Europe: in brief (4)
01 March 1994
Romanian survivor rebuffed: The sole survivor of the five asylum-seekers who hid in a container from Lyons to Felixstowe lost his attempt to judicially review the Home Office's decision to return him to France, despite the likelihood that the French authorities would return him to Romania. The man was detained on arrival after being discovered in the sealed container with his four companions, who had died by inhaling residues of the chemical with which the interior of the container had been cleaned. He has remained in detention ever since, and the Home Office have remained adamant in their intention to deport him despite his going on hunger strike, and then attempting suicide by swallowing razor blades. The Court of Appeal found nothing wrong with the Home Office action and gave the green light for the man's deportation.
Independent, 16.2.94.
High Court puts brake on quick expulsions: A High court judge has tried to stop the fast turn-round of refugees who have transited via Europe and the rubber-stamping of Home Office decisions by special adjudicators appointed under the 1993 Asylum Act. Mr Justice Sedley stopped the deportation of a Somali refugee back to Spain, on the grounds that the Home Office had failed to justify such actions fully and clearly by showing that the refugee was in no danger of being returned to Somalia from Spain. The decision stands as a welcome attempt to re-inject some standards of decency and fairness into refugee determination procedures in so-called "third-country cases", where, at present, refugees are processed on a two-week production line of detention, decision, appeal and expulsion to Europe.
R v Abdi, Times, 10.3.94.
Illegal collaboration in court: The Lord Chancellor's Department has begun an inquiry after the discovery that court officials have been illegally supplying the Home Office with information about marriages and judicial separations among non- British spouses of British citizens. The illegal passing of information went on for about two months from November 1993, and apparently covered some 30 cases.
Guardian 12.2.94.
Injustice victim deported: A man whose conviction for rape has been described as wrongful by groups including Women against Rape was deported to Ghana in March, while he is still fighting to clear his name. Sammy Davis and his wife have been in Britain for 20 years and have three children born here. In 1986 Mr Davis was convicted of the rape of a Swedish tourist on the basis of shaky identification evidence. In 1990 BBC's Rough Justice programme on the conviction led to attempts to get the Home Secretary to refer the case to the Court of Appeal. This has been consistently refused, and instead the Home Office has been trying to deport Mr Davis since that time. He proposes to continue the fight to clear his name, and meanwhile is taking Britain to the European Commission on Human Rights, alleging that his deportation interferes with his and his family's family life.
Independent, 14.2.94.
France introduces exist visas: from 1 April France is introducing exist visas for nationals and refugees from 13 countries and for Palestinians. The countries are: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Sudan and Yemen. An Interior Ministry statement said that the measure was aimed at curbing illegal entry by immigrants who have been sent or acquired documents belonging to foreigners who have remained in France. It will mean that on re-entry papers will bear proof that the holder had actually left the country. A previous measure requiring exit visas for people from 49 countries was ruled unconstitutional in 1992. This new system is being introduced through a decree issued by the Interior Ministry under Article 29 of the immigration law passed in August 1993 which says that "if considered necessary for national security" non-EU residents have to tell the "administrati