A new national network has been established to examine statutory responses to destitute people from abroad with no recourse to public funds (NRPF)*. The NRPF Network was developed in response to concerns about the complexity of the law governing practice in this area, the lack of statutory guidance for local authorities, the increasing costs of
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The Independent Asylum Commission
Responding to concern about the UK asylum system, the Independent Asylum Commission is conducting an open investigation with a series of public hearings across the UK. The Independent Asylum Commission is made up of citizens’ groups of local churches, mosques, trade union branches, schools and community groups that are a part of London Citizens and
Urgent action for ‘disappeared’ Algerians
Amnesty International has issued an urgent appeal on behalf of two men who were deported from the UK in the last weeks of January and are currently being held without access to lawyers or their families. The men, who had been labelled as ‘suspected terrorists’ by the UK government, were deported as ‘threats to national
Return of Algerian refugees
Below we reproduce a statement by Gareth Peirce (of Birnberg Peirce & Partners), a solicitor for a number of Algerian men, ‘suspected terrorists’ who have variously been detained without trial or placed under house arrest. The men ‘voluntarily left’ the United Kingdom at the weekend. ‘Fewer than a handful of Algerian refugees are consciously choosing
The Destitution Trap
A report published by Refugee Action explores the causes and effects of destitution among rejected asylum seekers in the UK. ‘The Destitution Trap’ is centred on interviews carried out with 125 people in nine cities in the UK by a team of independent consultants with extensive experience in the field of human rights and asylum.
Home Office still planning to send people back to Iraqi Kurdistan
Over the last ten days the Home Office has been arresting rejected Iraqi Kurdish asylum seekers in Manchester, Birmingham and Doncaster, presumably with a view to attempting another forced removal to Northern Iraq. This is happening at a time when the UNHCR is warning that Iraq cannot deal with the number of displaced persons it
‘Strangers into Citizens’ – for the regularisation of UK people without status
A campaign calling for an amnesty for irregular migrant workers has been launched. ‘Strangers into Citizens’ is a year-long campaign aimed at stimulating a public call for a government policy to introduce a one-off limited regularisation of the many thousands of people who have made new lives in the UK without having official status. Such
Fighting a ghost
An Algerian national security detainee speaks out against his indefinite detention in the UK. On 12 January, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), will hear from the lawyers for Reda Dendani, an Algerian national security detainee. He was first held under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act provisions which were declared illegal by the House
Teachers – we need your help!
Do you teach citizenship at key stages 3 or 4? The Institute of Race Relations is hoping to develop some teaching materials for the citizenship curriculum based around the themes of identity, the role of media, political participation and campaigning, using its Black history collection. If you are willing to help us by participating in
Human rights advocacy graduates speak out
Two days before Human Rights Day, sixteen asylum seekers and refugees graduated from an intensive human rights advocacy course. On Friday 8 December, Amnesty International hosted a graduation ceremony in London, which was attended by family, friends, activists and sympathetic MPs. After hearing speeches by Cameron Bowles of Education Action and Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty,