Advocacy Update 20th March 2025

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

   Fight for Asylum Rights

   Surge in asylum appeals as Home Office refusals hit new highs
   The backlog of asylum appeals at the First-tier Tribunal has surged, rising from 34,234 cases in September 2024 to 41,987 by December, following a dramatic increase in Home Office refusals. With the asylum grant rate falling to just 47% in 2024, nearly half of all appeals (46%) are now successful, highlighting poor decision-making worsened by a shortage of legal aid lawyers. Syrian and Afghan asylum seekers face growing uncertainty, with nearly 6,000 Syrian claims pending and 8,985 Afghan cases awaiting decisions, potentially adding to the overburdened system. The wider First-tier Tribunal backlog now stands at 74,969 cases, with human rights and EEA appeals also rising. A fairer, more efficient asylum process is urgently needed to prevent further delays and injustices.

   The impact of denying citizenship to refugees
   The UK government’s policy to permanently deny citizenship to refugees is a deeply concerning move that undermines equality, integration, and dignity. It sends a harmful message that refugees will never truly belong, reinforcing far-right narratives and fostering exclusion. Beyond the moral implications, this policy weakens social cohesion and economic potential by keeping refugees in a state of precarity, limiting their ability to contribute fully to society. Read the full article here that highlights how the UK government’s policy breaches international law, damaging the UK’s credibility and making cooperation with other countries on migration issues more difficult. A more humane and legally sound approach is needed to uphold refugee rights and social unity.

   Take action:

   • Nadia Whittome MP has tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) opposing the move to close down citizenship routes for refugees who have arrived irregularly. Lisa Smart MP has also tabled an EDM on this topic. With enough signatures, an EDM can lead to a debate in Parliament

   • Ask your MP to add their signature to the EDMs. You can find your MP here.

   • Check if your MP has already signed the EDMs here and here, and drop them a line to say thank you.

   Borders Bill Update

   The latest in a series of hostile anti-refugee laws passed by successive governments, the Border Security, Asylum & Immigration Bill 2025 is soon to reach Report Stage in the Commons. You can find evidence submitted at Committee Stage here. As part of our Fight for Asylum Rights campaign, and the Lift the Ban campaign, we are working with parliamentarians to bring forward amendments at Report Stage. Watch this space…

   
   Communities Not Camps

   The High Court of Justice has ruled that three vulnerable people seeking asylum were accommodated unlawfully at the Wethersfield camp. All were victims of trafficking, torture and/or serious violence, and had suffered a serious decline in their mental health as a result of being placed there. The High Court further found that the Home Secretary had made “a most serious and inexplicable omission” in failing to assess the equalities impact of changes to the Allocation of Asylum Accommodation policy, amounting to the “clearest failure” to fulfil the Public Sector Equality Duty.

   In the wake of the judgment campaigners have renewed calls for Wethersfield to close, with the Chief Executive of Care 4 Calais stating that “the mental despair this camp has inflicted on its residents cannot be overstated”, the Government “has a moral duty to act” and “everyone seeking safety in the UK deserves to be housed in communities, not camps” – calls echoed by many including Doctors of the World, Helen Bamber Foundation, Humans for Rights Network, Medecins Sans Frontieres, and ourselves. The i has reported that the Government spent over £650 000 defending the case. Analysis from Free Movement here, further coverage here, here and here.

2. Government and Parliamentary updates

HASC accommodation inquiry

The Home Affairs Select Committee has begun to hear evidence in its inquiry into asylum accommodation, questioning Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt on his findings from recent inspections and hearing evidence from researchers in asylum policy. More details here and watch the session here.

Cranston inquiry

This independent inquiry continues to hear distressing evidence of how many of the at least 27 people who died in the Channel on 24 November 2021 may have been saved if rescue services had searched for longer. Inquiry website here, coverage here.

3. Reports and research
   

   Analysis from Refugee Council demonstrating the surge in the number of cases sitting in the appeals backlog demonstrating a 485% increase in appeals in the last two years.

   Our friends at Praxis with IPPR  have launched their new report Every Child is Equal which reveals the harmful impacts of being excluded from childcare support on migrant families

   The IPPR have published a report: Hidden Hardships: the immigration system and child poverty which finds that hundreds of thousands of children from migrant families are being affected by child poverty, and warns that the Government’s upcoming child poverty strategy will fail unless it addresses the deepening crisis of hardship amongst children with parents born outside the UK.

   A new report from Women for Refugee Women, A Decade of Harm; Survivors of Gender Based Violence Locked Up in Immigration Detention, compiled by seven women with experience of the asylum process shows that the majority of women seeking asylum in detention are survivors of gender based violence, evidences the long lasting damage caused to women by detention and highlights the concerning gap between Home Office policy and practice – read their report here 

   UNHCR are seeking the views of Syrian refugees in the UK, their survey is linked here with a deadline of next week

4. Resources, events, jobs and training

   Local Welcome is looking for partners for the Lloyds Bank Collaboration Fund

   Local Welcome is looking to partner with 2 x organisations who have the right expertise to lead on the campaigning element of the grant. If interested, please contact Celia on [email protected]

   Jobs:

   • GARAS (Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) is recruiting for a Director. Deadline 9am 14th April.

   • South Yorkshire Refugee Law and Justice is recruiting for an Office, Finance and Legal Administrator. Deadline 7th April 2025.

   • Humans for Rights Network are looking for new members to their advisory board. Priority is given to people with lived experience of forced migration and/or UK asylum system. Full job description attached here.

   • Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) is looking for a Finance and Office Administrator. Deadline is 30th March 2025.

   • Right to Remain are looking for a Senior Legal Information Officer, deadline 6 April

   • JRS UK are looking for a Detention Outreach Manager to lead and develop their work with people in immigration detention. Deadline 7 April.

5. What we’re reading, watching and listening to

   • Head over to the Free Movement’s Immigration Roundup podcast where there are discussions on recent developments in immigration and asylum law. The February 2025 episode covers topics such as the decline in asylum grant rates and significant legal cases affecting refugees.

   • This lovely piece from the BBC on an Refugee from Afghanistan and his voluntary work at his local community Bike project