Kurdish government bans deportation flights from UK
September 2, 2010 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
The Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq has banned the landing of flights deporting failed asylum seekers to its territory, amidst plans for sixty Iraqis to be deported in the next week.
Living against the clock
August 18, 2010 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
By Rowenna Davies
A family awaits the dawn knock at the door amid fears that ending detention of child asylum seekers will lead to quicker deportations
Fourteen-year-old Farzana Begum sits on her bed. She is wearing eyeliner and heavy silver earrings dangle around her small brown face. Her room could belong to many teenage girls in Manchester. A mirror is propped up on a cabinet and faded printouts of friends scatter the walls. It looks like a safe place, but it isn’t. Two weeks ago, a letter arrived informing Farzana and her mother that, after five years in the UK, their asylum claim had been rejected. Although it didn’t say when they would have to leave the UK, it did say they would be deported if they did not agree to return voluntarily to Bangladesh.
NUJ member Charles Atangana faces deportation
Iraqi pupil to be deported over age dispute
July 31, 2010 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
By Jerome Taylor
An Iraqi refugee who is studying for his GCSEs has been told he will be made homeless and deported because social workers have decided that he is 20 years old.
Rabar Hamad came to Britain two years ago hidden in the wheel arch of a truck, after his parents were killed by unknown assailants in a bomb attack on their home in Iraqi Kurdistan.
He was initially assessed by social workers as an adult and forced to live in a hostel. But following a tribunal hearing he was “re-evaluated” by a doctor who decided that his age was somewhere between 13 and 16. Rabar himself claims to be 16 and says he has official documents which prove his age. But the originals have been lost and photocopies cannot be accepted under Home Office guidelines.
High Court quashes policy of speedy deportations
July 26, 2010 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
Reuters report that the High Court has quashed a Home Office policy which allows for the swift deportation of foreign nationals refused permission to remain Britain, saying it is unlawful.
The court ruled that the policy, introduced in 2007 but widened earlier this year, meant those affected had “little or no notice” of removal and so were deprived of access to justice.
The Border Agency’s general policy allows 72 hours notice of removal but this can be reduced to little or none at all for people in certain categories, such as those believed to be at risk of self-harm or unaccompanied children who might abscond because they cannot be detained.
The case was brought by Medical Justice, a body which provides independent medical and legal advice to detainees in immigration removal centres.
It argued that this “exceptions policy” was being used to swoop late at night and escort people to flights leaving only a few hours later, depriving them of the ability to contact lawyers and launch a last-ditch challenge.
The Home Office argued that its policy was “sufficiently flexible” to ensure there were no human rights breaches and that detainees were given as much notice as possible while safeguards had also been put in place.
But judge Justice Silber rejected that argument, the Press Association reported.
“The policy is unlawful and must be quashed,” he said.
However, he did allow the Home Office permission to appeal against his decision, saying the case raised issues of general public importance, including the constitutional right of access to justice.
A Home Office spokesman said they were disappointed with the verdict and would appeal.
“The policy of making limited exceptions in special circumstances to 72-hour notification of immigration removal has been an important element of our management of removals,” he said.
“The government remains committed to removing individuals with no right to be in the UK as quickly as possible.”
Precious ‘victory’ as coalition ends detention of child asylum seekers
July 22, 2010 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
By David Maddox
DETENTION for child asylum seekers is to be brought to an end in the UK, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has revealed.
Mr Clegg said the family unit at Yarl’s Wood detention centre will be shut down.
The centre in London is where children are transferred to after child detention was earlier ended at Dungavel in Scotland – one of the first acts of the new coalition government.
The announcement was described as a victory for ten-year-old Precious Mhango who faces the threat of being deported back to Malawi with her mother Florence.
Precious’s story came to prominence after her journals of her time spent in Dungavel and Yarl’s Wood were revealed.
Details Revealed of Secret Removal of UK Asylum Seekers
July 8, 2010 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
Refugees who have been refused stay in the U.K. are flown out secretly in planeloads accompanied by escorts pressured by pay incentives to get the job done quickly, according to an investigation in The Independent newspaper.
The U.K. Border Agency (UKBA) is using chartered flights more frequently and using excessive force to restrain detainees appears to be commonplace, according to the details published on Monday.
Abused, humiliated and abandoned
July 5, 2010 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
By Billy Kenber
On a sunny April morning earlier this year, a plane took off from Heathrow’s northern runway at a little after 6.30am and turned towards the South coast. Unlike other flights, this one didn’t appear on any of the airport’s departure boards. Nor were those on board holidaymakers or businessmen.
Instead, this secret flight carried 15 failed asylum-seekers, who were being forcibly removed from the United Kingdom by 45 private security guards. One of those on board was Yves Yitgna Njitchoua, a 34-year-old from Cameroon. “People were screaming and crying because they feared for their lives,” he said in an interview with The Independent. Mr Njitchoua says his wrists and legs were handcuffed for the whole flight. He was allowed to go to the toilet only with the door open and four guards standing outside.
Hundreds of children deported alone under EU rules
June 22, 2010 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
By Neil Puffett
Hundreds of children seeking asylum in the UK have been deported unaccompanied to other European Union (EU) nations without due consideration given to their welfare or rights, CYP Now has learned.
The government’s use of European regulations has been criticised by organisations seeking to ensure the safety and wellbeing of asylum-seeking children.
Under the so-called Dublin Regulation, the UK can remove asylum seekers to their first entry point into Europe, provided it is an EU member, without the need for a formal assessment of their needs or of any asylum claim made in this country. In total, 445 children have been removed under these powers since 2004, 334 of whom were unaccompanied according to figures released in Parliament.
New hope Leicester Tigers star Tuigali
June 17, 2010 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
There is fresh hope that a rising Leicester Tigers star fighting deportation may be able to stay in Britain.
Immigration officials have now called Manu Tuigali’s lawyer and told the Mercury they were “keen to achieve a solution” for the teenager.
On Monday, it was reported that Manu had his application to stay in the UK turned down by the Home Office, meaning he faces being sent back to his native Samoa.
It was a major blow for the 19-year-old, who was about to be offered a professional contract at Welford Road after rising through the ranks at the Tigers academy.
