Darfuri teenager takes his life in fear of deportation
3 June
The Independent covered the tragic story of a young asylum seeker, who committed suicide while serving a 12-month jail sentence for affray. Abdullah Abar killed himself after receiving a Home Office letter telling him he would be deported to Sudan on his release, despite the fact Britain has stopped returning asylum seekers to the country. The case has highlighted the need for a proper system for the delivery of deportation documents to prisoners.
Independent: Darfuri teenager killed himself after being told – wrongly – of deportation
Iraqis screened for forced deportation
3 June
Iraqi officials are screening failed Iraqi asylum seekers in UK immigration detention centres to assess whether they will accept forced deportation, according to a report on the Guardian website. The procedure has been arranged by the UKBA in preparation for a flight this week when 70 are expected to be removed.
Guardian: Failed Iraq asylum seekers screened for forced deportation
Detention time too long in Dover, says report
2 June
Detainees are being held for unacceptably long periods of time at Dover Immigration Removal Centre, according to a report from the Independent Monitoring Board published on 1 June. The average length of stay per detainee was 136 days last year.
BBC: Dover removal unit criticised over detainee length
East Kent Mercury: Criticism of immigration centre in Dover
Refugee Council appeals to save Refugee and Migrant Justice
30 May-2 June
The Refugee Council joined a number of charities, faith leaders and senior legal and human rights experts in an appeal to save Refugee and Migrant Justice (RMJ) from risk of closure because of long delays in payment for work already done. In an open letter to the Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke and the Home Secretary Theresa May, they warned that thousands of vulnerable people will be left without legal help unless RMJ is paid promptly for its work.
Observer: Funding crisis over legal aid threatens asylum chaos, ministers are warned
Daily Express: Archbishop backs threatened charity
BBC: Archbishop of Canterbury warning over charity collapse
Third Sector: Charities urge government to save Refugee and Migrant Justice
CYP Now: Asylum seeker advice charity faces closure due to legal aid changes
The Law Gazette: Clarke urged to save cash strapped immigration advice provider
Afghan man refused asylum
1 June
The Independent covered the story of a man whose application for asylum was rejected by the Home Office, despite being under death sentence from the Taliban yesterday and after suffering extreme physical abuse while in Afghanistan.
Independent: Afghan man on Taliban death list refused asylum
Independent: Kabul still isn’t safe for those hunted down by extremists
Asylum figures drop again
28 May
The Home Office released statistics for the first quarter of 2010, showing that asylum applications were 48% lower than the same period in 2009. Other worrying figures showed that 27% of decisions are still being overturned at appeal, and that 230 children have already been detained this year.
See our response to the figures here.
Guardian: Net migration to UK on course to drop below 100,000 a year
Times: Record immigration surge as more than 200,000 get British passports in a year
Child refugee speaks out about detention
26 May
Following the government’s announcement to end child detention, Society Guardian printed the story of Wells Botomani, a 14 year old school boy who was detained at Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre with his family for 65 days last year. In his distressing account, he tells of the harsh treatment and trauma he experienced while detained.
Guardian: ‘The fear still lives in me’
Detention centre to become EU’s largest
26 May
The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Dame Ann Owers has raised concerns over plans to double the capacity of Harmondsworth Detention Centre near Heathrow, making it the biggest in Europe. Dame Owers stated that building a higher security prison-type block would threaten recent improvements at the removal centre and the welfare of detainees.
See our response to the story here.
Guardian: Detention centre to become EU’s largest
Independent: Asylum centre extension ‘like an oppressive prison’
Deportations without warning are stopped
26 May
The Guardian reported that a high court judge has ordered the Home Office to halt the deportation of immigrants with almost no warning, as this denies people access to justice before they are removed.
Guardian: Judge puts stop to deportations with no warning
Refugee becomes mayor in Cheshire
25 May
A Hungarian refugee has become mayor of a Cheshire village, after fleeing to Britain 30 years ago. Gabor Bartos spoke out about the need for immigrants coming to the UK now to integrate.
Daily Mail: Former asylum seeker is elected mayor…and slams immigrants who refuse to integrate
Star: I’m the asylum seeker mayor
Gay asylum seekers face discrimination
24 May
Research published by gay rights group Stonewall stated gay asylum seekers face systematic discrimination throughout the asylum system. The report, No Going Back, shows that 98% are currently being sent back to their country of origin to a likely fate of death or persecution.
Independent on Sunday: Virtually all gay asylum-seekers sent back to persecution
Guardian: As a gay asylum seeker, I was lucky
PinkPaper: UK asylum system discriminates, claims leading equality charity.
End to child detention? Not yet
24 May
Following the government’s announcement they will end child detention, pressure is growing for the coalition to end child detention to end without delay. In a letter to the Guardian Actor Colin Firth spoke out about the detention and removal of a mother and child to Pakistan and called for an immediate end to the practice. Similarly, in a comment piece for the Guardian, former Children’s Commissioner Sir Al Aynsley Green calls for the welfare of children to come first.
Guardian: Coalition must act on shameful detention – Colin Firth
Guardian: Speedy end to child detention is needed – Al Aynsley-Green
Observer: End our children’s nightmare
