine Charsley, Nicholas Van Hear, Michaela Benson and Brooke Storer-Church.

It makes very interesting reading for anyone interested in immigration policy and in the history of spousal immigration. There are a number of graphs representing numbers of grants of settlements to spouses of different nationalities, for example, and while there is an overall upward trend the two stand out features are (1) that the increases are way below the general increase in migration to the UK, meaning that spouses now make up 40% of the total compared to 59% in 1995 and (2) that there are peaks and troughs, which can tentatively be correlated with certain changes in immigration rules.

Age Disputed Young Asylum Seekers

Webmaster — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 17:26:12 +0000

A recent report by the Welsh Refugee Council describes the experience of children and young people whose lives are left in limbo, outside of society’s protective mechanisms because their age is disputed by the UK Border Agency or local authorities. Young Lives in Limbo: the protection of age disputed young people in Wales, examines the difficulties faced by children and young people who arrive in Wales without any documents that would prove their age, and makes recommendations to all stakeholders to ensure that the age assessment process in Wales moves away from a culture that is unfair, inequitable and placing vulnerable children at risk; to one which places the ‘child’s best interests’, needs, and vulnerability at the heart of the assessment.

To get your copy go to http://bit.ly/oghXrO
Tell WRC what you think on http://www.facebook.com/Welshrefcouncil
Follow WRC on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/welshrefcouncil