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SubscriptionsCategory: Asylum
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‘Unbelievable Incompetence or a Cynical Betrayal’: Jane and Nadia’s Journey Through the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ Scheme
Alexandra Hall Hall documents the hurdles at every step experienced by Jane in bringing Nadia and her family to the UK – and questions why the Government created a system that seems deliberately difficult for those who want to help Ukrainians in need
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A Great British Unwelcome: Family Wanting to Help Ukrainians ‘Stuck in Catch 22’
Vicky Sargent shares one family’s account of trying to navigate the “impossible” Government scheme for settling Ukrainians in homes across the UK
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‘There is no Mariupol. I Don’t Even Know How to Express this with Words’
Chris York speaks to mothers and children who have fled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and arrived in Poland
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War in Ukraine Highlights the Need for a Radical Welcome for All Refugees
Responses from UK and Polish Governments to Europe’s refugee crisis differ in their impact and yet come from the same old book of divide and conquer say POMOC’s Krzysia Balinska and Grupa Granica’s Monika Matus
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UK’s Record on Refugees Exposes the Lie of ‘World-Beating’ Claims
While Prime Minister Boris Johnson was correct that UK has resettled more refugees than the rest of Europe, when it comes to asylum claims the stats and politics tell another story
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How Levelling Up, Brexit and the Ukraine War are Intertwined
Sam Bright explores how Brexit has exposed Britain to the reverberations of the war in Ukraine
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Would Keir Starmer Treat Ukrainian Refugees Any Better than Boris Johnson?
Labour is critical of the Government’s treatment of Ukrainian refugees – but is reluctant to take a straightforwardly more liberal approach, reports Adam Bienkov
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A Golden Ticket: 2,000 Oligarchs from Countries with Human Rights Concerns ‘Buy’ Permanent Right to Live in UK
Between 2010 and 2020, 65% of the foreign investors granted permanent UK residency were from China and Russia, reports Sam Bright
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IWD: Victims of Sexual Exploitation Referred to Immigration Enforcement
This International Women’s Day, the Byline Intelligence Team reveal the number of women and girls victimised by sexual exploitation being reported to the Home Office, instead of for help
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Open Arms to Russian Wealth, Cold Shoulder to Asylum Seekers
Migration statistics show that 347 Russian citizens have been granted asylum since 2008 – compared to nearly 2,600 ‘golden visas’ for Russian millionaires in same period
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Stuck in Limbo: UK Asylum and Immigration System in Post-Brexit Turmoil
The UK’s floundering border arrangements offer little solace to desperate Ukrainians fleeing war, reports Sam Bright
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Boris Johnson’s Gesture Politics Won’t Help Ukrainian Refugees
The Prime Minister’s rhetoric about helping the Ukrainian people under a savage assault by Russian troops has not been backed up by action, reports Adam Bienkov
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Footage Suggests Black African Refugees Unable to Leave Ukraine
Black African people living in Ukraine are apparently struggling to flee the country as Russia invades, exposing racist attitudes towards refugees across Europe
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Only 30 Successful UK Asylum Applications Granted from Ukraine Since 2014
As Putin’s forces invade Ukraine, the UK Government is being urged to do more to help refugees – while the Nationality and Borders Bill risks making it harder for them to come to Britain
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Biometrics: The New Tool of the Hostile Environment
Sam Bright and Sian Norris explore the Home Office’s plan to vastly extend the scope of its immigration data collection
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Lifting Ban on Asylum Seekers Working Helps Economy – Government Plans Expensive Immigration Deterrents Instead
A new report estimates plans laid out in the Nationality and Borders Bill could cost £2.7 billion a year – but allowing people seeking asylum to work could boost UK economy
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‘It’s a Humanitarian Crisis’: The Asylum Seekers Slipping Out of Sight on the Polish Border
As Russia masses troops in Belarus, the Polish Government declares war on asylum seekers, Linda Mannheim speaks to local campaigners trying to help vulnerable refugees
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Government’s New Plan for Immigration Risks Detaining Men and Excluding Women
The Home Secretary is introducing new proposals to detain all men who arrive in the UK via Channel crossings, as the Lords seek to defeat a clause in the Bill that would make it harder for women to successfully claim asylum
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‘I Don’t Know What Will Happen Next’, says Afghan Interpreter Beaten by Taliban
The Home Office launched its Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme this month, as Afghans who worked with the British and remain in the country face violence and fear
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Government Ignored Warning Immigration Policy Undermined Public Health in Pandemic
Nearly half of migrants with no recourse to public funds surveyed by a migrant rights charity said the hostile environment left them ‘too scared’ to access healthcare
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The Hostile Environment for Rough Sleepers is Costing Lives
In November 2020, Priti Patel made rough sleeping grounds for deportation. Samir Jeraj spent a year with the Museum of Homelessness as part of a project to push-back against the policy
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Trafficking Victims Will Face ‘Trauma Deadline’ as a Result of Nationality and Borders Bill
Successive Home Secretaries have made ending modern slavery a priority – but new clauses in the Nationality and Borders Bill could make identifying victims harder, Sian Norris reports
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Catch-22? Why the Nationality and Borders Bill Risks Failing on its Stated Aims
The Government’s New Plan for Immigration, as set out in the Nationality and Borders Bill, wants to deter people from making Channel crossings and support women and children – but will it do so?
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‘A Deeply Dangerous Power Grab by the Home Secretary’: Conservative Peer Calls for Plans to Strip Citizenship Without Warning to be Scrapped
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi told peers that immigrants’ fears that future generations would be treated like outsiders and second-class citizens are not unfounded
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‘Refugees and Migrants Do Not Come From a Different World’
Malka Al-Haddad introduces a new magazine aiming to challenge stereotypes about refugees and migrants by showcasing their writing and editing and building a ‘bridge’ of understanding
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Plans to Strip Citizenship Without Notice Must Kickstart A Popular Movement Against the ‘Hostile Environment’
Building opposition to the Government’s controversial Nationality and Borders Bill must go beyond a focus on its clause on citizenship deprivation, says Liam Shrivastava
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From Conrad’s Kurtz to Enoch Powell: Conservatism Takes a Dark Turn to the Past
Under Boris Johnson’s leadership, the Conservative Party has reversed half a century of attempts at post-imperial reform and is now embarked on a campaign of ‘othering’ – targeting enemies within and without
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‘If Someone Told Me to Go Back and Live In Romania, I Would Really Struggle’
Hardeep Matharu speaks to Romanian-born Labour county councillor Dr Alex Bulat about damaging political narratives around migration, the insidious nature of British prejudice and why she has always felt more at home in the UK
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The ‘Hostile Environment’ Continues: Home Office Rejects ‘Firewall’ for Migrant Victims of Abuse
Migrant women in abusive relationships fear that reporting abuse to the police will lead to their data being shared with immigration enforcement – leaving them trapped in dangerous homes, reports Sian Norris
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‘An Entirely Hollow Promise’: Home Office Narrows Eligibility Criteria for Vulnerable Afghans
An update to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy will make it much harder for Afghans who worked with and for the British to seek protection here, say campaigners
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“Performative Cruelty”: Asylum Accommodation Conditions Exposed in Shocking Report
Vulnerable people are still being kept in cold, cramped, makeshift facilities, Sascha Lavin reports
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Far-Right Echoes in Westminster: How Extremist Pressure on Migration Affects Government Policy
In the first part of an exclusive investigation into the far-right response to the migrants who tragically drowned in the Channel, Paul Mason and Sian Norris look at how political pressure from such activists risks fuelling Government rhetoric and policy
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Meet the Companies for Which Asylum Policy is Big Business
Firms are winning multi-million-pound contracts to run immigration-related services – despite track records of poor provision and health and safety violations
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‘It is Dangerous for Us to Remain in Afghanistan’
Sian Norris speaks with an Afghan women’s rights activist in hiding, as she asks: will the Government come to her and others’ aid?
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‘History Will Judge this Shabby Government’ and its Weaponisation of Refugee Lives, Says Lord Alf Dubs
The Labour peer – who fled the Nazis and came to Britain as a child refugee in 1939 – told Byline Times that Priti Patel’s plans “to penalise people for the way they reach safety is absolutely unheard of in the history of refugees”
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Only Nine Convictions for Facilitators of Small Boat Trafficking in 2021 – Despite Priti Patel’s Rhetoric
New figures contradict the Home Secretary’s promise to clamp down on people smuggling, reports Sam Bright
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Girl Stranded in Afghanistan Exposes Failure of Flagship Resettlement Scheme
A runaway child bride whose sister is a British citizen is one of countless Afghans stranded in hiding, with the ‘safe and legal routes’ promised by UK Government yet to materialise
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British Voters Reject ‘Cruel’ Asylum Policy
New polling from Refugee Action shows even Conservative voters are rejecting a tiered asylum approach, as Byline Times shares an exclusive interview with two Afghan refugee families
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‘Some of them Wish they had Stayed and Been Killed’: Life for Afghan Refugees in the UK
Katharine Quarmby meets some of the 8,000 Afghan nationals evacuated to the UK and hears of the chaos and confusion they have faced since arriving in Britain after the fall of Kabul
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Number of Migrants Returned to EU Rises Since Brexit
Data analysed by Byline Times reveals the numbers of EU migrants being returned to their home country or another EU state in the first quarter of 2021 was higher than in previous years
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Conservative MP Takes Job For Scandal-Hit Asylum Hotel Firm
Crispin Blunt is being paid £117 an-hour by the company, months after it was accused of paying its staff less than the minimum wage
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In Limbo: Understanding the Painful, Human Existence of Asylum Seekers
While Priti Patel and the tabloid press seek to protect our borders from those who need protection, one film has broken the mould, writes Deborah Shaw
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Home Office Admits it has ‘Limited’ Evidence its Immigration Crackdown Will Deter People Attempting Risky Journeys into UK
An Equality Impact Assessment into the New Plan for Immigration reveals that the Government’s ‘deterrent’ approach may lead to people taking greater risks to come to Britain
