Two important cases, reported this week, vindicate the rights of refugees to recognition and fair treatment. In the first case, the House of Lords upheld Zainab Fornah’s right to refugee status as a young woman from Sierra Leone who, after abduction and repeated rape by rebel soldiers during the country’s civil war, was threatened with
Theme: Education
Remembering Naser Al Shdaida
Last week in Burgess Park, south London, the Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers (SDCAS), held a memorial service and tree planting ceremony for Syrian asylum seeker, Naser Al Shdaida, who took his life earlier this year after his asylum claim was refused. Naser was a regular user of the SDCAS which provides a ‘warm
Deported asylum seeker condemns Home Office from Iraqi Kurdish hospital
IRR News has been forwarded two letters from Iraqi asylum seekers who were deported last month on a military flight. ‘My name is Burhan Namiq, I was born on 6 March 1980 and am from Kadamfary in Sulaimanyha city, Kurdistan Iraq. I was deported from the UK in September 2006. Since returning to Kurdistan I
Kenny Peter’s inquest points to asylum failures
On 15 September, an inquest found that yet another asylum seeker had taken his life in detention. Unusually, in such cases, in addition to a self-harm verdict, the jury also listed the numerous ways in which the system, supposed to care for vulnerable detainees, had failed to do so. Kenny Peter, a 24-year-old African asylum
After the Swiss referendum
Nearly 70 per cent of those who voted in a referendum in Switzerland on September 24 said yes to reform of immigration and asylum laws. But the committee formed to oppose laws, which, according to UNHCR are amongst the harshest in Europe, has announced that it will build on the support of the 32 per
Asylum and immigration legal advice at risk
A wide-ranging review of all areas of legal aid is currently taking place.[1] As part of this review, the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has announced proposals to change how publicly-funded immigration and asylum legal advice is provided.[2] The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is running a consultation on these proposals, which ends on 12 October.
Driven to desperate measures
No section of our society is more vulnerable than asylum seekers and undocumented migrants. Forced by circumstances beyond their control to seek a life outside their home countries, prevented by our laws from entering legally and from working, denied a fair hearing by the asylum system, excluded from health and safety protection at work, kept
Iraqi Kurdish asylum seekers recount enforced removal
Two of the thirty-two Iraqi Kurds who were deported to northern Iraq on a military plane this week have given eye-witness accounts of their enforced removal. The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees (IFIR) has spoken to two of the deportees, who have said they are ‘angry, tired and stressed’ after being handed over to militia
Tribunal of sacked refugee researcher reconvenes
Rhetta Moran, a researcher into refugee issues at the University of Salford, is about to face her twenty-fourth day of an industrial tribunal against dismissal. Dr Moran has, since Spring 2004, been battling to defend herself and her research against her employer, the University of Salford in Greater Manchester. Her colleagues, students and supporters believe
Report on Yarl’s Wood calls for complete overhaul of child detention
Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers, has published a report criticising the continued detention of children at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre. The report was based on an announced inspection from 13-16 February 2006 designed to ascertain whether recommendations made following the full inspection in the previous year had been adhered to. Yet despite identifying