Category: Children

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Vice: Europe’s Forgotten Graveyard

Desperate people in desperate circumstances need a safe place to live. An estimated 19,000 people have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean Sea since 2014 as they attempt the treacherous boat journey from Libya to Europe, fleeing war, persecution and poverty.

It is time for people who are undocumented and those in the legal process to be given Indefinite Leave to Remain in UK. https://statusnow4all.org/edm-1442-undocumented-migrants-and-covid-19-vaccination/

They ask why there is no European Search & Rescue Area.

This is a film made in November 2020: Vice: An estimated 19,000 people have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean Sea since 2014 as they attempt the treacherous boat journey from Libya to Europe, fleeing war, persecution and poverty. We went on the frontline with a rescue mission trying to save as many lives as possible.

We join the ‘Open Arms’ crew as they embark on the most dangerous migrant route in the world — and one of their deadliest missions to date.

An estimated 19,000 people have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean Sea since 2014 as they attempt the treacherous boat journey from Libya to Europe, fleeing war, persecution and poverty.

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Study of children joining family in England under the Dublin III Regulation

November 2020: IFF Research on behalf of Dept of Education:

Conclusions
This study has attempted to fill the evidence gap about what happens to Dublin III and Calais Camp Clearance children and young people, their support needs, and the experiences of the local authorities they move into, from the perspectives of staff within local authorities and the children/ young people and their families. It has found a mixed picture in terms of outcomes for children and young people, with the majority of those covered by the available data having become a looked after child at some point.

Family living arrangements broke down in around one-third of cases. Upfront assessments are sometimes squeezed by time or information and local authorities would feel more confident making recommendations if they could do a more in-depth, holistic assessment, which they felt would also help to identify potential issues that might affect the sustainability of the arrangement in the longer-term. This is important as the survey identified that relationship issues were the biggest factor in the breakdown of an arrangement. Assessments therefore need to look beyond finances and housing to consider wider issues such as how it will impact on the dynamics of wider family (which would involve a more in-depth assessment). Local authorities also emphasised the need to make very clear to families that no extra substantive financial support or housing support will be on offer, to manage their expectations.

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Child Citizenship Registration Fees model letter to MP

This is self-explanatory, please write to your MP and let us know what they say:

Dear Member of Parliament, Child Citizenship Registration Fees

As your constituent (address supplied), I am asking if you would kindly contact the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister to ask them to give effect to the recent decision in the Court of Appeal (R v SSHD EWCA Civ 193 – Feb 2021) and reduce the per capita child citizenship fee from £1,012 to the administrative cost, which is £386. The decision binds the Home Secretary only to a review, not to a figure, but it would be reasonable to expect this reduction in view of the radical change of culture promised in the Comprehensive Improvement Plan drawn up last September to reflect the Lessons of Windrush Learned.

I would also like you to ask them to review all immigration fees downwards in advance of the same claimant taking a case to the Supreme Court to annul the Fees Regulations of 2017 and 2018. It is clear that most of the immigration fees currently being charged are unaffordable to individuals and families, many of whom have already had to go into debt over recent years because of excessive Home Office fees.

Yours sincerely,

25 March 2021: This was discussed in Parliament – click here for the Hansard link, but your attention is drawn to this extract, Meg Hillier speaking:

2.58pm I will just say, though, that the Minister let the cat out of the bag, rather, when he talked about the rationale behind the fees being the benefits likely to accrue to the applicant. I would say we should also think about the benefit of the applicant to the UK, which has been ably highlighted by, among others, my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Siobhain McDonagh). The Minister also talked about paying for the costs of other parts of the immigration system, so this does cross-subsidise, and I think we need to look very carefully at that principle.

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UK’s £1,000 child citizenship fee ruled unlawful by appeal court

18 February 2021: Guardian: Court upholds ruling that Home Office failed to assess best interests of children in setting the fee

Home Office fees of £1,000 for children to register as British citizens are unlawful, the court of appeal has upheld in a landmark ruling.

The high fees that children or their parents are expected to pay to secure British citizenship have been controversial for many years. Children who have a right to register as British citizens but may be prevented from doing so due to the high cost or lack of access to legal advice risk losing out on rights and benefits.

Thursday’s ruling found that ministers had failed to assess and consider the impact of this fee on children and their rights, pointing out that for some families it was “difficult to see how the fee could be afforded at all”.

The Home Office charges £1,012 for a child to register for citizenship. However, the process costs about a third of that, at £372. The Home Office says the profit is used to fund other areas of its work.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/feb/18/uk-unlawfully-charging-1000-for-children-to-become-citizens

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The Guardian view on Tories and migration: stop the posing

Guardian: Editorial

1.11.2020: The drowning of a family of five in the Channel and a fire on a ship off the coast of Senegal should prompt action – ‘thoughts and prayers’ are not enough

[…]

Responsible politicians would address the causes as well as symptoms. They would also keep a sense of proportion, and enjoin the public to do the same. The number of asylum applications in the UK (35,566 in 2019) is a small fraction of that in France and Germany; Turkey is home to around 4 million refugees. But again and again, the UK government chooses hostile posturing over rational policy based on international cooperation, respect for the law and human rights. Could the deaths of three children lead Ms Patel to give it a rest and listen to European politicians such as Ms Jalloul, or even Lord Dubs? Don’t hold your breath.

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More chaos and human rights violations

2 November 2020 Guardian: Lone child migrants cannot be put in adult hotels, high court rules

More under-18s seeking asylum likely to be affected by ruling against Hillingdon council

The high court has ruled that unaccompanied child migrants cannot be placed in adult hotel accommodation after three young asylum seekers won the right to be placed in the care of social services in the first case of its kind.

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We need safe pathways to claim asylum in UK

Two pieces of today’s news that fit together: tragically this Kurdish family from Iran drowned in the sea trying to get to safety …

28 October 2020: BBC.CO.UK Channel migrants: Kurdish-Iranian family died after boat sank

Four members of a Kurdish-Iranian family died in the Channel when a boat they were travelling in sank – and their 15-month-old boy remains missing.

Rasoul Iran-Nejad, 35, Shiva Mohammad Panahi, 35, Anita, nine, and Armin, six, were crossing from France to the UK on Tuesday, the BBC has established.

Their baby, Artin, has yet to be found.

.Read more:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54717137 

also the UK Court decided that it was unsafe to return a particular Kurd to Iran because of what would happen on his return as he has been out of the country, amongst other reasons: (thanks to John O for this information):

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World Refugee Day: plea to give sanctuary to child refugees

Quaker.org.uk: Quakers are among more than 250 faith leaders who have written an open letter to the Prime Minister, asking him to commit to offering child refugees a safe route to asylum in the UK.

The signatories to the letter include the former Archbishop of Canterbury and Church of England bishops, the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, rabbis representing Reform, Liberal and other Jewish denominations, the former president of the Hindu Forum of Europe, the lead Catholic Bishop for Migrants and Refugees plus numerous senior leaders from the Baptist, Methodist, United Reformed, Salvation Army and Quaker traditions across the UK.

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