National Audit Office report criticises UK Border Agency
A National Audit Office report on the New Asylum Model (NAM) concluded that while some improvements had been made, there were still significant flaws in the system. These related to the quality of decisions, the efficiency of the system, and the level of removals. They point out that there is no mechanism for reversing wrong decisions, leading to unacceptably high levels of successful appeals.
Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “We recognise that there have been some improvements as a result of the NAM. But a lot more needs to be done to ensure that refugees are identified and protected. And detaining people is not the answer. Making the NAM work, with the case owner involved from the outset, and good quality legal advice, will help to get decisions right, and ease the process of removal for people who have no need of safety here.”
Refugee Council press release: Refugee Council response to National Audit Office report on New Asylum Model
UK Border Agency press release
The Independent: Backlog swamps asylum system
BBC News: Backlog of asylum cases doubles
BBC News: ‘Seeking asylum is not a crime’
The Telegraph: Failed asylum seekers ‘can face one in 10 chance of removal from UK’
Report suggests many are left in detention centre limbo
A study of long-term detainees in immigration detention centres by the London Detainees’ Support Group shows that hundreds are left in detention with no indication of when they will be removed from the UK or set free. In one case one man was detained for eight years before being removed. The report analysed 188 case files of detainees held for more than a year, and found that only 18% have been deported.
London Detainee Support Group press release
Download the report (PDF)
The Guardian: Failed asylum seekers ‘dumped and forgotten’in detention centres, says report
The Guardian: 'Every day is the same, I don't know how we are surviving'
New chief inspector of UK Border Agency
John Vine, a former chief constable of Tayside Police, has been made the first chief inspector of the UK Border Agency.
The Herald: Asylum inspector: I won’t be a stooge
Problems faced in preventing children going missing
Community Care ran an article on the problems faced by local authorities in preventing children in care from absconding or being taken. Many of the children who go missing are unaccompanied asylum seeking children, who can go missing for a number of reasons: being taken by someone who has trafficked them into the country or being placed in unsafe accommodation.
Community Care: How can we stop looked-after children going missing?
UNHCR expresses concern over refugees’ conditions in Lampedusa
UNHCR has said it is concerned about the conditions that nearly 2,000 people are living in on the island of Lampedusa in Italy. The island’s reception centre has a capacity of 850 people. Hundreds are now sleeping outdoors under plastic sheeting.
Many are refugees from Somalia and Eritrea who have arrived by boat.
UNHCR’s statement comes as the mayor of Lampedusa, Bernandino De Rubeis threatened a general strike in protest at the Italian government’s immigration policies. The Italian government have said that all people arriving on the island will be held there until removal. “You can expel an immigrant when you are certain of his or her country of origin, but not otherwise.”
Reuters AlertNet: UNHCR concerned over humanitarian situation in Lampedusa, Italy
The Guardian: Island mayor threatens strike in migrants row
Refugee wins Broadcast Award for best news programme
Shepherd Yuda, a Zimbabwean prison-officer who shot secret footage of officials rigging election ballots in Zimbabwe has won best news programme for his documentary The Stolen Ballots at the annual Broadcast Awards.
The Guardian: Film of Zimbabwe vote rigging is judged best news programme
Disabled people seeking asylum are not getting the support they need
Many disabled people seeking asylum face difficulties in accessing statutory support, according to an article in Disability Now.
Jonathan Ellis, director of policy and development at the Refugee Council, explains, “Provisions for disabled asylum seekers are minimal. Asylum seekers are supported outside the mainstream benefits system, and are not entitled to disability living allowance. In some cases, where there is a need for specialist care, they will be allowed to apply for Section 21 support which is provided by the local authority under the National Assistance Act. However the threshold for this gets higher each year.”
Disability Now: Dropping off the social radar
Removals to the Democratic Republic of Congo are resumed despite protests
Removals to DR Congo are set to begin again on Thursday 5 Feb despite warnings that it is unsafe to return those who have claimed asylum in Britain.
The High Court ruled in December that removals could start again.
Bilmi, a refused Congolese asylum seeker, told the BBC: "If it was safe, why would people come here? I was studying law, I was in the biggest university in the country. And my father had a good position.
"I wouldn't agree to come to a country where I can't study, where I can't work to earn my own money. I would have stayed if it was safe.”
BBC News: Campaigners fight DR Congo removals
