Immigration raid in Kilburn at 3AM

#OustDuterte #StoptheKillingsPhFilipinos here describe the immigration raid in Kilburn at 3AM today as ‘tokhang-style’ – our local term for Duterte’s bloody war on drugs police operations at dawn that always end in extra-judicial killings. The hostile environment retraumatizes Filipinos living in the UK.

Regularise: A Safer Path to Settlement:

This report comes from StatusNow4All signatory organisation Regularise

24 May 2021: Regularise: A Safer Path to Settlement: Undocumented migrants and the 20 year rule on long residence

Excerpt from Regularise’s briefing:

Background

The 20 year rule on long residence is an immigration directive which appears in the Immigration Rules, written by the Home Secretary and published by the Home Office under the power of section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971. It concerns the ability of undocumented migrants to regularise their status and subsequently—after a 10 year period of ‘continuous lawful residence’ in the UK—qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) via multiple applications for Limited Leave to Remain (LLR).

Introduced on 9th July 2012, the 20 year rule replaced the 14 year rule which formerly provided a shorter and more direct route to settlement. Prior to 2012, this route permitted undocumented migrants living in the UK to regularise their status by applying for ILR immediately following 14 years continuous residence. 

Under the 20 year rule, in order to reach the same point of qualification for an ILR application, a person is required to have continuously resided in the UK for at least 30 years which includes at least 20 years continuous and precarious residence before they are able to make four separate successful applications for 30 months of LLR at a time, totalling a further 120 months or 10 consecutive years (see Fig.1). For comparison, the EU Settlement Scheme required over a million EU migrants to prove they had five years’ continuous residence before being granted settled status. As of May 2020, more than 3.3 million EU Settlement Scheme applications had been concluded of which 57% were granted settled status and 41% pre-settled status.

How does the 20 year rule work?

Continue reading “Regularise: A Safer Path to Settlement:”

Home Office drops plans to resume evicting some asylum seekers ‘with immediate effect’

Updated 25 May 2021: Guardian: Home Office drops plan to evict thousands of migrants during pandemic

U-turn affects around 4,000 people refused asylum who were facing eviction with ‘immediate effect’

The Home Office has reversed its plan to evict thousands of migrants during the pandemic, the Guardian has learned.

The U-turn affects about 4,000 migrants who were facing eviction from Home Office accommodation.

Concerns were raised that the department’s plan to resume evictions of some refused asylum seekers with “immediate effect” could increase the spread of Covid and discriminate against people of colour who will be disproportionately affected by the policy.

A court order signed on Tuesday by government lawyers and their counterparts challenging the evictions policy confirmed that the home secretary, Priti Patel, had withdrawn it.

Continue reading “Home Office drops plans to resume evicting some asylum seekers ‘with immediate effect’”

Government ‘devoid of compassion and competence’ over English Channel crossings as numbers double

22 May 2021: Independent: Exclusive: Netherlands and Sweden join list of EU countries saying they will not agree to take asylum seekers from UK

The number of migrants crossing the English Channel has doubled year on year despite Priti Patel’s vow to make the route “unviable”, The Independent can reveal.

Continue reading “Government ‘devoid of compassion and competence’ over English Channel crossings as numbers double”

Britain’s borders: wide open to Covid, slammed shut for people in need

What are the priorities?

19 May 2021: Guardian: Britain’s borders: wide open to Covid, slammed shut for people in need

“During the first three months of the pandemic – from 1 January until lockdown on 23 March last year, 18 million people arrived in the UK from abroad. But only 273 of them were obliged to quarantine. By contrast, across the 12 months to March 2020, 23,075 people were thrown into immigration detention centres: prisons for people who have not been convicted of any crime but are suspected of entering – or remaining in – the country without the correct paperwork.”

Read the article here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/19/britain-borders-covid-government-indian-variant-migrants

Status Now Newsletter May 2021

Status Now Network‘s campaign is gaining traction. Organisations continue to join – most recently, we welcome Right to Remain – and our campaign now includes organisations and groups representing faith communities, migration academics, public service workers, activists in Northern Ireland, and community organisations in Scotland. 

We are winning: we will render the hostile environment friendly, and we ask you to continue supporting our actions until we achieve our goal: Indefinite Leave to Remain for all undocumented migrants and those in the legal process. 

Join StatusNow4All! Successful Status Now 4 All Summit last March. 

Status Now 4 All
 offered analysis and updates to signatories and their friends and supporters of the campaign for the UK Government to grant Indefinite Leave to Remain to all undocumented migrants and those in the legal process living in the UK and the Republic of Ireland

Status Now has Regional Working Groups based in London, The Midlands and the North West, a National Working Group developing in Scotland and  several Thematic Working Groups about housing, public health, workers’ rights and protection, and Faith (READ Status Now Network’s Faith Communities Calling Card explaining our call for Indefinite Leave to Remain here).

These Working Groups are composed of representatives from signatory organisations, and all groups are driven by the needs and visions of migrants with lived experience both within and outside of the immigration system

Visit the Status Now 4 all website to join us and become part of the campaign for #StatusNow4All.

Continue reading “Status Now Newsletter May 2021”

Anti-Deportation Protesters Block Immigration Van From Leaving Glasgow Street

Updated 17 May 2021: We begin with the Guardian article: Cruel, paranoid, failing: inside the Home Office, followed by articles regarding the successful Glasgow action yesterday in securing the release of two men from a Borders & Immigration van from Positive Action of Housing; and the BBC. There is also a more recent article about the dawn raid that was not witnessed.

Guardian Cruel, paranoid, failing: inside the Home Office

For the thousands of people who end up on the wrong side of the Home Office each year, there is often a sudden moment of disbelief. This can’t be happening, people tell themselves. They can’t do this, can they? https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/13/cruel-paranoid-failing-priti-patel-inside-the-home-office

Continue reading “Anti-Deportation Protesters Block Immigration Van From Leaving Glasgow Street”

BID raises concerns on the use of prolonged solitary confinement in immigration detention

Time-served prisoners!

16 May 2021: Guardian: Torture victims kept in solitary by Home Office for up to a year

Immigration detainees left desperate and suicidal after being held in prisons during the pandemic

The Home Office has pursued a policy of psychological brutality by locking up scores of torture survivors in solitary confinement for indefinite periods, according to fresh testimony from immigration detainees.

Continue reading “BID raises concerns on the use of prolonged solitary confinement in immigration detention”

Court says: This man is not a criminal

January 2021: BBC: Channel migrants: Iranian jailed for piloting two dinghies

‘Following the sentencing, the Home Office’s Clandestine Channel Threat Commander Dan O’Mahoney said Kakaei’s actions “risked lives” and the prosecution “put a stop to that cycle of criminality”.


This is what the New Plan for Immigration rests on, calling people seeking asylum ‘criminals’, but on retrial:

14 May 2021: Guardian: Iranian asylum seeker cleared of Channel smuggling charges

Man who took turn steering boat ‘because he didn’t want to die’ freed, with case opening way for others to appeal their sentences

An asylum seeker jailed on smuggling charges for helping to steer a boat filled with migrants from France to England has had his conviction overturned at a retrial after spending 17 months in jail.

Continue reading “Court says: This man is not a criminal”

Immigration – UK Government assessment

Equality and Human Rights Commission: Immigration – UK Government assessment

Progress assessment: Regression

There has been a sustained or severe regression in the enjoyment of human rights, or a significant reduction in human rights standards or protections in law or policy

The UK Government’s ‘hostile environment’ policies marked a significant reduction in human rights protections in the UK, and inflicted lasting damage on those affected by them, receiving widespread criticism. Recent changes to reduce the use of immigration detention are welcome, but the UK Government continues to detain a significant number of people and there is still no limit on how long someone can be detained. The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted concerns about conditions in immigration removal centres, prompting important new measures, although it is not yet clear whether these will be retained as restrictions ease.

EDM #7 – Regularisation of undocumented migrants

StatusNow4All welcomes the following EDM #7, and we remind readers of EDM #1442: https://statusnow4all.org/edm-1442-undocumented-migrants-and-covid-19-vaccination/

EDM #7: That this House recognises that there are many barriers that prevent people from accessing and maintaining stable immigration status even when they were either born in the UK or have lived in the UK for many years; further recognises that the majority of undocumented migrants have lost their status through no fault of their own, including through an inability to pay application fees, lack of access to legal advice, mistakes on the part of decision-makers and complexity of immigration rules; understands that the harm done to individuals through hostile immigration policies extends to family members and the communities that they are part of; notes that the UK has one of the most complex and expensive routes to regularisation in Europe; further notes that all current routes to regularisation and settlement are far too long, complicated and inflexible, leaving people with no options but to live undocumented; understands that migrants who do not have access to the public safety net or the right to work are vulnerable to exploitation and; and calls on the Government to support recommendations made by Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants in its report, We Are Here: routes to regularisation for the UK’s undocumented population, published in April 2021 by introducing new routes to regularisation and removing barriers which cause migrants to become undocumented.

https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/58432

Continue reading “EDM #7 – Regularisation of undocumented migrants”

IRR: Sewell report seeks to sideline structural factors attached to racism

Updated 10 May 2021: Racism in action: Guardian: Celebrities unite to back #StopAsianHate campaign

Marvel film stars Gemma Chan and Benedict Wong among prominent east and south-east Asian people taking action on UK’s wave of Covid-related sinophobia

The Marvel film star Gemma Chan has revealed that she is frightened for her family in the UK after a surge in hate crimes against Chinese, Japanese and south-east Asian people.

Continue reading “IRR: Sewell report seeks to sideline structural factors attached to racism”

The call for StatusNow4All is absolutely relevant in these times of injustice

This poster can be used for educational purposes. It’s message reminds us that the earth is not ours to ‘buy and sell for private gain. You poor take courage
You rich take care, This earth was made a common treasury For everyone to share
‘ (Billy Bragg: The World Turned Upside Down)

… but the UK Government is using its power to steal and entice prestigious award winners from other countries whom it deems to be useful for UK, whilst destroying lives of others who are already here, all of whom have something to offer, given the chance. The call for StatusNow4All is absolutely relevant in these times of injustice.

From Loraine: Recently when I was interviewed for a short documentary out in June, the man asked – some refugees have done great things. I corrected him because it’s not about great things, it’s about having a second chance at your life. Its about being able to live freely like everyone else. We can’t push every refugee to be a superhero (if at all it exists) in order to be accepted. Accept us as human beings. Why is that hard?


Evening Standard: India to take back illegal migrants in return for UK visas for young workers

The UK and India have signed an agreement for the Asian country to take back illegal migrants in return for visas for young workers.

Continue reading “The call for StatusNow4All is absolutely relevant in these times of injustice”