Hosted by www.ijjo.org

More documents

Recommendations

Info

C H A P T E R 1 2 Appeals: Right to Appeal and Representation Neither the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) nor the Department of Constitutional Affairs record the number of unaccompanied or separated children who appeal against initial refusals to grant them asylum. As a result it is only possible to ascertain how many unaccompanied or separated children succeed in their initial applications for asylum from official statistics. The present research obtained permission to look at a sample of individual determinations on appeals by unaccompanied or separated children, promulgated between 1 October 2003 and 22 November 2004. They include former unaccompanied or separated children who became 18 before the date of the appeal as this is the only way to get an impression of the final outcomes of children’s appeals. During this 14 month period, there were 4,805 appeals by unaccompanied or separated children, of which 2,145 were against refusals to grant leave to enter or remain as a refugee. The U.K. Government’s stated target is that initial asylum applications are decided within two months of the date of application and that any subsequent appeals are heard within four months of the date of a refusal decision. Home Office statistics 1 for all asylum applications (including those from unaccompanied or separated children) for 2004/2005 show that 63% of appellants had their initial applications and any subsequent appeals determined within the overall six month target period for initial decision and subsequent appeal. The figure for April to September 2004 is 59%. It is not possible to say whether applications from unaccompanied or separated children are Hosted by www.ijjo.org 143
SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGDOM 144 decided with the same speed as adult cases but if we assume that the majority 2 claim asylum six to 12 months before their appeals are heard, some very broad conclusions can be drawn. In 2003, 3,180 unaccompanied or separated children applied for asylum and in 2004, 2,887 unaccompanied or separated children applied for asylum. 3 Given the very low child asylum acceptance rate, there were about 3,000 potential appeals from unaccompanied or separated children in either year. 4 Yet only 2,145 or around 71% of unaccompanied or separated children in fact appealed against decisions refusing them asylum between October 2003 and November 2004, compared to the adult appeal rate of 80% in 2003. 5 12.1 The Right to Appeal The relatively low figure is partly a consequence of the increasing restriction of children’s appeal rights over the research period. The remaining right of appeal is under section 82 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. This appeal is to an independent appellate body funded by the Department of Constitutional Affairs and not the Home Office. As a result, and by contrast with other jurisdictions where the decision making and reviewing department is the same, here the government department responsible for making the initial decision to refuse asylum is not in charge of the appeal process but merely a party to any appeal. Unaccompanied or separated children are subject to the same legislation and rules of procedure as adult appellants. Until 4 April 2005, there were two tiers of appeal. The first tier of the Immigration Appellate Authority consisted of an adjudicator sitting alone and the second tier was three adjudicators sitting as the Immigration Appeal Tribunal. There were further possible rights of appeal on points of law to the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords. In April 2005, the two lower tiers were amalgamated into the one tier Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, although there were provisions for an internal reconsideration within the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal of an initial decision by an Immigration Judge on points of law. The reconsideration process is cumbersome. First of all a written application requesting a reconsideration has to be made to the Tribunal itself. If this is not successful, a further written application can be made to the High Court. If either the Tribunal or the High Court decide that the Immigration Judge has erred in law in his or her initial decision, the appeal is referred back to a panel of more senior Immigration Judges for a reconsideration hearing. If that reconsideration hearing is unsuccessful, there is a right of appeal on a point of law only to the Court of Appeal. A further appeal lies from there to the House of Lords but only in cases which raise an important point of law of wider significance. There is however a built in and significant disincentive within the new appeal system as funding for making applications for reconsideration to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and the High Court is only granted retrospectively and depends upon the outcome of any reconsideration. Certain categories of unaccompanied or separated children have no or very restricted rights of appeal. Children who have applied for asylum elsewhere in the European Union, who do not have a parent or legal guardian legally present in the U.K. and who have not been permitted to make an asylum application in the U.K. on humanitarian grounds 6 are not even permitted to apply for asylum in the U.K. In such cases, no right of appeal can arise. Other unaccompanied or separated children are entitled to make an application for asylum in the U.K. but are not entitled to an “in country” right of Hosted by www.ijjo.org
Page 1 and 2:
Unaccompanied and Separated Childre
Page 3 and 4:
ABOUT THE AUTHORS Jacqueline Bhabha
Page 5 and 6:
Manchester City Council; Sue Fisher
Page 7 and 8:
Contents Chapter 1 | 9 Chapter 5 |
Page 9 and 10:
SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGD
Page 11 and 12:
Arriving in the U.K. 6 The Immigrat
Page 13 and 14:
ers often believe that although a p
Page 15 and 16:
fear of certain groups in society t
Page 17 and 18:
that unaccompanied minor children f
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
It then added that “although chil
Page 23 and 24:
2004 it rose to 8.8%. This was at a
Page 25 and 26:
2.3 Countries of Origin Unaccompani
Page 27 and 28:
Recommendations ■ 1. If the U.K.
Page 29 and 30:
There was no comparable age differe
Page 31 and 32:
2.7 Private Fostering Arrangements
Page 33 and 34:
Endnotes 9 Statistics published by
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
unfounded, thus depriving this subs
Page 39 and 40:
Bill in Parliament which would have
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
of someone who might be an unaccomp
Page 45 and 46:
It is clear that the Rules are a po
Page 47 and 48:
subsequently abducted by their form
Page 49 and 50:
“G” was a 16-year-old Christian
Page 51 and 52:
■ 4. Article 4 of the European Co
Page 53 and 54:
17 A multi-agency task force establ
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
of the asylum determination process
Page 59 and 60:
as a group around the claimant laug
Page 61 and 62:
with as being hostile. Nor did they
Page 63 and 64:
purposes. 38 The Immigration and Na
Page 65 and 66:
or local authority social services
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
als from age disputed children deta
Page 71 and 72:
and February 2005 when 75% of those
Page 73 and 74:
accommodation which is separated fr
Page 75 and 76:
e safe to let the child go and live
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
case, that adult is advised to info
Page 81 and 82:
The official justification for thes
Page 83 and 84:
Asylum Support Team has a case load
Page 85 and 86:
days and a second review after thre
Page 87 and 88:
provides access to rehabilitation a
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
who the child must try to relate to
Page 93 and 94: adult in their life to speak on the
Page 95 and 96: 8.3 Role of a Legal Guardian rights
Page 97 and 98: asylum application and monitor the
Page 99 and 100: SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGD
Page 101 and 102: do once I got to London. The pictur
Page 103 and 104: Some social services departments do
Page 105 and 106: ■ 5. The screening interview shou
Page 107 and 108: eturn to a country requiring servic
Page 109 and 110: ■ 6. The syllabus for the Accredi
Page 113 and 114: this research believe that it is no
Page 115 and 116: A recent White Paper 13 states that
Page 117 and 118: an important and distinct role to p
Page 119 and 120: for Determining Refugee Status. 30
Page 121 and 122: draws on a small number of other re
Page 123 and 124: ■ 3. UNHCR also states that the q
Page 131 and 132: contact the child via social servic
Page 133 and 134: It is not possible to ascertain the
Page 135 and 136: leave to remain if it was unlikely
Page 139 and 140: “Unaccompanied children are not g
Page 141 and 142: 5 IND. Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking
Page 143: SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGD
Page 147 and 148: until they turn 18, whichever is th
Page 151 and 152: “There are some exceptionally goo
Page 153 and 154: could have been allowed. In one of
Page 155 and 156: esisting removal to their countries
Page 157 and 158: ■ 3. The Law Society and the Lega
Page 159 and 160: determinations we analyzed this did
Page 161 and 162: 42 Interview with Laura Brownlees,
Page 165 and 166: should resolve this difficulty. The
Page 167 and 168: A number of legal representatives b
Page 169 and 170: Department at appeals by unaccompan
Page 171 and 172: Basis Upon Which Appeals Were Allow
Page 173 and 174: Basis Upon Which Appeals Were Allow
Page 175 and 176: Recommendations 14 Immigration Rule
Page 179 and 180: concern the plethora of evidence of
Page 181 and 182: As a consequence of these restricti
Page 183 and 184: ■ ■ accommodate unaccompanied o
Page 185 and 186: that the vast majority of referrals
Page 187 and 188: ecause of long waiting lists and be
Page 189 and 190: which would have provided for a leg
Page 191 and 192: screening interview and do not real
Page 193 and 194: ■ 9.9 The interviewer should alwa
Page 195 and 196:
excessive delay in reaching a decis
Page 197 and 198:
Page 199 and 200:
children, or anyone who had been re
Page 201 and 202:
appeal. The Asylum Policy Unit has
Page 203 and 204:
and adjudicators rarely prevented t
Page 205 and 206:
22 Information provided by Ailish K
Page 207 and 208:
A P P E N D I X 1 Glossary of Terms
Page 209 and 210:
Bibliography Amnesty International.
Page 211 and 212:
Immigration Advisory Service. Submi
Page 213 and 214:
FOR MORE INFORMATION PHOTOGRAPHY CR
show all

Hosted by www.ijjo.org

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?