Research

Journal article: Evidentiary Standards of Inquisitorial versus Adversarial Asylum Procedures in the Light of Harmonization by Staffans, L. L. in European Public Law Vol 14 No 4.

Since August the Home Office’s Country of Origin Information Service has published new Country Reports on Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Eritrea, India, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Kosovo, North Korea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Turkey and Zimbabwe.

Policy and law

The Border, Immigration and Citizenship Bill has been brought forward. According to the UK Border Agency it will simplify and thereby replace all current immigration legislation. It will also “strengthen border controls, by bringing together customs and immigration powers, and to ensure that newcomers to the United Kingdom earn the right to stay”.  

The Refugee Council has published a briefing on the Home Office’s management of ‘case resolution’ cases – the backlog of asylum claims previously known as legacy cases, which fall outside of those dealt with under the New Asylum Model and are now shared between the Case Resolution Directorate and Enforcement Teams.

An editorial in medical journal The Lancet has warned that children held in detention centres are not getting access to the healthcare they need. See also BBC News

The European Commission has proposed to amend within the next two years three of the legislative instruments of the Common European Asylum System: the Dublin Regulation, which determines the Member State responsible for an asylum application; the Directive on Reception Conditions for asylum-seekers; and the Eurodac Regulation, a database with the fingerprints of asylum seekers used to apply the Dublin Regulation. See also current ECRE newsletter for commentary and further background.

News

A Cameroonian woman has been awarded £38,000 damages for unlawful detention in Yarl’s Wood, on the basis the Home Office had mishandled her asylum claim after she informed them that she was a torture victim.

Resources

The Runnymede Trust has published Tell Me What I Need to Know – a guide for parents, especially from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME), Refugee, Asylum-seeking and Traveller communities to enable them to support their children’s education better.

The Refuge and the Fortress is a new book by Jeremy Seabrook marking the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA)’s 75^th anniversary. It charts British reactions to refugees from 1915 to the present, and highlights the work of refugee academics in the UK. See press review here

Research

The Refugee Women’s Resource Project (RWRP) has published Relocation, Relocation: the impact of internal relocation on women asylum seekers by Claire Bennett.

The International Journal of Refugee Law Vol 20 No 4 features an article by Robert Thomas on Consistency in Asylum Adjudication: Country Guidance and the Asylum Process in the United Kingdom

New Human Rights Watch report: Stuck in a Revolving Door: Iraqis and Other Asylum Seekers and Migrants at the Greece/Turkey Entrance to the European Union

Ethnic Conflict and Minority Refugee Flight from Post-Soviet Ukraine, 1991-2001 by Jeffrey Burds in The International Journal of Human Rights, Vol 12, No 5.

 Policy and Law

The housing charity Shelter has published a new policy discussion paper – No Place Like Home? Addressing the issues of housing and migration which covers the needs of asylum seekers amongst other groups.

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons has published a Report on an unannounced full follow-up inspection of Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre based on a visit made in May 2008. See also the official summary

Events

A right to a voice: Survival English for Asylum Seekers – launch of the NIACE Campaign. Wednesday 10 December, London.

Imkaan provides support to BAMER (black, asian minority ethnic and refugee) women’s refuges across the UK.  They will hold their 10th anniversary AGM in London on Thursday 11^th December – email to reserve a place. In September Imkaar produced the briefing paper A Matter of Life and Death: The loss of specialist services for BAMER women and children experiencing violence

Resources

The Children’s Legal Centre has updated its Guide to Higher Education Entitlements for Refugees and Asylum Seekers

New Londoners: Reflections on Home is a collection of photographs and writing by 15 young refugees supported in their work by leading London photographers.

Research

Accommodate – better together is a summary of the final evaluation report of ‘Accommodate’ – a refugee housing partnership project led by the Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust (hact).

Mental healthcare of asylum-seekers and refugees by Helen McColl, Kwame McKenzie, and Kamaldeep Bhui in Advanced Psychiatric Treatment Vol 14 No 6.

Politics of Exception and Unease: Immigration, Asylum and Terrorism in Parliamentary Debates in the UK by Huysmans, J.and Buonfino, A. in Political Studies Vol 56 No 4.

Women’s Right to Asylum: Protecting the Rights of Female Asylum Seekers in Europe? by Freedman, J. in Human Rights Review Vol 9 No 4.

Policy and law

UNHCR have published a new Guidance Note on Refugee Claims relating to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) has with a recent decision reviewed the existing country guidance on Democratic Republic of Congo and extended the ‘risk categories’ to members of the Hema tribe. This immediately follows the AIT’s review of country guidance on Zimbabwe, with similarly profound implications for asylum seekers in the UK. See transcripts of DRC and Zimbabwe decisions, and Immigration Advisory Service statement on both decisions.

The Conclusions of the Asylum Conference held in The Hague on 22-24 October under the auspices of GDISC (General Directors’ Immigration Services Conference) have been published. The GDISC is an EU Member State Initiative aimed at improving the European asylum process and increase cooperation between member states on the issue.

Events

“The DRC, a Forgotten Emergency.” Saturday 29th November, 10:30-13:30 at Burngreave Vestry Hall, 2 Burngreave Road, Sheffield S3 9DD. Speakers include Meg Munn, Sheffield MP, and Noel Mbala, a former DRC minister.

The Evelyn Oldfield Unit, which provides specialist support for refugee organisations, is looking for a Chair. Its AGM will be held on 4^th December.

In Defence of Learning: Past and Present is a two day conference on 3-5 December hosted by the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics in London. In addition, on December 4 there will be an evening ‘conversation’ with 4 refugee academics from Sudan, Iraq, Algeria and Kurdistan. Booking via email

The Refugee Council’s Inclusive Secondary Schools action research project is hosting a national event on ‘Supporting refugee communities in secondary schools’ on December 12 in London. This follows its regional workshops. Contact Susanna Siddiqui for details and booking.

Resources

Border Country by Melanie Friend is a book of photographs and an accompanying audio CD documenting Britain’s Immigration Removal Centres and the voices of asylum seekers and other detainees held in them. See press review  

The General Teaching Council for England has updated its Resource file on supporting asylum seeker and refugee learners

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has commissioned a new interactive map of minority groups in Britain. 

The BASIS project has set up an e-forum for the exchange of information about refugee community organisation (RCO) fundraising.

New Philanthropy Capital has published a new downloadable report entitled Heads Up (Mental Health for Children and Young People – a Guide for Charities) which highlights the situation of young refugees and asylum seekers, amongst other vulnerable groups.

Research

The UK Borders Agency has published Asylum Performance – 2007 in which it compares performance to targets, particularly in relation to removals. The report claims the number of refugee claims is at its lowest level since 1993. 

At the same time the Home Office has published its quarterly immigration statistics including asylum for the third quarter of 2007, with supplementary tables also available. See also press release including Ministerial comments.

Papers Please: The Impact of the Civil Penalty Regime on the Employment Rights of Migrants in the UK is the first report in the Migrant Rights Network’s new Migration Perspectives series. See also article in Equal Opportunities Review.

Supporting disabled refugees and asylum seekers: opportunities for new approaches is a new research report produced by ICAR for the Metropolitan Support Trust and the GLA. See also press release, executive summary and launch event report

Journal articles

One Day We Had to Run?: The Development of the Refugee Identity in Children’s Literature and its Function in Education by Julia Hope, in Children’s Literature in Education Vol 39 No 4.

‘The new Europeans’: the image of the African refugee in European literature by Sissy Helff, in African and Black Diaspora Vol 1 No 2.

The Right to Seek – Revisited. On the UN Human Rights Declaration Article 14 and Access to Asylum Procedures in the EU by Gammeltoft-Hansen, T. and Gammeltoft-Hansen, H. in the European Journal of Migration and Law, Volume 10, Number 4.

Policy and law

In the latest Zimbabwean Country Guidance case, the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal has ruled that Zimbabwean asylum seekers in the UK unable to demonstrate loyalty to their current government will be at risk of persecution if removed.
The outcome of a Democratic Republic of Congo country guidance case is currently awaited.

The Refugee Council and the Refugee Legal Centre have submitted a joint response to the Government’s proposals to create a new Tribunal structure for asylum appeals.

See also press coverage on expert witnesses at appeals.

News

New immigration minister Phil Woolas has criticised lawyers and advocacy groups acting on behalf of asylum seekers in a national newspaper interview. A number of such organisations have responded, including the Immigration Advisory Service 

ICAR’s new research into levels of support for disabled refugees and asylum seekers was launched at London’s City Hall on 14 November. The research was commissioned by the Metropolitan Support Trust (MST) and supported by the Greater London Authority (GLA).

A full house of 100+ participants including many of the organisations and individuals who participated in the research, spanning central and local government, statutory providers, and disabled, refugee and BAME organisations. The event was chaired by ex Minister for Immigration Barbara Roche, now chair of MST.

ICAR director Neil Amas introduced the research and highlighted two key findings: the gap in support for this group from mainstream disability organisations, with the strain being picked up largely by refugee community organisations; and the profound effect a disabled person’s immigration status has on the level of support they receive.

Claire Glasman, representing the women’s disability organisation WinVisible, raised her organisation’s concerns that many disabled asylum seekers experience extreme hardship due to restrictions in income, prevention from employment, denial of services and discrimination.

Jhon Marulanda for refugee community organisation the Latin American Disabled Peoples Project focussed on the difficulties users of the Project had in accessing statutory services such as GPs and Job Centres. He claimed that staff at these places often do not understand the rights and entitlements of disabled refugees and asylum seekers. 

Disabled asylum seeker Iman Saab described the hardships of not being allowed to work, and instead having to get by on supermarket vouchers and subsistence payments from social services as opposed to normal disability benefits.

According to deputy mayor Richard Barnes, the research findings would ‘frame our vision’ in regard to the GLA’s equalities agenda. He also confirmed that in March 2009 the new four year Refugee Integration Strategy for London would be ready and, following regional policy elsewhere, a London Strategic Migration Partnership would replace the old Board for Refugee Integration in London.

In the discussion a number of the research findings were revisited, such as the effect of status on access to support, as evidenced by the recent Slough judgement on local authority support for disabled asylum seekers with no recourse to public funds, and by the increase in passport checks at GPs’ surgeries. Culturally appropriate training for frontline staff was one strongly supported recommendation, especially for NHS staff. Contributors to the discussion included social workers, the chair of NHS London Strategic Health Authority, and advocacy and campaigning groups. 

Finally the participants broke up into workshops to discuss three of the report’s main recommendations, around refugee and asylum seeker access to mainstream disability organisations; relevant training across different types of organisations; and a proposed review of Home Office policies.

See:

Press release

Executive summary

Full report

Research

Trafficking in Persons in Afghanistan is a new report from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on trafficking both in and from Afghanistan, based on research conducted last year in Kabul and nine border provinces.  

Moving Up Together is a new study by the Institute of Public Policy Research examining ‘why some migrant and minority communities in the UK are falling behind’ and relevant policy interventions. It focuses on people born in Bangladesh, Iran, Nigeria and Somalia.

The European Journal of Migration and Law Vol 10, No 3 contains:

Whose Rights and Which Rights? The Continuing Story of Non-Refoulement under the European Convention on Human Rights by Maarten den Heijer and Must EU Borders have Doors for Refugees? On the Compatibility of Schengen Visas and Carriers’ Sanctions with EU Member States’ Obligations to Provide International Protection to Refugees by Violeta Moreno Lax.

Environment and Planning D Vol 26 No 5 contains Domopolitics and disease: HIV/AIDS, immigration, and asylum in the UK by Ingram, A.

Child Care Health and Development Vol 34 No 6: Social support in unaccompanied asylum-seeking boys: a case study by Mels, C.; Derluyn, I; Broekaert, E.

Policy and law

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the future priorities in the field of Justice and Home Affairs policy, which covers asylum and refugees.
Meanwhile the European Civil Liberties Network has produced its own alternative questionnaire.

New Home Office minister Phil Woolas has stated that it would be disproportionately expensive to collate statistics on the number of people with exceptional leave to remain who have been refused settlement in the UK and whether having a criminal conviction in Britain was a reason for said refusal.

Events

Sir John Waite, co-chair of the Independent Asylum Commission, will give the 9th Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture entitled ‘Asylum: a new perspective.’ It is hosted by the Refugee Studies Centre and will take place in Oxford on Wednesday 19 November. Email Katherine Salahi to book a place.

‘Mental Health Matters: Issues for Asylum Seekers and Refugees’ features key note speakers from organisations like the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, Gofal, Mind Cymru and AWETU. It takes place at the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea on Wednesday 10th December 2008.

Launch of research report: ‘Relocation, Relocation – The impact of internal relocation on women asylum seekers’ by RWRP/Asylum Aid on November 27 at Garden Court Chambers, London, 6-8.30 pm. Email if you wish to attend.

The Refugee Council is hosting a series of regional workshops in November and December as part of the Inclusive Secondary Schools Project, which aims to encourage partnership work between schools and Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs).

News

A Congolese demonstration in Manchester protested against deportations to the DRC and the worsening situation in that country.

See also: Cameroonian returned to UK after passenger protest

The Border Agency plans to open a new immigration detention centre near Arncott, Bicester, would open in 2012 and house 800 people.

Research

Refugee Schooling: how the education needs of certain vulnerable groups are not being met by Dorling, K. in ChildRIGHT No 250.

Conflict and the Refugee Experience: Flight, exile and repatriation in the Horn of Africa, by Assefaw Bariagaber Earney, C. and Between vulnerability and assertiveness: Negotiating resettlement in Kakuma refugee camp, by Kenya Jansen, B. J. both appear in African Affairs Vol 107 No 429.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the Right to be Granted Asylum in the Union’s Law in Refugee Survey Quarterly Vol 27 No 3 by Law Gil-Bazo, M.

The housing charity Shelter has published a new policy discussion paper – No Place Like Home? The paper examines the debate on housing and migration, including the housing needs of asylum seekers.

The July-September 2008 Accessions List for the Refugee Studies Centre Library is now available and contains details of new publications received by the Library.

Policy and law

The government has announced a pilot scheme to end the detention of families currently kept in Dungavel detention centre inn Scotland. See BBC and The Scotsman coverage.

The Refugee Council have published a response to the Department for Work and Pensions Green Paper, “No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility.” It has also along with Scottish and Welsh Refugee Councils responded to the UK Border Agency’s Consultation on ‘Strengthening the Common Travel Area’.

The Impact of the EU Qualification Directive on International Protection is a new ECRE study of the impact of the directive, which seeks to establish minimum standards for granting international protection in the European Union.

Events

‘Promoting integration of vulnerable migrant groups’ on Monday 24 November in London is the third in a series of seminars based on the findings of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Immigration and Inclusion Programme. New ippr research on the integration of Bangladeshi, Iranian, Nigerian and Somali migrants will be made available.

‘Supporting disabled refugees and asylum seekers: opportunities for new approaches’ is the title of the launch of new research commissioned to ICAR by Refugee Support, the refugee arm of the Metropolitan Support Trust. It will take place on Friday 14 November at City Hall, London.

Resources

Shelter has published a new guide: Asylum seekers and refugees: Accessing accommodation and housing support

Migreurop have updated their map of immigrant detention centres and camps in Europe.

Research

UNHCR has published Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries, covering the first half of 2008.

The Home Office has published its immigration statistics including asylum figures for the second quarter of 2008.

What Are They Doing Here? A Critical Guide to Asylum and Immigration by Peter Fell and Debrah Hayes (Venture 2007) is reviewed in Vol 8 No 4 of the Journal of Social Work.

Policy and law

The European Council comprised of EU heads of state and the president of the Commission has adopted the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum. See EUObserver coverage.

The UK Border Agency has now awarded contracts for the Refugee Integration and Employment Service (RIES). The service is for over-18s with refugee status or humanitarian protection and started up on 1 October 2008.

See also the Refugee Council’s new Multilingual Leaflets for New Refugees on housing, welfare rights and training and employment. 

The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, has announced an independent inquiry into claims by asylum seekers that they were mistreated or abused by security and detention centre staff, following publication in July of the Outsourcing Abuse report. See also press coverage

Events

Two new research reports into Chinese migration to Britain will be launched on 14 November at Middlesex University’s Hendon Campus. The reports are ‘Cityscapes of Diaspora: Images and Realities of London’s Chinatown’ and ‘The Changing Chinese Community in London’. Further information from Professor Rosemary Sales

News

Following a cabinet reshuffle, Phil Woolas has replaced Liam Byrne as Minister of State for borders and immigration.

Resources

A new interactive website developed by the Institute of Community Cohesion (ICoCo) and supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government, brings together practical advice and support for practitioners on how to promote cohesion and integration, based on good practice cases.

Radio 4 interviews with some of the young asylum seekers who contributed to the ‘New Londoners’ book of photographs.

Research

UNHCR has recently published a series of new evaluation reports on different aspects of their work, including returnee reintegration programmes in the Sudan and Angola, voluntary repatriation, and human trafficking.

State failure and extra-legal justice: vigilante groups, civil militias and the rule of law in West Africa is a new report in the UNHCR series New Issues in Refugee Research.

A new report by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child entitled Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 44 of the Convention looks at the situation of asylum seeking children in the UK in the context of international standards. See also UN summary and Institute of Race Relations commentary

The Refugee Council has published More Token Gestures – a research report on the experiences of asylum seekers who receive Section 4 voucher support.

Migrationwatch has published a Balanced Migration: A new approach to controlling immigration. The report places asylum and trends in asylum seeking numbers within the context of immigration as a whole.

The October issue of Forced Migration Review focuses on climate change and displacement. To coincide with this the ippr have released a full transcript of the conference held on the same topic in London in April 2008.

Policy and law

The Asylum Support Partnership presented its recent policy report Access to Legal Advice for Dispersed Asylum Seekers to the National Asylum Stakeholder Forum in September 2008. Forum members are expected to respond in November.

The UK Borders Agency (UKBA) has released a statement documenting its efforts to tighten border controls six months on from UKBA’s inception. Among the targets it is still pursuing it notes that it has “360 days to make and enforce 60 per cent of asylum decisions within six months, with alternatives to detention for children.”

A written statement on asylum seekers’ educational entitlements and sources of further guidance on the subject has been provided by David Lammy, the Minister of State, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in response to parliamentary questions.

The European Parliament has adopted an amendment to the European Refugee Fund which creates a “Solidarity Mechanism” allowing refugees to be transferred from EU member states facing severe migratory pressure to other member states. See October 10 ECRE weekly update for further details and background documents.

Research
Refugee Children: Towards the Next Horizon
Health and Social Care in the community
2008 16(5)
C, Watters and Dennis, J.

Unaccompanied refugee children and adolescents:
The glaring contrast between a legal and a psychological perspective
International Journal of Law and psychiatry
2008 31(4)
Derluyn, I and Broekaert, E.

The housing and neighbourhood impact of Britain's changing ethnic
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
October 2008
Perry, J.
Policy and Law
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has produced
a report that criticisesthe UK Government for failing to meet
international standards on the treatment of children.

Following a six-month Home Office review of the
general reservation on immigration and citizenship to the UN
Conventionon the Rights of the Child (CRC) the UK government
has announced that the reservation will be withdrawn. This means
that vulnerable children who are subject to immigration control will
now be entitled to the fundamental human rights set out in the
CRC. 

UKBA have published a consultation on proposed reforms to the
immigration appeals process.

Events 
Children's Service Network Conference
‘Are Asylum Seeking Children Safe in the UK?'
The conference is to be held on Tuesday 14th October in London.
It will examine the "tension between asylum legislation and policies
designed to support and protect vulnerable children", with speakers
from UKBA, IOM and other bodies.

News 
The Home Office has launched an investigation into the alleged abuse
of asylum seekers during their detention and removal from the UK: 
Under the Freedom of Information Act the Home Office has released
information on: 'Deportation of asylum seekers failed due to
disruptive behaviour by the passenger'.

The Chief Inspector of Prisons has published a Report on an
announced inspection of Tinsley House and Yarl's Wood Immigration
Removal Centre carried out in March 2008.
Resources
The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and the Housing
Associations'Charitable Trust (HACT) have launched the first housing
rights website to be specifically aimed at answering housing rights
queries for new migrants.