monthly news summary

NEWS SUMMARY

July 2010

Supreme Court rules in favour of gay asylum seekers
The British Supreme Court has ruled unanimously in favour of two gay men who
faced persecution in their home countries of Iran and Cameroon. Before today’s
judgment, the men had been refused asylum and told they should behave discreetly
and hide their sexuality.

The Cameroon asylum seeker said he had been attacked by a mob after he’d been
seen kissing his partner. The Iranian, now aged 31, was attacked and expelled
from school when it was discovered that he was gay. He could face public
flogging or execution Iran. In Cameroon, a gay man could face six months to five
years in jail.

The cases of these unnamed men will be reheard, and the court will now pass on
detailed guidance to the lower courts about how such cases should be treated in
the future. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had accused

the UK of turning international convention "on its head".

The UK’s Home Secretary, Theresa May, said after the judgment: “We have already
promised to stop the removal of asylum seekers who have had to leave particular
countries because their sexual orientation or gender identification puts them at
proven risk of imprisonment, torture or execution.

May’s department, the Home Office, had contested the case under the previous
Labour government, and said it had taken the men’s sexuality into account.

The ruling has been welcomed by gay rights lobby group Stonewall, which
published a report in May this year, No going back: Lesbian and gay people and
the asylum system (2010), finding almost systemic homophobia in the British
system.

June 2010

New government asks views on child migrant detention
Immigration minister Damian Green launched the review in Glasgow on 14 June, with the aim of ending the detention of children at immigration centres.
The practice has already been halted at the Dungavel removal centre in Lanarkshire, but still continues in England. In December 2009, Scottish Nationalist Party MP Pete Wishart said a total of 103 children had been held at the Dungavel immigration removal centre in Lanarkshire during the year. The figures he obtained suggested 1,315 children were detained across the UK in the previous year, with nearly 900 held for more than 28 days.
The review is soliciting opinions, with a deadline of 1 July. There is more information about the review and on how to contribute your views on the UK Borders Agency website:
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/26-end-child-detention/terms-of-reference.pdf?view=Binary
***
Thousands displaced in Kyrgyzstan
Violence which erupted in the central Asian state of Kyrgyzstanon 10 June has left scores of people dead and led to the displacement of an estimated 200,000 people within the country, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR.

The Red Cross estimates that 100,000 ethnic Uzbeks from southern Kyrgyzstan have fled across the border into Uzbekistan, most of them women with children. The governmental authorities say they have registered around 45,000 people staying in at least 40 makeshift camps.

See a briefing on the crisis, with links to news from news agencies and NGOs in the region, on Reuters AlertNet:
http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/KG_VIO2010.htm
***
Back to Iraq
Refugee agencies have expressed concern over reported plans by the UK to deport about 50 Iraqi asylum seekers to Baghdad.
About 10 failed Iraqi asylum seekers from the UK were flown back to Baghdad, along with others from Sweden and the Netherlands, despite warnings their lives may be in danger. Some of them have been detained at Baghdad Airport since their arrival.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR said central Iraq was "very unstable due to the prevailing violence, security incidents and human rights violations". It says governments should host central Iraqis until it is safe to return.
Leaving at dawn on 10 June from an undisclosed airport, the flight from the UK was jointly organised by European Union governments and was also scheduled to pick up failed asylum seekers at Halmstad in Sweden.
The Refugee Council’s response was: “This is an astonishing and alarming move that disregards all of the evidence that Baghdad is still a very unsafe place. The last time this was attempted, back in October, the flight was turned around and went back to the UK with 34 of the 44 passengers still on board.
“Returns should always be safe and sustainable, no matter what. It is far cheaper and better to help those Iraqis who want to go home voluntarily to do so. Returning small numbers of individuals to a dangerous city where their safety is far from guaranteed is both costly and shows a serious disregard for their welfare.”
See the 15 June BBC report:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/10325096.stm
***
‘Chilling’ report into Hardmondsworth detention
The chief inspector of prisons issued a report on Harmondsworth detention centre on 24 May, which Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council says makes for chilling reading. “Whilst recognising there have been improvements, these pale into insignificance when it is stated that evidence of torture is not taken into account in interviews and health care is ‘unacceptably poor’.
“Improvements here and there are not enough, it is unacceptable that we lock people up simply for administrative reasons, often for indefinite periods. This is an outrage. When victims of torture are locked up, and their mental and physical health needs are not met, it is the sign of a system that has totally lost its way.
The report, called ‘Progress, but concerns about imminent expansion’ is on the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/inspectorates/hmi-prisons/docs/Harmondsworth_2010_PN_rps.pdfMuslim prisoners’ experiences
***
How can we return children to Afghanistan?
While the Refugee Council praises the new government’s promise to end detention of children, it’s calling for another review to look at the previous government’s plans to start removing unaccompanied children to countries which are still far from safe, such as Afghanistan.
The Refugee Council’s chief executive, Donna Covey, says: “There has been little said about how these children would be kept safe. It really begs the question: if they have no family to whom they can be returned safely, should they be returned at all?
“There are serious questions to be raised about the quality of decision-making on the cases of unaccompanied children. The money would be better spent improving the way that children’s claims are assessed, so that we can be sure we never put them in danger.”
See more on the Refugee Council website:
http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/news/archive/press/2010/june/20100608_b
***
Migrant charity in administration amid cash problems
Refugee and Migrant Justice (RMJ), a non-profit organisation charity which represented migrant families held in detention centres, says it has gone into administration because of a cash-flow problem caused by changes to the legal aid system.
Set up in 1992 as the Refugee Legal Centre, RMJ says more than 10,000 asylum seekers and trafficking victims, including nearly 900 children, could now be left without legal representation.
Under the new rules, bills are not finally settled until cases are completed, and RMJ said it was owed almost £2m. The Ministry of Justice said it had worked closely with the charity to help it cope with the new rules, but RMJ - the largest specialist provider of legal assistance to asylum seekers and other vulnerable migrants - says it was left waiting up to two years for money.
Earlier this month, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, wrote to Justice Secretary Ken Clarke and Home Secretary Theresa May to express his fears about its collapse. "Lives will be put at risk and there are likely to be many more miscarriages of justice, which are already common in our asylum system," he said.
The legal charity employs more than 300 specialist staff representing some of the most complex immigration cases in the UK.
It had sought bridging loans while it waited for the payments, but had no assets to offer as security to commercial lenders.
The BBC has the full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10324774.stm
***
Australia moves asylum seekers from Christmas Island
The BBC reports on 8 June that Australia has begun transferring dozens of asylum seekers from an overcrowded detention centre in the Indian Ocean to an old mining camp 830km (416 miles) northeast of Perth.
Officials say the Christmas Island facility can no longer cope with a recent influx of boat people in Australia's northern waters.
Initially 86 asylum seekers will move to the isolated gold mining town of Leonora while the authorities process their refugee claims.
Home for a group of asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka is a disused mining camp in a remote, semi-arid corner of Western Australia. The town of Leonora, with a population of 1,200 people, has answered a call from the federal government to help it alleviate overcrowding at the Christmas Island detention centre.
Read the BBC story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia_pacific/10262021.stm
***
There’s an asylum seeker in my church
A Christian charity is holding an event to help church leaders and church-goers know what to do if a refugee turns to them for support. The one-day conference on 26 June in Manchester is organised by The Boaz Trust, founded in 2004 in response to the growing problem of destitution among asylum seekers in the region.

Trust founder Dave Smith has gathered his knowledge from years supporting hundreds of people who have fled their homelands, and wants to pass it on to others who struggle to know what’s best for the people turning up on their doorsteps.

The conference, organised with other charities including Church Action on Poverty (CAP), SPEAK and Equip and in conjunction with refugee communities, aims to provide information about immigration law, something Manchester churches have long had to deal with.

In a famous 1989 case in Manchester, asylum seeker Viraj Mendis sought the ancient right of sanctuary in Hulme's Church of the Ascension. Mendis was fighting deportation to Sri Lanka where he feared for his life due to his support for the Tamil cause. Mendis became a cause célèbre in Hulme and was backed by an army of supporters who ensured he could live in part of the church without ever having to leave the building. The stand-off lasted 760 days before police battered down the doors with sledgehammers and removed him. Mendis now lives in Germany where he helps other asylum seekers.

The Boaz Trust, which Smith established in 2004, sees over 100 asylum seekers and refugees every week, who are seeking advice on claims and appeals or assistance with forms. It had 230 referrals in the 12 months to March 2010, with most asylum seekers coming from Afghanistan, DR Congo, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Zimbabwe. Forty three per cent of those referred were street homeless, and 27 percent were sofa-surfing between friends.

See the full BBC story online:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_8741000/8741471.stm
***
Upping the rhetoric
It looks to me as if the UK Border Agency website has had a bit of a revamp, and maybe hired someone with more of a tabloid journalist’s mind to produce regular stories that vilify migrants and make the government look tough on immigration. For example, one says “A bogus groom has been jailed at Leeds Crown Court for 12 months after plotting to stage a sham marriage.” Maybe it’s just my perception – what do you think? See the UKBA website on:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsarticles/2010/268071/20-ukba-foils-sham-marriage


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Home About RSG Services Newsletters Publications Links & information Jobs Volunteering Donations Contact us Related topics	NEWS SUMMARY July 2010 Supreme Court rules in favour of gay asylum seekers The British Supreme Court has ruled unanimously in favour of two gay men who faced persecution in their home countries of Iran and Cameroon. Before today’s judgment, the men had been refused asylum and told they should behave discreetly and hide their sexuality. The Cameroon asylum seeker said he had been attacked by a mob after he’d been seen kissing his partner. The Iranian, now aged 31, was attacked and expelled from school when it was discovered that he was gay. He could face public flogging or execution Iran. In Cameroon, a gay man could face six months to five years in jail. The cases of these unnamed men will be reheard, and the court will now pass on detailed guidance to the lower courts about how such cases should be treated in the future. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had accused the UK of turning international convention "on its head". The UK’s Home Secretary, Theresa May, said after the judgment: “We have already promised to stop the removal of asylum seekers who have had to leave particular countries because their sexual orientation or gender identification puts them at proven risk of imprisonment, torture or execution. May’s department, the Home Office, had contested the case under the previous Labour government, and said it had taken the men’s sexuality into account. The ruling has been welcomed by gay rights lobby group Stonewall, which published a report in May this year, No going back: Lesbian and gay people and the asylum system (2010), finding almost systemic homophobia in the British system. June 2010 New government asks views on child migrant detention Immigration minister Damian Green launched the review in Glasgow on 14 June, with the aim of ending the detention of children at immigration centres. The practice has already been halted at the Dungavel removal centre in Lanarkshire, but still continues in England. In December 2009, Scottish Nationalist Party MP Pete Wishart said a total of 103 children had been held at the Dungavel immigration removal centre in Lanarkshire during the year. The figures he obtained suggested 1,315 children were detained across the UK in the previous year, with nearly 900 held for more than 28 days. The review is soliciting opinions, with a deadline of 1 July. There is more information about the review and on how to contribute your views on the UK Borders Agency website: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/26-end-child-detention/terms-of-reference.pdf?view=Binary * Thousands displaced in Kyrgyzstan Violence which erupted in the central Asian state of Kyrgyzstanon 10 June has left scores of people dead and led to the displacement of an estimated 200,000 people within the country, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR. The Red Cross estimates that 100,000 ethnic Uzbeks from southern Kyrgyzstan have fled across the border into Uzbekistan, most of them women with children. The governmental authorities say they have registered around 45,000 people staying in at least 40 makeshift camps. See a briefing on the crisis, with links to news from news agencies and NGOs in the region, on Reuters AlertNet: http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/KG_VIO2010.htm * Back to Iraq Refugee agencies have expressed concern over reported plans by the UK to deport about 50 Iraqi asylum seekers to Baghdad. About 10 failed Iraqi asylum seekers from the UK were flown back to Baghdad, along with others from Sweden and the Netherlands, despite warnings their lives may be in danger. Some of them have been detained at Baghdad Airport since their arrival. The UN refugee agency UNHCR said central Iraq was "very unstable due to the prevailing violence, security incidents and human rights violations". It says governments should host central Iraqis until it is safe to return. Leaving at dawn on 10 June from an undisclosed airport, the flight from the UK was jointly organised by European Union governments and was also scheduled to pick up failed asylum seekers at Halmstad in Sweden. The Refugee Council’s response was: “This is an astonishing and alarming move that disregards all of the evidence that Baghdad is still a very unsafe place. The last time this was attempted, back in October, the flight was turned around and went back to the UK with 34 of the 44 passengers still on board. “Returns should always be safe and sustainable, no matter what. It is far cheaper and better to help those Iraqis who want to go home voluntarily to do so. Returning small numbers of individuals to a dangerous city where their safety is far from guaranteed is both costly and shows a serious disregard for their welfare.” See the 15 June BBC report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/10325096.stm * ‘Chilling’ report into Hardmondsworth detention The chief inspector of prisons issued a report on Harmondsworth detention centre on 24 May, which Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council says makes for chilling reading. “Whilst recognising there have been improvements, these pale into insignificance when it is stated that evidence of torture is not taken into account in interviews and health care is ‘unacceptably poor’. “Improvements here and there are not enough, it is unacceptable that we lock people up simply for administrative reasons, often for indefinite periods. This is an outrage. When victims of torture are locked up, and their mental and physical health needs are not met, it is the sign of a system that has totally lost its way. The report, called ‘Progress, but concerns about imminent expansion’ is on the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons website: http://www.justice.gov.uk/inspectorates/hmi-prisons/docs/Harmondsworth_2010_PN_rps.pdfMuslim prisoners’ experiences * How can we return children to Afghanistan? While the Refugee Council praises the new government’s promise to end detention of children, it’s calling for another review to look at the previous government’s plans to start removing unaccompanied children to countries which are still far from safe, such as Afghanistan. The Refugee Council’s chief executive, Donna Covey, says: “There has been little said about how these children would be kept safe. It really begs the question: if they have no family to whom they can be returned safely, should they be returned at all? “There are serious questions to be raised about the quality of decision-making on the cases of unaccompanied children. The money would be better spent improving the way that children’s claims are assessed, so that we can be sure we never put them in danger.” See more on the Refugee Council website: http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/news/archive/press/2010/june/20100608_b * Migrant charity in administration amid cash problems Refugee and Migrant Justice (RMJ), a non-profit organisation charity which represented migrant families held in detention centres, says it has gone into administration because of a cash-flow problem caused by changes to the legal aid system. Set up in 1992 as the Refugee Legal Centre, RMJ says more than 10,000 asylum seekers and trafficking victims, including nearly 900 children, could now be left without legal representation. Under the new rules, bills are not finally settled until cases are completed, and RMJ said it was owed almost £2m. The Ministry of Justice said it had worked closely with the charity to help it cope with the new rules, but RMJ - the largest specialist provider of legal assistance to asylum seekers and other vulnerable migrants - says it was left waiting up to two years for money. Earlier this month, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, wrote to Justice Secretary Ken Clarke and Home Secretary Theresa May to express his fears about its collapse. "Lives will be put at risk and there are likely to be many more miscarriages of justice, which are already common in our asylum system," he said. The legal charity employs more than 300 specialist staff representing some of the most complex immigration cases in the UK. It had sought bridging loans while it waited for the payments, but had no assets to offer as security to commercial lenders. The BBC has the full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10324774.stm * Australia moves asylum seekers from Christmas Island The BBC reports on 8 June that Australia has begun transferring dozens of asylum seekers from an overcrowded detention centre in the Indian Ocean to an old mining camp 830km (416 miles) northeast of Perth. Officials say the Christmas Island facility can no longer cope with a recent influx of boat people in Australia's northern waters. Initially 86 asylum seekers will move to the isolated gold mining town of Leonora while the authorities process their refugee claims. Home for a group of asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka is a disused mining camp in a remote, semi-arid corner of Western Australia. The town of Leonora, with a population of 1,200 people, has answered a call from the federal government to help it alleviate overcrowding at the Christmas Island detention centre. Read the BBC story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia_pacific/10262021.stm * There’s an asylum seeker in my church A Christian charity is holding an event to help church leaders and church-goers know what to do if a refugee turns to them for support. The one-day conference on 26 June in Manchester is organised by The Boaz Trust, founded in 2004 in response to the growing problem of destitution among asylum seekers in the region. Trust founder Dave Smith has gathered his knowledge from years supporting hundreds of people who have fled their homelands, and wants to pass it on to others who struggle to know what’s best for the people turning up on their doorsteps. The conference, organised with other charities including Church Action on Poverty (CAP), SPEAK and Equip and in conjunction with refugee communities, aims to provide information about immigration law, something Manchester churches have long had to deal with. In a famous 1989 case in Manchester, asylum seeker Viraj Mendis sought the ancient right of sanctuary in Hulme's Church of the Ascension. Mendis was fighting deportation to Sri Lanka where he feared for his life due to his support for the Tamil cause. Mendis became a cause célèbre in Hulme and was backed by an army of supporters who ensured he could live in part of the church without ever having to leave the building. The stand-off lasted 760 days before police battered down the doors with sledgehammers and removed him. Mendis now lives in Germany where he helps other asylum seekers. The Boaz Trust, which Smith established in 2004, sees over 100 asylum seekers and refugees every week, who are seeking advice on claims and appeals or assistance with forms. It had 230 referrals in the 12 months to March 2010, with most asylum seekers coming from Afghanistan, DR Congo, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Zimbabwe. Forty three per cent of those referred were street homeless, and 27 percent were sofa-surfing between friends. See the full BBC story online: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_8741000/8741471.stm * Upping the rhetoric It looks to me as if the UK Border Agency website has had a bit of a revamp, and maybe hired someone with more of a tabloid journalist’s mind to produce regular stories that vilify migrants and make the government look tough on immigration. For example, one says “A bogus groom has been jailed at Leeds Crown Court for 12 months after plotting to stage a sham marriage.” Maybe it’s just my perception – what do you think? See the UKBA website on: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsarticles/2010/268071/20-ukba-foils-sham-marriage
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