policy

Stop the Immigration Bill: a “regime of harassment for migrants”

Published by NCADC on November 5, 2013 | 2 Responses

Have your say on the Immigration Bill >> On 22 October, the new Immigration Bill had its second reading in the House of Commons. At this stage of a new bill, MPs are given the opportunity to debate the general principles and, afterwards to oppose it if they wish. Cowardly response Of great concern was the Labour Party’s stance on the Bill: most Labour MPs abstained from voting on the Bill, which passed by a massive 303 votes to 18. Just six Labour MPs voted against the bill. They were Diane Abbot, Kelvin Hopkins, David Lammy, John McDonnell, Fiona Mactaggart Read the full article…

Announced with hateful rhetoric, what does the Immigration Bill actually mean?

Published by NCADC on October 15, 2013 | 1 Response

Described variously as “ugly, divisive politics” (Sarah Teather MP), a “valuable tool for racist landlords” (Maurice Mcleod), “meandering popularism” (John Harris) and “immigration policy that has lost even any semblance of correlation with reality” (Dave Stamp of ASIRT), there’s a lot to digest (or spit out, disgusted) in the new Immigration Bill. In this latest post, NCADC’s legal volunteer Jacqueline analyses the major policy changes, and the responses they have provoked. A new Immigration Bill has been published by the Home Office, aimed at making it tougher for migrants to settle in the UK. The changes will include reducing appeal Read the full article…

NHS consultation on charging migrants: make sure you have your say

Published by NCADC on July 3, 2013 | Leave a response

A very important government consultation has been launched today. The proposed changes would have very negative implications for migrants in the UK. The proposed changes will not save the money that the government claim, and is part of dangerous anti-immigrant rhetoric stoked by the government that we must fight back against. The consultation, along with supporting documents, can be found here. Responses must be submitted by 28 August 2013. This introduction to the consultation is as follows: The consultation is about migrants’ access and financial contribution to the NHS. It is widely recognised that the NHS has a longstanding weakness Read the full article…

A future without immigration detention?

Published by NCADC on May 2, 2013 | Leave a response

This is the text of a talk given by Lisa Matthews of NCADC at the 2013 SOAS Detainee Support conference on Saturday 27 April. The panel was asked to consider: What are the strategic opportunities and risks of advocating for ‘alternatives’ to detention? Should we be promoting existing ‘alternatives’ such as bail, or case management programmes involving engagement with migrants? Immigration detention is wrong, and harmful. Detention destroys communities, and robs people of their lives, dignity and spirit. We – those of us opposed to detention – are clear on this. We are clear it is morally wrong. We are Read the full article…

The judges’ revolt and the Home Office’s assault on love

Published by NCADC on February 18, 2013 | 2 Responses

Theresa May has a bad habit of ruining Sundays. Sundays are a good day for her populist, racist pandering to the right-wing press to receive a lot of air-time. Tempting as it is to ignore her attention-seeking power-hungry attempts to fashion her own legacy, her latest intervention in the Article 8-foreign ex-offenders-deportation affair came at the end of a week in which the Home Office surpassed even their own incredible record for making your blood boil. The Mail on Sunday dutifully parroted, ‘“Innocent people will be subjected to rape and violent attacks by foreign thugs because judges have sabotaged a Read the full article…

News of the Year 2012

Published by NCADC on December 28, 2012 | Leave a response

News stories from the world of asylum, immigration, human rights and NCADC. Look out for our campaign review of the year in January! —- JANUARY The year commenced with an important legal victory for human rights, as explained by Rosalind English on theUK Human Rights Blog: People who make unsuccessful claims to enter or remain in the United Kingdom cannot be removed without being given sufficient time for a lawyer to prepare a proper challenge to their claim. The government has failed in its appeal against the Administrative Court’s finding that government policy unlawfully provided for expedited removal procedures in Read the full article…

UKBA inquiry: human rights through the looking glass

Published by NCADC on November 12, 2012 | 2 Responses

Serious concerns lost in headlines about backlog statistics “entering the world of the UKBA is like falling through the looking glass” Keith Vaz, Chair of Committee Last week (8 Nov), the UK parliament’s Home Affairs Committee published a report of its latest Inquiry into the work of the UK Border Agency. The Committee has now published their report online with the headline “Border Agency’s backlog spiralling out of control”, and that was the angle taken up by the media - that and the terrible spectre of an amnesty for “illegal immigrants”. Less widely reported were other serious issues of concern Read the full article…

Stop Deportations to Afghanistan!

Published by NCADC on October 3, 2012 | 2 Responses

Sometimes the news isn’t news to any of us. The ‘farcical handling’ of an Afghan asylum seeker’s case? How many times have we heard that before? The difference this time is that the Afghan asylum seeker was an interpreter who had worked for British forces - and had been injured in a Taliban bomb blast in Afghanistan - and there was clear documentary evidence to prove this. And the condemnation of the ‘farcical handling’ comes from the Daily Mail. None of us are under any illusions about why this story - among the thousands of people’s lives ruined and put Read the full article…

NCADC invites you to our annual conference and AGM

Published by NCADC on August 3, 2012 | Leave a response

We are delighted to invite all our supporters and members to our action-packed annual conference on Saturday 8 September from 10:30am till 6pm in London. The conference is being held at Praxis Community Projects at Pott Street in Bethnal Green, East London. It’s a full day programme as there is so much to discuss! We will be launching our brand new campaigning toolkit with online and hardcopy versions. We will be hearing from people who have experienced the injustices of the asylum and immgration systems first-hand. We are holding legal and campaigning workshops on the changes to the immigration rules Read the full article…

Guest post: why criminalise the asylum seeker?

Published by NCADC on July 12, 2012 | 1 Response

The NCADC blog is pleased to welcome three guest posts from Molly Haglund, who has just completed a Masters Degree in Human Rights Practice at the Universities of Roehampton, Gothenburg and Tromsø. They are edited excerpts from her thesis entitled Punished for Persecution: An Analysis of the Criminalization of the Asylum Seeker in the United Kingdom which you can download here. The three posts examine the issues of (1) The Criminalization of asylum seekers, (2) A Tradition of Deterrence and (3) Why Criminalize the Asylum Seeker? Read Molly’s previous two posts, on the criminalisation of asylum seekers; and a tradition of deterrence. Today’s Read the full article…