All Articles: Asylum
Safe return reviews and Home Office policy on settlement for refugees
In March 2017 the Home Office announced a new policy of reviewing whether all refugees require protection at the end of a 5 year initial period of Refugee Status. This policy is effective for all existing and future applications for Indefinite Leave t ...
22nd June 2017Athens Refugee Legal Support Project: what is happening on the ground and how to donate
The pilot of the Athens Refugee Legal Support Project has now run for 2 months now. We work out of a community centre in Athens with the support of ILPA and Garden Court Chambers. Weekly reports from UK legal volunteers (solicitors, barristers, case w ...
21st June 2017Should refugees claim asylum upon arrival in their first ‘safe’ country?
“Why don’t asylum seekers stop before they get here?” I have been asked this question many times. There are lots of safe countries on the way, so the argument goes. Why wait until they arrive in the UK to make their claim? They’re not going to ...
20th June 2017UK unlawfully denies transfer to UK of refugees living for 18 years in Cyprus British Sovereign Base
R (Bashir) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 397 The British Sovereign Base Areas (“SBAs”) are small British-run areas on the Cyprus islands that survived the former colony’s independence. The Home Office has taken the ...
6th June 2017Country guidance issued between hearing and promulgation will still bind tribunal
Is the First-Tier Tribunal (FTT) bound to take into account a Country Guidance (CG) case that is issued by the Upper Tribunal after the date of the FTT hearing, and after the date the FTT judge signs the determination, but before that determination is ...
26th May 2017Coruscating criticism by President of Home Office behaviour in refugee family reunion case
To summarise, figuratively the Secretary of State does not have a leg upon which to stand either factually or legally. These were the words used by Mr Justice McCloskey, president of the Upper Tribunal, in the judicial review case of Mohamed Al-Anizy. ...
19th May 2017Home Office unlawfully relies on Albania guidance for five years
LC (Albania) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 340. The Home Office has relied on outdated guidance to determine asylum applications from Albanian nationals, the Court of Appeal has held. The judgment in LC (Albania) will ...
12th May 2017Home Office application to delay Calais Jungle child asylum case refused by tribunal
In an oral decision in the case of R (on the application of AO & AM) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (stay of proceedings – principles) [2017] UKUT 168 (IAC) given on 28 March 2017, the Upper Tribunal refused the Secretary of St ...
3rd May 2017Supreme Court refuses damages to refugee wrongly prosecuted for illegal entry
Shortly after Christmas in 2009, a young woman from Somalia flew into Stanstead and claimed asylum. She had just turned 18. As later accepted by the Home Office, she had experienced severe depredations in her home country. This included her rape at th ...
26th April 2017Detention of Dublin asylum seekers held to be unlawful
Al Chodor and Others (C-528/15) In a highly significant judgment the CJEU has shown, in effect, that the Home Office has unlawfully detained hundreds or even thousands of individuals seeking international protection. The background facts The Al C ...
23rd March 2017Scarring evidence in asylum cases
“The Tribunal’s conclusion was… that [in order to fabricate an asylum claim] the appellant had allowed himself to be anaesthetised and then branded with a hot metal rod” – Elias LJ, KV (Sri Lanka) In this area of law, it is sometim ...
15th March 2017Home Office ends policy of automatic settlement for refugees after five years
The Home Office has announced a new policy of reviewing whether all refugees require protection at the end of a five year initial period of leave. The policy appears to be effective immediately for all refugee settlement applications, including for re ...
9th March 2017The Lounani case: when can a member of a terrorist group be excluded from refugee status?
C-573/14 Lounani (Grand Chamber, 31st January 2017) A person applying for protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention can be excluded from its provisions under certain circumstances. As the Court of Justice of the European Union explained in B and D ...
9th March 2017The Curious Case of the Eritrean Country Guidance
‘[I]t has to be said, Asmara does not feel like the capital of a country generating asylum applications with a 85% grant rate’ (sic) – Informal Home Office report of UK visit to Eritrea, 9-11 December 2014 In 2014, nationals of Eritrea ...
14th February 2017Border Force needs to ‘up their game’ on slavery
According to estimates, there are 10,000-13,000 victims of modern slavery living in the UK. In order to tackle this problem, the UK government operates a Modern Slavery Strategy, and the Border Force plays its part by identifying potential victims, an ...
3rd February 2017Rules under which over 10,000 fast track asylum appeals decided declared unlawful
The High Court has ruled in the case of R (On the Applications Of TN (Vietnam) & US (Pakistan)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Anor [2017] EWHC 59 (Admin) that over 10,000 asylum appeals had been decided under procedure rules ...
23rd January 2017Court of Appeal gives go-ahead for Dublin returns to Italy
If the case of Tarakhel was considered another body blow to the Dublin system, the recent Court of Appeal case of NA (Sudan) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 1060 has picked up the Dublin system up off the ropes for ano ...
3rd January 2017Tribunal makes order requiring dental age assessment of young asylum seeker
In a new case on dental age assessments, the tribunal has ordered that a young asylum seeker to undergo a dental x-ray and age assessment. If he refuses, his court case will be struck out. The case also gives general guidance on the correct approach t ...
20th December 2016