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UK govt plan to deport asylum seekers suffers parliamentary defeat

Some Lords complained that the legislation as currently drafted would require Rwanda to be treated as a safe country regardless of the evidence…reports Asian Lite News

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suffered his first defeats over his legislation to send asylum seekers to Rwanda after the upper house of parliament demanded greater protections to be introduced before deportation flights can take off.

Under the Rwanda plan, which has yet to be carried out, asylum seekers who arrive on England’s southern coast in small, inflatable boats would be sent to live in Rwanda, but so far no one has been deported because of ongoing legal challenges.

In an effort to overcome resistance from the courts, Sunak’s government is passing legislation through parliament that would block further legal challenges by declaring Rwanda a so-called safe country for asylum seekers.

Unelected members of the House of Lords, largely made of former politicians and government officials, voted in favor of one amendment that would mean flights could only take off when a treaty — that would implement legal safeguards in the Rwandan asylum system — had been fully implemented.

The Lords also voted for an amendment that said the legislation must be fully compliant with international and domestic law, and another that requires proof that Rwanda is safe for refugees before flights can leave.

However, the more powerful elected House of Commons can overturn the changes at later stages in a process known as “parliamentary ping-pong” and the legislation could still enter the statute book unamended.

Some Lords complained that the legislation as currently drafted would require Rwanda to be treated as a safe country regardless of the evidence.

Christopher Tugendhat, a Lord for the governing Conservatives, accused the government of behaving like the ruling party in George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984.”

“If this bill goes onto the statute book in its present form, Rwanda will be a safe country regardless of reality,” he said.

Sunak has said he wants the first deportation flights to leave in the next few months — ahead of a general election expected in the second half of this year — so he can meet a pledge to “stop the boats.”

More than 2,500 asylum seekers have arrived in Britain on small boats so far this year. A seven-year-old girl died over the weekend trying to reach Britain after a small boat carrying her capsized off the coast of France.

In the most detailed financial assessment of the Rwanda policy, the British government’s spending watchdog on Friday said it would cost more 600 million pounds ($762 million) to deport the first 300 refugees.

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Sunak set to crackdown on asylum seeker backlog

The announcement comes on the eve of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer seeking to grab the limelight by setting out his five-point plan for the future…reports Asian Lite News

Rishi Sunak is poised to launch a major crackdown on the asylum seeker backlog in the coming days by invalidating applications if they fail to return a new questionnaire within 20 working days.

A leaked Home Office letter shows that asylum seekers, who often speak little or no English and have limited access to help, must fill the 32-page form under the policy – which could be announced soon.

This comes as the number of outstanding claims for asylum is expected to pass 150,000 for the first time in more than 20 years because of the surge in migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has declared the issue one of his top priorities, and next month, MPs are waiting for him to publish laws to bar anyone entering the UK illegally from claiming asylum in Britain.

The announcement comes on the eve of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer seeking to grab the limelight by setting out his five-point plan for the future.

The questionnaires will initially be sent to older asylum claims from the nations of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen – countries where 90% or more of claims are granted.

This will go to 12,000 claimants who applied pre-June 2022.

The Home Office’s director of asylum, protection and enforcement writes in a letter that this would “streamline” the asylum process for “claimants who are confirmed nationals of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen”.

However, the letter warns: “Should claimants approach [organisations that help asylum seekers] for assistance, we would be very grateful if you can continue the work you do with asylum seekers in the UK by supporting them with this questionnaire. Twenty working days will be provided for claimants to return this questionnaire. A reminder will be sent thereafter should the questionnaire not be returned. Extensions can be requested where required. A failure to return the questionnaire without reasonable explanation may result in an individual’s asylum claim being withdrawn in line with the published policy on withdrawing asylum claim.”

This has prompted fears that some asylum applications, including those from Afghanistan, will speak very little English and find it hard to get legal aid – and might not even get the letter if they have moved around the country a lot.

The Home Office says there are no further plans to roll this out to other groups.

In the letter, it adds: “Whilst we will begin to dispatch the asylum claim questionnaire to nationals of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen, we may extend the use of the questionnaire as a means to gather additional information from other claimants awaiting an asylum decision in due course. We will provide further details on this in due course.”

Having previously stressed the importance of in-person interviews, the Home Office is likely to face criticism that the fast-tracking has more to do with the prime minister’s promise to cut the asylum backlog, than having rigorous checks for identifying individuals with no right to be in the UK.

Last month, an asylum seeker from Afghanistan was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a young man outside a Bournemouth takeaway.

It emerged that, before coming to the UK, Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai had been convicted of murder in Serbia and was a fugitive.

The Home Office says all individuals involved in the new process will be checked against criminal databases, and will be subject to security vetting.

Figures due to be published are expected to show the total number of outstanding asylum cases is now above 150,000.

In December, Sunak pledged to halve the number of people who had been waiting longer than six months for an initial decision on their asylum application. More than 92,000 people have been identified in that group.

But Downing Street’s determination to sort out the asylum backlog appears to mean making it simpler for thousands of migrants, some of whom will have arrived in small boats, to get permission to stay in the UK.

The policy may be uncomfortable for Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who portrays herself as tough on those who claim asylum having arrived by an irregular route.

A record 45,756 people successfully reached the UK in small boats last year.

In an interview with GB News on Wednesday, Ms Braverman said: “It’s clear that we have an unsustainable situation in towns and cities around our country whereby, because of the overwhelming numbers of people arriving here illegally and our legal duties to accommodate them, we are now having to house them in hotels.”

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UK govt refuses to apologise to asylum seekers after ‘error of law’

The Home Office said: “We must do all we can to prevent the further tragic loss of life on the Channel and put an end to dangerous people-smuggling across our borders…reports Asian Lite News

The UK Home Office and Crown Prosecution Service have refused to issue apologies to a group of asylum seekers who were wrongfully jailed after crossing the English Channel, The Independent has reported.

British judges have so far overturned 12 cases, presenting an obstacle for the Home Office campaign to clamp down on Channel crossings.

The migrants, mostly hailing from Iraq and Iran, were prosecuted for “facilitating illegal immigration” after steering small vessels across the Channel.

And despite the Home Office’s extended campaign to label the men as “people smugglers,” the government body has still not acknowledged the overturning of their convictions.

After the UK Court of Appeal identified an “error of law,” the asylum seekers who had been jailed were released and had their convictions overturned. More are expected to be released later this year.

The Home Office said: “We must do all we can to prevent the further tragic loss of life on the Channel and put an end to dangerous people smuggling across our borders.

“We continue to work with the CPS and National Crime Agency to crack down on and prosecute smugglers who risk lives for profit. These cruel people could face life sentences under our Nationality and Borders Bill.”

Regardless of the claims, the court found that none of the convicted asylum seekers had profited from their trips or were part of any organized crime group.

A CPS spokesperson said: “We won’t hesitate to prosecute those suspected of immigration offenses if our legal test for a prosecution is met and against the law as it currently stands.

“Since prosecuting these cases, new judgments have clarified a very complicated section of law. Immediate steps have been taken to develop updated legal guidance for investigators and prosecutors.”

Lord Justice Edis, the lead judge in the appeals heard so far, said in reference to earlier convictions that the “crown court proceeded on an error of law in that regard.”

A legal ruling in December, that overturned four convictions, stated that “as the law presently stands, an asylum seeker who merely attempts to arrive at the frontiers of the UK in order to make a claim is not entering or attempting to enter the country unlawfully.

“Even though an asylum seeker has no valid passport or identity document or prior permission to enter the UK, this does not make his arrival at the port a breach of an immigration law.”

This legal precedent could change under the government’s proposed Nationality and Borders Bill, which would change the prosecution guidelines to “arrival” as opposed to “entry.”

A government statement said that the proposed bill would “allow prosecutions of individuals who are intercepted in UK territorial seas and brought into the UK.”

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Court quashes convictions for wrongly imprisoned asylum seekers

It is thought that as many as 67 people could have been jailed for such offenses. Many of those wrongly jailed will already have served all or the majority of their sentences…reports Asian Lite News

Seven asylum seekers in the UK have had their convictions quashed after being wrongly jailed for steering small boats across the English Channel.

Their case was thrown out on Tuesday over an “error of law” that saw five others have their convictions thrown out late last year for the same activity.

Lord Justice Edis found in those cases that the Home Office and Crown Prosecution Service had “misunderstood” the law, and that a “heresy about the law had been adopted” and then conveyed to “those who were investigating these cases, and passed on to those who prosecuted them.”

Two more such cases are known to be heard by courts later this year, though a higher number of wrongly convicted asylum seekers are believed to exist. Each must submit their own individual appeal before their cases can be quashed.

It is thought that as many as 67 people could have been jailed for such offenses. Many of those wrongly jailed will already have served all or the majority of their sentences.

Nima Bari, an Iranian man who was jailed for three years in January 2021 and falsely labeled a “small boat people smuggler” by the Home Office, said: “I lost 20 months of my life for no reason.”

Bari was cleared of facilitating illegal entry by steering a boat, but he must take further legal action to overturn a separate charge of entering the UK illegally himself because he mistakenly pleaded guilty.

The other men who had their convictions quashed were Altaib Mobarak, Mohammed Naeemaee, Amir Keshavarz, Khedr Mohamed, Mohsen Babakhani and Sayed Hossein Daroubord — their nationalities are not known, but many appear to have Iranian names.

Speaking during Tuesday’s ruling, Lord Justice Edis said these seven convictions were “in all relevant respects indistinguishable” from those who had their convictions similarly quashed last year,” adding: “In each, the crown court proceeded on an error of law.”

The last ruling he was referring to deemed that “an asylum seeker who merely attempts to arrive at the frontiers of the United Kingdom in order to make a claim is not entering or attempting to enter the country unlawfully.

“Even though an asylum seeker has no valid passport or identity document or prior permission to enter the United Kingdom this does not make his arrival at the port a breach of an immigration law.”

The government has struggled to deal with a growing number of asylum seekers arriving via the English Channel, and the arrivals have become a hot-button issue in certain sections of the public.

Home Secretary Priti Patel’s Nationality and Borders Bill aims to curb arrivals with an array of changes to immigration law.

The bill would also increase the maximum sentence for the offense of assisting unlawful immigration to life in prison, and raise the penalty for illegal entry from six months to four years.

Patel continues to label all Channel crossings as illegal, despite the growing number of court judgments that suggest otherwise.

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