Category: Celebrating Human Rights Act/ECHR

19 November 2023: UNHCR warns against “exporting” asylum, calls for responsibility sharing for refugees, not burden shifting

Amid considerations by some governments to send asylum seekers abroad for processing, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is urging states not to externalize their asylum and protection obligations. UNHCR warns that such practices jeopardize the safety of those in need of international protection.

“UNHCR remains firmly opposed to externalization initiatives that forcibly transfer asylum seekers to other countries. Externalization simply shifts asylum responsibilities elsewhere and evades international obligations. Such practices undermine the rights of those seeking safety and protection, demonize and punish them and may put their lives at risk,” said UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs.

“It is ironic that, as we celebrate the 70^th anniversary of the Refugee Convention, attempts are being made to weaken its principles and spirit. Instead, the priority must be to find more effective ways to guarantee the universal right to seek asylum and other rights provided by international refugee law.”

Continue reading “UNHCR warns against “exporting” asylum”

These are direct attacks by Home Secretary – Suella Braverman on the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights are not in our name:

26 September 2023: Guardian: UN rebukes Suella Braverman over her attack on refugee convention

UNHCR defends 1951 convention after UK home secretary’s speech on ‘uncontrolled and illegal migration’

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/26/un-suella-braverman-refugee-convention-unhcr-migration

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Guardian: Braverman to ask world leaders to make refugee rules ‘fit for the modern age’

Home secretary’s address in Washington will urge reform of UN convention and has already prompted concern from charities

Suella Braverman will appeal on Tuesday to world leaders and political thinkers to consider rewriting key refugee rules so they are “fit for the modern age”.

In a move to alter an agreement that undermined UK plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, the home secretary will argue that the United Nations 1951 refugee convention must be reformed to tackle a worldwide migration crisis.

Continue reading “Direct attack on UN Refugee Convention and ECHR”

Link to proposal to ‘reform’ the Human Rights Act, and consultation (closes 8 March 2022), here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plan-to-reform-human-rights-act

Another disgraceful and shameless move to break away from the rules that have been accepted as protective,  fair and just, in the existing Human Rights Act.

The Government commissioned the following report as an advisory starting point – see the Executive summary here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/independent-human-rights-act-review

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Updated 9 February 2022: Upholding human rights in the UK: EDM (Early Day Motion) #974: tabled on 09 February 2022

Motion text

That this House notes that the Human Rights Act 1998 gives expression to values that are fundamental to the way of life in the UK, such as protecting the right to protest, freedom of expression and respect for privacy; is concerned by warnings from human rights organisations such as Amnesty UK, Justice and Liberty that the Government is undermining basic rights and liberties enshrined in the Act; notes with alarm that the Human Rights Act Review is taking place within the context of a series of other legislative moves by the Government to enhance the power of the Executive, including measures to curtail judicial reviews, which will reduce scrutiny of Government behaviour and opportunities for legal redress; believes that any growth in Declarations of Incompatibility with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights would lead to lengthy delays in human rights concerns being addressed and restrict access to justice; and therefore calls on the Government to continue to uphold human rights and ensure that everyone can seek timely redress in the UK courts if rights are breached.

Continue reading “Plan to reform the Human Rights Act”

European Court of Human Rights Opens Door for Thousands More Bogus Asylum Invaders

Sun, 23/01/2011

The European Court of Human Rights has opened the door for thousands of bogus “asylum seekers” to invade Britain and other European nations after abolishing the right of European Union member states to deport illegals back to Greece.

This week’s court ruling means that any asylum seeker can be guaranteed to remain in Britain (or any other EU nation) just by claiming to have entered Europe through Greece.

The ruling was the first to be heard by the court under the European Union mechanism known as Dublin II, which allows EU member states to deport bogus asylum seekers back to the nation through which they first entered the continent.

The case arose after Belgian deported an Afghan asylum seeker to Greece under the Dublin II rules, which say that an asylum seeker must have their application heard in the EU member state they entered first. Continue reading “ECHR and Bogus Asylum invaders – BNP”

The protected Convention rights are universal and intended to apply to everyone within the United Kingdom ’s jurisdiction, not just British nationals. The preamble of the ECHR describes the rights as having a universal quality – they apply to all persons regardless of nationality, race, sex or other “status”.

There are three broad categories of case where the ECHR has an impact in the field of immigration and asylum law:

• Firstly, there is the class of case where the claimant asserts that her removal from the United Kingdom would infringe the human rights she has established in the United Kingdom . These types of case are referred to by the House of Lords as ‘domestic cases’. For example, if a person has established a family or private life in the United Kingdom which will be breached by removal abroad, this is a domestic case.
• Secondly, there is a class of case where the claimant asserts that her human rights will be breached after removal from the United Kingdom , i.e. in the future. These types of case are referred to as ‘foreign cases’. For example, if a person will experience torture or inhuman or degrading treatment in her own country after removal from the UK , or her mental and/or physical health would deteriorate catastrophically because medical treatment would be unavailable in the future, this would be a foreign case.
• Thirdly, there is the class of case where it is alleged that the behaviour of the authorities in this country presents a risk of a breach of human rights. This is most likely to arise in detention or support cases. Continue reading “Applicability of the ECHR in immigration cases”

The European Convention on Human Rights, otherwise known as the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, is a convention that was passed by theas drawn up by the United Nations (UN) in 1948. The aim of the convention is to give people who live in European states a list of civil and political rights which the member states of the Council of Europe believed every person in Europe should expect to have.

Basic Rights and Freedoms under the Convention

The following basic rights and freedoms are set down in the Convention:

• The right to life
• The right to liberty and security
• The right to fair trial
• The right to no punishment without law
• The right to respect private and family life
• The right to marry
• The right to a remedy of human rights abuses
• Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
• Freedom of expression
• Freedom of assembly and association
• Prohibition of torture
• Prohibition of slavery and forced labour
• Prohibition of discrimination
• Prohibition of the abuse of rights Continue reading “European Convention on Human Rights”