Immigration - new material (85)
01 January 2007
Asylum policy that sent a man to his "execution", Kim Sengupta. Independent 5.2.07. This article details the case of Abdullah Tokhi who sought asylum in the UK after his life became endangered by a political feud in Afghanistan. However, the Home Office had ruled that Afghanistan was safe due to the US and British "liberation" of the country and after his appeal failed Mr Tokhi was sent back with his nine children with the assurance that the rule of law prevailed there. In August 2005 Abdullaha Tokhi was shot dead in a crowded street in a bazaar and a week later his 10-year old son, Nasratullah, was shot and wounded as he made his way to school.
Independent Monitor for Entry Clearance refusals without the right of appeal: Report for 2005, Linda M. Costelloe Baker. Independent Monitor for Entry Clearance, October 2006, pp. 48. This report monitors refusals of entry clearance in cases where there is no right of appeal under sections 90 or 91 of the Immigration & Asylum Act 2002. Among its findings is that officials who issue British visas have "wide variations in quality" and often have little knowledge of immigration rules making "perverse" decisions. Decision making was "careless and casual" with at least 15,200 applicants being given the wrong information in 2005. Among the Independent Monitor's recommendations are: i) consistent, accurate pre-application information; ii) consistent evidence and Rule-based Refusal Notices; iii) thorough reviews by Entry Clearance managers and iv) an improved complaints process. http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/IndependentMonitorReport2005.pdf
Asylum law: the new regime, George Jamieson. SCOLAG Legal Journal no. 353 (March) 2007, pp. 41-68. An Immigration judge explains the recent changes implemented under EU Council Directive 2004/83/EC of (29 April 2004) on 9 October 2006. The "qualification directive" covers minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refugess or persons who otherwise need International Protection.
Our government's treatment of this family makes me ashamed to be a Labour MP, Austin Mitchell. Independent 1.2.07, pp1-2. The Labour MP expresses support for his recently deported constituents, the Bokhari family, who were deported in handcuffs to Pakistan in January. Mitchell describes the craven duplicity of immigration minister, Liam Byrne, describing the experience thus: "It leaves a nasty taste. An out-of-control Immigration and Nationality Directorate is doing what it wants to get deportations up. The minister goes along, ratifies its decisions (he hardly ever rejects them), observes its deadlines and strings MPs along. pretending to listen while doing nothing. Perhaps scarring young souls will teach them not to come here when they grow up."