Daily news round-up from NCADC
Today’s top stories:
- Britain declines to ‘share the burden’ of refugees
- UKBA dawn raid on pregnant woman
- Passport, visa, virginity? A mother’s tale of immigration in the 1970s
- UNHCR urges states to avoid detaining asylum-seekers
MEDIA
Britain declines to ‘share the burden’ of refugees
The Independent, Nigel Morris, 13 May 2011
Theresa May stressed that Britain would not accept migrants fleeing Libya and Tunisia as divisions opened within the European Union yesterday over how to respond to the crisis of refugees from North Africa.
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UK Border Agency criticised over intelligence use
BBC, Dominic Casciani, 13 May 2011
There are failings in the way the UK Border Agency uses intelligence to tackle illegal immigration, a report by its independent chief inspector says. John Vine said intelligence was used inconsistently and the outcome of allegations was not always tracked.
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Immigration team sent to detain woman was not told she was pregnant
Guardian, Alan Travis, 13 May 2011
Senior immigration officials failed to tell a UK Border Agency (UKBA) “arrest team” that a woman they were sent to detain was four months pregnant when they carried out an early morning raid on her home earlier this year.
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Passport, visa, virginity? A mother’s tale of immigration in the 1970s
Guardian, Huma Qureshi, 13 May 2011
It was 35 years ago, but my mother still remembers the day she arrived in the UK from Pakistan. My dad, like many men from the subcontinent, was already living and working here, a doctor in the NHS. Immigration rules meant my mum had been forced to wait a year before she was allowed to join him.
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LEGAL
Rape, trauma and delay
Free Movement, 13 May 2011
Ever since the mysterious disappearance of the IAA Gender Guidelines from the old IAA website, there has been an absence of good guidance to immigration judges on gender issues in an immigration context. The Equal Treatment Benchbook has a very good chapter on women and equality generally but it does not deal specifically with the unusual issues that arise in, for example, forced marriage, trafficking, Refugee Convention or human rights cases in the immigration tribunal.
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EUROPE
Europe moves to end passport-free travel in migrant row
Guardian, Ian Traynor, 12 May 2011
European nations moved to reverse decades of unfettered travel across the continent when a majority of EU governments agreed the need to reinstate national passport controls amid fears of a flood of immigrants fleeing the upheaval in north Africa.
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10+ Countries Agree to Accept 300+ Asylum Seekers from Malta
Migrants at Sea, 13 May 2011
After the Pledging Conference on Relocation and Resettlement which was held by Commissioner Malmström in the margins of yesterday’s JHA Council meeting, it has been announced that at least ten EU member states (news reports have identified different countries – Germany, Romania, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Portugal, Bulgaria, Hungary, Denmark, Slovakia, and Luxembourg have been mentioned) as well several non-EU MS (news reports have mentioned Lichtenstein, Switzerland, and Norway), have agreed to resettle 323 asylum seekers who are currently in Malta. Germany will reportedly resettle 100 migrants.
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INTERNATIONAL
UNHCR urges states to avoid detaining asylum-seekers
AlertNet, 12 May 2011
Imagine fleeing persecution at home, surviving a difficult journey, arriving in a new country to seek asylum, only to be thrown behind bars. It sounds like a refugee’s worst nightmare. Unfortunately it happens every day in many countries around the world.
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REPORTS & RESEARCH
The Relationship between Immigration Status and Rights in the UK: Exploring the Rationale
COMPAS, Sarah Spencer & Jason Pobjoy
Successive UK governments have expressed a commitment to ‘equality for all’. Home Secretary Theresa May, prior to the 2010 general election, referred to equality of opportunity for ‘every single individual in this country’ and the recently enacted Equality Act 2010 has been heralded by government as providing a legislative framework ‘to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all’. Drawing on insights from academic literature, this Working Paper assesses the extent to which these claims of inclusivity ring true for migrants living in the UK. To do so, the paper maps the existing pattern of rights and restrictions for eight categories of migrants, setting out, where available, the rationales provided by government as to why a particular category of migrant has or has not been granted a particular right. The analysis is framed around four substantive rights: to healthcare, education, social housing and family life.
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EVENTS
Young People Seeking Safety campaign
Bristol conference, Saturday 14 May
from 11.30pm onwards at Easton Community Centre
Download a leaflet for the event from our website
On Saturday 14 May, YPSS comes to Bristol for an afternoon of discussion, drama, music and poetry. The conference, organised by Bristol Defend the Asylum Seekers, Bristol Refugee Rights and South West TUC will bring together campaigners, refugees and community and support groups, for an opportunity to share experiences and information.
The opening session starts at 12.30pm and will be introduced by Liz Fekete of the Institute of Race Relations, whose publications include ‘The Deportation Machine’ and ‘They Are Children Too’ and Jo Wilding, human rights activist, author and barrister specialising in immigration and asylum cases, who frequently represents unaccompanied child asylum seekers.
Young People Seeking Safety is a network of individuals and organisations who have joined together to promote the rights and safety of unaccompanied young people seeking asylum in the UK.
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UNITY Cinema returns to Glasgow
Glasgow Saturday 14 May
at CCA, 1pm
showing ‘Cul de Sac’
FREE (ticketed)
Kiana Firouz, an Iranian lesbian who had left Iran to avoid getting arrested, meets Sayeh, a journalist and activist focused on Iranian human rights issues in the United Kingdom.
Sayeh tries to collect some information about the controversial subject of Iranian homosexuals’ lives from Kiana, who had formerly tried to make an underground documentary about the suffering of lesbians in Iran. The story develops the relationship between Kiana and Sayeh against the background of recent uprisings in Iran and the series of incidents that led Kiana to collaborate with the opposition, eventually resulting in her claim of asylum in the United Kingdom.
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No Borders North East Film & Workshop
Glasgow Saturday 14 May
At the Free Hetherington (occupied university)
The Noborders northeast group are travelling up from Newcastle to the Free Hetherington with a thought provoking and engaging day of events.
Film Screening:
Si Nos Dejan (If they let us)
Ana Torres, Spain 2004, 80 mins
Made by people who have migrated, this fast paced documentary is based on interviews with undocumented people living in Barcelona and coming from around the world. It provides a powerful insight into the diverse experiences of a wide range of people living without a legal status.
Seminar:
Workshop & Discussion on contemporary issues of migration through the film and Noborders perspective. Exploring the concept of the nation state & it’s internal and external borders.
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Beyond Borders dayschool
Bristol, Saturday 21 May
11.30am - 6.30pm
All around the world a global crisis (i.e. capitalism) is being blamed on ordinary people.
Some people take more blame than others. Across Europe and North America a whole range of people are being classed as illegal. Migrant workers, that are so useful to booming economies, are increasingly criminalised in a recession.
The national borders that divide us exist in our minds, but the impacts of migration controls are very real both in terms of human suffering and corporate profits. Migration controls and resistance to them are one of the big issues in these times of global economy.
Come to a day of talks and discussions at Easton Community Centre on Saturday 21st May in Bristol, 11.30-6.30pm
Confirmed speakers:
-Bridget Anderson(Justice For Domestic Migrant Workers,Oxford University) :“Why No Borders?”
-Clara Osagiede (RMT Cleaners Rep, Living Wage Campaign)
“Migrant Worker Struggle”
-Ann Singleton:(Statewatch)
“The Changing Meaning of Borders in the EU”
More details at Bristol No Borders
All Welcome, lunch available, £5 suggested donation or free to asylum seekers/refugees/unemployed
Please RSVP to [email protected]
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