The asylum seekers and migrants who were left to die…

The report by the Council of Europe’s Special Rapporteur Lives lost in the Mediterranean Sea: who is responsible? Is now available to download from the COE website.

1500 migrant deaths in 2011

The report starts by noting that a shocking 1500 migrants are known to have lost their lives crossing the Mediterranean in 2011 alone, but focuses on the tragic event in March 2011 which led to the death of 63 out of the 72 migrant passengers.  In summary, a ship left Tripoli in Libya, it was at sea for 2 weeks during which no one came to the aid of the boat despite the logging of a distress call, and despite coming into  contact with other vessels. It drifted back to Libya with only 9 survivors on board.

UKBA Rumpus

Post written by Josh Reid, JCWI Communications Dept.

This week the UK Border Agency has come back under fresh scrutiny, after an official inquiry report condemned the border force for “poor communication, poor managerial hindsight and a lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities”.

Home Secretary Theresa May resorted to the dramatic response by announcing plans to split UKBA into two,

Not So Fast Track

The UKBA’s Chief Inspector has issued his latest report Asylum: a thematic inspection of the Detained Fast Track. The report looks at the operation of the Detained Fast track Scheme (DFT).

Exploding myths – the link between youth unemployment and immigration

This week’s report by the Commission on Youth Unemployment revealed some extremely worrying stuff about youth unemployment in the UK –   over 1 in 5 of all young people are neither in training, education or employment (NEET), and youth unemployment is at its highest for two decades. The Commision’s report, chaired by David Miliband, received

Damian Green Speaks! Nothing Said!

Green realises he has nothing to say.

It must be a pretty frustrating job being immigration minister. You get to call yourself a minister, you might get a couple of rides in the Home Sec’s limo, but you don’t get to announce new exciting stuff. That bit is saved for the Home Secretary herself.

A tale of three reports: Unemployment and Immigration

This week is the tale of three reports of varying quality, all aimed at establishing whether or not there is a link between unemployment and immigration.

UKBA land another worrying report

Post by Josh Reid. Josh is currently an intern  with JCWI in the communications department

A recent report by the Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency (UKBA) into entry clearance decision-making was published on the 19^th December, and is available, along with UKBA’s response, on the website.

“The Appellant is stateless … ”: finding a solution to statelessness in the UK

Guest post by Russell Hargrave. Russell is the Communications and Public Affairs Officer for Asylum Aid.

For too long, the situation facing stateless people in the UK has been little understood.  In light of this, Asylum Aid and the UN Refugee Agency last week published our joint research report Mapping Statelessness in the United Kingdom. 

Status matters? Forced labour and immigration policy

Guest contributor: Dr Lisa Scullion is a research fellow at Salford Housing & Urban Studies Unit (SHUSU) College of Science & Technology,  University of Salford Salford, Greater Manchester.

In a world characterised by global mobility and increasing economic and forced migration, the UK is home to a diverse range of migrant communities.

Many migrants work on the fringes of low-paid employment sectors under poor conditions. Under these circumstances, immigration policy and insecure immigration status can provide an environment conducive to exploitation by employers.

UKBA Mismanages Foreign National Prisoners

The Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency has issued his most recent thematic report on the UK Border Agency’s management of foreign national prisoners.

Key points

Key points of interest to JCWI revolve around the poor level of decision making by UKBA both in relation to deportation and detention. The consequences arising from this are that people are subject to deportation action, or even detained, in circumstances in which they shouldn’t be.  The report in particular notes: