IRR News
G4S and asylum seekers' housing
Below we reproduce a letter signed by academics in the Yorkshire region expressing concerns over the awarding of a housing contract to a private company.
2 February 2012 (1042 words)
Victory for campaign against daft deportation
A respected academic has won his fight against deportation on the ground that his bank balance fell below £800.
26 January 2012 (592 words)
comment
Gill Butler 1942-2012
By Jon Burnett
Remembering a unique campaigner for asylum and human rights.
26 January 2012 (326 words)
comment
Abu Qatada decision causes alarm - to rights activists
By Frances Webber
As the prime minister derides the European Court of Human Rights as a 'small claims court', it isn't just the anti-human rights brigade who are worried by the its recent judgment.
26 January 2012 (815 words)
guardian
MPs find dangerous deportation techniques still in use
The UKBA has denied findings from an inquiry by the Home Affairs Select Committee that suggest dangerous deportation techniques have not changed since the death of Jimmy Mubenga, and criticise a racist culture among staff.
26 January 2012 (external article)
Two deaths in three weeks in Spain's notorious detention centres
Allegations of institutional neglect surround the deaths of two migrants within weeks of a report calling for the centres' closure.
18 January 2012 (557 words)
review
Where detention is the norm
A report on the UK Border Agency's management of foreign national offenders bears little reaction to the press' coverage.
18 January 2012 (838 words)
guardian Trafficked children sent to France upon arrival at UK
A report by the Children's Commissioner for England has revealed that from 1995 onwards, children who arrived at Dover on their own were sent immediately to France as part of a 'gentleman's agreement' between the two border agencies.
17 January 2012 (external article)
review
Unsafe return
A new report on returns to the DRC challenges the government's assertion that refused asylum seekers are not at risk.
12 January 2012 (642 words)
croydon advertiser Croydon faces funding cuts to asylum care for young people
Croydon has had the funding it receives for the care of young asylum seekers cut, following the UKBA's decision to review its funding after an apparent reduction in the number of unaccompanied asylum seekers.
12 January 2012 (external article)
grimsby telegraph Immigration raid criticised for damaging business
A restaurant owner in Grimsby has said his business has been damaged by an immigration raid which resulted in the arrest of a man who was not even working in the restaurant.
11 January 2012 (external article)
guardian Kurdish refugees win compensation
Four members of the Ay family, Kurdish refugees from Turkey, have won compensation from the Home Office after being incarcerated in detention centres for 13 months as children.
6 January 2012 (external article)
comment
Second immigration detention ruled 'inhuman or degrading'
By Frances Webber
For the second time in three months, a High Court judge has condemned the immigration detention of a mentally ill offender as inhuman or degrading.
22 December 2011 (1522 words)
review
Young Lives in Limbo
New research highlights the huge inconsistencies in assessing the age of separated young people seeking asylum and the damaging implications of getting it wrong.
22 December 2011 (430 words)
guardian Home Office loses legal asylum battle
A court has ruled that the government cannot remove asylum seekers under the 'Dublin regulation' to European countries where there is a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment.
22 December 2011 (external article)
independent Sri Lanka charter flight goes ahead
A charter flight returning over fifty people to Sri Lanka has gone ahead despite protests and claims by lawyers that those on board face a threat of torture.
19 December 2011 (external article)
indymedia Activists blockade detention centres in west London
Activists have successfully blockaded Harmondsworth and Colnbrook detention centres in west London in an attempt to stop the deportation of a group of Sri Lankans on a charter flight.
15 December 2011 (external article)
guardian Charter deportation flight to Sri Lanka condemned
Campaigners and human rights activists have condemned a flight chartered by the UK Border Agency to return up to 50 Sri Lankan asylum seekers.
15 December 2011 (external article)
croydon advertiser Iranians on hunger strike granted asylum
Three Iranian asylum seekers have been allowed to stay in the country following a 37-day hunger strike outside the UKBA's headquarters after their initial claim was rejected. The men feared torture and death on their return.
13 December 2011 (external article)
yorkshire post Asylum seekers ordered back to UK
The High Court has ruled that a family of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, who were unlawfully detained and flown to Germany six years ago, must be brought back to the UK. Their treatment was described in court as a 'moral outrage'.
12 December 2011 (external article)
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A. Sivanandan