The Home Office, this week, tried to present its new research on asylum-seeking in Europe as evidence that its policies were working. But what the research actually says is that attempts to deter asylum seekers through hardline measures are unlikely to be effective. Earlier this year, Tony Blair set a target of halving the number
Issue: Books, pamphlets & multimedia
Denial of visitor visas for families
Ethnic minority communities in the UK face clampdown on visits from members of their family living abroad. Six national organisations – Citizens Advice, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, the Law Society, the Immigration Advisory Service and the Legal Action Group – have written to the home and
MEP calls for immediate halt to deportations
London MEP Jean Lambert has called for an immediate halt to deportation of asylum seekers following the breakdown of European negotiations on minimum standards for deciding asylum claims. Home secretary David Blunkett and fellow Justice ministers meeting in Luxembourg last week abandoned their meeting without reaching agreement on how EU members should decide asylum claims.
Australia signs refugee deal with Iran – will Europe follow?
The government of Iran has signed a deal with Australia agreeing, for the first time, to accept back rejected asylum seekers. The deal could set a precedent for Europe where there are about 10,000 Iranian asylum seekers, whose claims have been rejected. On 12 March 2003, Phillip Ruddock announced that the Australian government had signed
We will stay here and die say refugees at frontier
A spokesman for 700 Roma refugees stranded on the Macedonian border says they are prepared to die where they are – if refused the right to cross into Greece. Doctors are already warning that, without proper shelter, food, water and medical care, deaths could occur at any time among the refugees which include 270 children,
Home Office research heralds ‘managed migration’ policy
The UK government has taken a step forward in its plans to establish a ‘properly managed’ scheme for economic migration to the UK. Announcing new research on the role of foreign-born workers in the British labour market, the Home Office has claimed that migrant workers do not take away jobs from the resident population if