Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #37

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!

Issues around the EU Settlement Scheme continue to make news, with the latest being the story of a Polish man who the Home Office was trying to remove despite his having lived here for 20 years and having applied twice to the EUSS. 

We are one year on from the Brook House inquiry’s report, and last week it was reported that only one of the 33 recommendations have been implemented so far. That recommendation is “that the Home Office and its private contractors ensure that all staff were aware of a ban on handcuffing people behind their backs when sitting down, which can result in asphyxiation”. Apparently one of the recommendations that has not been implemented is for ministers “to instruct companies running immigration detention centres, that their staff should only use force as a last resort”.

The Home Office has announced that from 15 October 2024 the commercial partner for UK Visa and Citizenship application services will change from Sopra Steria to TLScontact. 

The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has extended the deadline for responding to the inspection on the Home Office’s use of age assessments. The new deadline is 9 October 2024. 

On Free Movement, our professional conduct and ethics in immigration advice course has been updated and reflects the new OISC code of standards. Some lawyers may benefit from a bit of a refresher in that area, particularly after reading my post on the risks of a person using a fee waiver application for section 3C leave purposes only. 

Last week we also had a post from Ross Kennedy taking a closer look at what can be expected from the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of the use of international recruitment and immigration in the information technology, telecommunications and engineering sectors.

We also had a couple of posts where issues have been raised about the Home Office’s use of country policy and information notes (CPIN). The first was a write up of a new commentary on the CPIN on LGBTQI+ people in Georgia and then today’s post is a look at the latest report from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, which includes a review of the (now withdrawn) CPINs on Rwanda. Both are worth a close read by anyone who works in the asylum sector, as the issues are of wider significance. 

For everything else on the blog and elsewhere, read on.

Cheers, Sonia

What we’re reading 

What can the UK learn from Italian migration management? – Colin’s Substack, 16 September

Cat that comforts trafficked women in London safe house is feline of the year – The Guardian, 18 September

Parents forced from small boat plead to join children taken to UK without them – The Guardian, 17 September

Yvette Cooper’s Plan to ‘Smash the Small Boat Gangs’ is Doomed to Fail, Warn Border Force Whistleblowers – Byline Times, 20 September

More than 30 arrests in crackdown on Common Travel Area abuse – GOV.UK, 22 September

The pressing case for a new emergency visa to help people fleeing Gaza and other conflicts – The Conversation, 23 September

Danish immigration minister hails ‘valuable’ Nauru tour – The Courier, 20 September

‘Scam and scandal’: ex-aid chief raises alarm over £4bn Tory asylum contracts – The Observer, 22 September

Lancs council is set to buy a group of properties to house refugees – LancsLive, 20 September

Who keeps Europe’s wealthy west going? Underpaid, invisible migrants from its east – and I went undercover to find them – The Guardian, 18 September