show | Asylum Aid

On 13 and 14 October we were in court. Here’s what happened.

Our challenge to the Home Office’s Rwanda policy was heard in the High Court on 13 and 14 October. This followed earlier hearings on 5-9 September of the cases brought by Care4Calais, Detention Action, the PCSU and a number of individuals, and a hearing on 12 October of a case focused on the data sharing parts of the Rwanda agreement. At the hearing, our barristers presented the evidence and legal arguments to support our case that the Home Office has adopted a procedure for sending people to Rwanda which is unlawful and unfair.

RWANDA REFUGEE REMOVALS – CROWDFUNDER LAUNCHED

Asylum Aid is bringing a judicial review to challenge the government’s plan to forcibly remove asylum seekers to Rwanda. We are concerned that the policy tramples over asylum seekers’ rights and the rule of law. Asylum Aid believes that, among other things, the procedure adopted by the Home Office has unreasonably tight timeframes – only seven days for each detained person seeking asylum to get legal advice and make their case as to why they shouldn’t be sent to Rwanda – and start from a flawed assumption that Rwanda is a safe country for asylum seekers.

Consultation on Proposed Changes to Asylum Aid's Objects

Our Memorandum and Articles of Association (the document which governs how we work as a charity) include the agreed statement of our charitable purposes, our Objects. As a registered charity we must ensure that everything we do furthers our charitable objects. The Memorandum and Articles of Association were last reviewed in 2005. The Objects are a section within the Articles of Association identifying the scope and bounds of the Charity’s operations.

Asylum Aid Annual Report 2021

2021 was a year of consolidation for the Asylum Aid team following its re-establishment as a charity in its own right as part of the Helen Bamber Foundation group in August 2020. The focus of the charity’s work remained on providing expert legal representation in the most complex cases going through the asylum and trafficking systems. The ongoing public health crisis as a result of the coronavirus pandemic continued to pose challenges both for the delivery of our services and for our clients, where ongoing delays in decision-making by the Home Office resulted in increased vulnerability to exploitation, abuse and re-trafficking.

Urgent injunction sought to halt Rwanda refugee flights

Urgent injunction sought to halt Rwanda refugee flights

We have applied for an urgent interim injunction to stop the government flying refugees to Rwanda until our application for judicial review can be heard. The interim injunction application was made today on the charity’s behalf by law firm Leigh Day. The injunction seeks to prevent any flights taking place, including the one scheduled on Tuesday 14 June 2022, until an application for judicial review of the procedures and arrangements in place to send refugees to Rwanda can be heard by the court.

Response to Ministry of Justice Consultation 'Human Rights Act Reform: A Modern Bill of Rights'

The government is seeking to introduce a Bill of Rights that would significantly reduce the protections afforded to certain groups, including refugees and survivors of trafficking. The government’s proposals will not only harm the most marginalised but will undermine the human rights protections available to us all.

Asylum Aid Highly Commended by the LawWorks Annual Pro Bono Awards 2021

Asylum Aid Highly Commended by the LawWorks Annual Pro Bono Awards 2021

Asylum Aid's Statelessness Pro Bono partnership with a network of 12 global law firms has been recognised by the LawWorks Annual Pro Bono Awards under the category of Most Effective Pro Bono Partnership. The partnership has been running since 2018 and consists of a large-scale collaborative pro bono project tackling the complex issue of statelessness in the UK. Asylum Aid's legal team works closely with lawyers across the 12 firms, to train, share experiences and suggestions to ensure each application is successful.

Asylum Aid's Statelessness Pro Bono Project Wins The Law Society's Excellence in Pro Bono Award

Asylum Aid's Statelessness Pro Bono Project Wins The Law Society's Excellence in Pro Bono Award

We were delighted to hear that Asylum Aid's Pro Bono project, bringing together a collaborative network of city law firms to work on complex Statelessness cases won The Law Society's award for Excellence in Pro Bono this year. The group consists of 12 global law firms: Akin Gump, Ashurst, Cooley, Dentons, Freshfields, Latham & Watkins, Morrison & Foerster, O'Melveny, Orrick, Reed Smith, Skadden and White & Case.

Legal Aid for immigration and asylum appeals under the online procedure

We put together a response to the Ministry of Justice's call for evidence on Legal Aid and asylum appeals under the online procedure.

Does the UK Adequately Protect People Seeking Asylum based on Risk of Persecution relating to Sexual or Gender Identity or Expression?

This policy briefing addresses issues relating to asylum applications in the UK by persons who fear persecution relating to their sexual or gender identity or expression.

People who do not comply with sexual or gender identity or expression (SOGIE) norms continue to face persecution in many parts of the world:

Falling at Each Hurdle: Assessing the Credibility of Women’s Asylum Claims

In 2014 Asylum Aid conducted research on credibility in asylum claims, published in Gender and Refugee Law.

The key reason why women are refused asylum is because they are not believed. The assessment of credibility plays a central role in the determination of an asylum applicant’s needs for international protection.

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"I feel like as a woman I'm not welcome." A gender analysis of UK asylum law, policy and practice

This is the first comprehensive gender analysis of the asylum system in the UK. It seeks to assess all aspects of claiming asylum in the UK from a gender perspective including decision making, the asylum procedure, and reception and detention conditions. As women have constituted one third of all main asylum applicants since 2003, failing to take into account gender issues can have a significant impacts on the consideration of women's asylum claims and the treatment of women asylum seekers.