Advocacy Update 18th December 2024

1. Advocacy and campaigning Initiatives
2. Government and Parliamentary updates
3. Reports and research
4. Resources, events, jobs and training
5. What we’re reading, watching and listening to

1. Advocacy and campaigning Initiatives

#FightTheAntiRefugeeLaws

Urging the Home Secretary to resume processing Syrian asylum claims

Last week Asylum Matters co-ordinated a joint public letter to the Home Secretary, opposing the Government’s ‘dehumanising’ decision to suspend Syrian asylum claims following the fall of the Assad regime. Key asks of the letter included resuming the processing of Syrian asylum claims, lifting the ban on the right to work for Syrians and all people seeking asylum after 6 months, and the ruling out of any forced returns or coercive repatriations.

The letter was signed by over 730 organisations and individuals who support people seeking asylum, and was covered in The Independent, The Guardian and the Evening Standard. Thank you to all who signed and shared this letter amongst their networks. Not only was the refugee and asylum sector united in condemning this policy, individuals from all walks of life representing a cross-section of society proud to welcome refugees signed on, including doctors, nurses, midwives, solicitors, legal advisors, consultants, retirees, students, volunteers, refugees, campaigners, professors, lecturers, teachers, and researchers.

We are developing further resources partners can use to ramp up the pressure on the Home Secretary and fight to get this decision overturned. What we know from our years of campaigning to fight the anti-refugee laws is that this isn’t an isolated issue. Stripping an entire nationality group of the opportunity to be granted protection is an attack on the universal right to seek asylum – an attack we can’t ignore.

Right now, the Government is working on its new asylum bill, so it’s bound to be watching public reaction to moves like this. By standing up for the rights of Syrian people seeking asylum, we can show the public is ready to fight for all asylum rights, so they know that any legislation that doesn’t protect and support people seeking sanctuary won’t be accepted by the public.

TAKE ACTION:

• Share the joint public letter on social media and tag your local MP, along with the #FightTheAntiRefugeeLaws hashtag – you can find your MP here.
• If you haven’t already, sign the Fight the Anti-Refugee Laws pledge to keep up to date with the next steps of the campaign. At a time where our hostile anti-refugee policies are proving such a burden that some are actually fleeing the UK, the fight to overturn these measures has never been so urgent.

Lift the Ban

A new report by the Institute for Government has recommended lifting the ban on the right to work, adding to the growing weight of evidence that lifting the ban is a common sense policy the Government must adopt. Meanwhile, Members of the Scottish Parliament have been maintaining their calls for the right to work during Scottish Parliamentary debates, while the Evening Standard has been running a powerful campaign echoing this call during their Winter Appeal in articles here and here.

Accommodation

Communities Not Camps

We are still awaiting the judgement of the ongoing legal challenge over people being warehoused at the RAF Wethersfield camp. Despite the Government no longer using the Bibby Stockholm barge and not proceeding with establishing a new camp at RAF Scampton, camps at barrack sites in Wethersfield and Napier remain open – so we campaign on for people to be housed in #CommunitiesNotCamps. Take action and write to your MP and urge them to #CloseTheCamps with a couple of clicks with our easy letter-writing tool.

Hotels

Elsewhere, Coventry Council is considering legal action against the Government over the use of hotels. A row has broken out between Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and the UK Government over the responsibility for housing destitute people seeking asylum. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has told Times Radio she has served closure notice on seven asylum hotels. If she can close hotels, she can #CloseTheCamps.

Contracts

Finally, the aforementioned Institute for Government report released today includes calls for people seeking asylum to be housed in communities, not camps, and for the AASC and AIRE asylum accommodation contracts to be repurposed.

Asylum Poverty

Move-on period extended to 56 days

The UK Government has announced its decision to extend the move-on period for newly granted or refused refugees from 28-days to 56-days. Congratulations to organisations like NACCOM who have long championed this policy change.

High Court ruling on NRPF

In November, the High Court ruled that the Home Office’s use of the No Recourse to Public Funds (NPRF) condition is unlawful regarding the Home Office’s system for deciding Change of Conditions applications. The High Court decided that the Home Office’s current system is unlawful, because of long delays which are in breach of their duty to protect human rights. Read a full explainer on Right to Remain blog

2. Government and Parliamentary updates

   UNHCR urges European countries not to abandon Syrians

   UN agency and charities have called on governments not to leave refugees in limbo after the UK and Germany suspended claims. One Syrian seeking asylum said: “Many of us arrive here in debt to the smugglers who brought us here. It cost my family $10,000 to pay the smugglers to bring me from Syria to UK. Usually when Syrians get their refugee status they can get a job, pay taxes and use a lot of their income to pay off their debts to the smugglers. The smugglers … know where our families live.”

   Backwards step for sanctuary in Europe

   The European Commission has announced new measures to counter hybrid threats from the weaponisation of migrants in a move which has raised concerns about pushbacks and the rights of asylum seekers.

   UK found to have unlawfully detained Tamils stranded on Diego Garcia

   The UK Government could face huge bill for damages after keeping more than 60 asylum seekers in ‘hellish’ conditions, a judge has found.

   Deportations reach five-year high

   Campaigners have expressed concerns at the number of deportations out of the UK, which have reached a five-year high. The Home Office have been sharing social media graphics promoting its recent increase in return flights and deportations.

   Suspension of Syrian asylum claims criticised in Parliament

   Independent MP Adnan Hussain has criticised the British Government for halting the processing of Syrian asylum claims following the fall of the Assad regime, a move he described as ‘dangerous’.

   Rotherham rioter jailed for nine years

   A rioter in Rotherham who tried to burn down a hotel accommodating people seeking asylum has been sentenced to nine years imprisonment.

   Ibrahima Bah loses bid to appeal against manslaughter conviction

   In another example of an uptick in criminalisation of those who arrive via irregular routes, Ibrahima Bah has lost his bid to appeal against his manslaughter conviction, despite the judge who originally sentenced him recognising Ibrahima ‘played no part in the organisation of the trip. You did not coerce other passengers. You had no control over the choice of vessel or the lack of equipment. You took on the role of pilot because you were asked to do so and because it was your only chance of getting to the UK. You did not secure any financial gain, other than avoiding the payment that would otherwise have been necessary to secure a place on the boat […] You were one of the last to leave the dinghy. After you left, you sought to help others, including your friend Mr Allagi who, tragically, died before your eyes’. Justice Johnson recognised that there remains some doubt around Ibrahima’s age.

3. Reports and research

‘How the government can take control of the UK’s asylum system’ – report by IfG

The Institute for Government have published a new report on the UK asylum system. Their recommendations include many policies we and our partners have long campaigned for, including lifting the ban on the right to work, housing people in communities not camps, establishing safe routes, and embedding lived experience into asylum policy decisions. Read the full report here.

‘Journeying populations – without the right to asylum’ – report by CMF

The Catholic Migrantes Foundation have produced a new report which criticises the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) and the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, explaining the decline in access to asylum rights across Europe. Coverage here.

New briefing on immigration detention

The Migration Observatory have published a new briefing on immigration detention in the UK. Key findings include the negative impact on mental health, the detention of 18 children, and the issuing of 838 compensation payments for unlawful detention.

4. Resources, events, jobs and training

   Jobs:

   • Assist Sheffield is recruiting for a Communications, Events and Fundraising Coordinator, deadline is 9am on 9th January.
   • Medact is looking for a Campaign and Programme Lead, deadline is 13th January, 2025
   • Medical Justice is recruiting for a Fundraising Lead. Deadline is 26th January, 2025.
   • Mafwa Theatre is recruiting for a Green Engagement Lead, deadline is 9am 13th January.

5. What we’re reading, watching and listening to
   • This sobering BBC News piece about a recognised refugee in Teesside being unable to afford the legal fees required to reunite with his family
   • This powerful North East Bylines piece about the reality of life as a person seeking asylum
   • This hard-hitting Guardian piece about displaced people in Calais desperate to cross the Channel
   • This uplifting BBC News piece about Saeid Hashemi, an Iranian refugee looking to give back to the community in Sheffield by helping elderly residents improve their IT skills
   • This LabourList op-ed by our head of campaigns on how Labour Together have got it wrong with their Farage-flavoured policy recommendations on migration
   • This song by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Anees, MC Abdul and Amer Zahr about the suffering in Gaza.