Seeking Refuge? - Rights of Women
Seeking Refuge? - Rights of Women
Seeking Refuge? - Rights of Women
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9.6 Things to remember<br />
• You can leave the UK voluntarily at any time.<br />
You can arrange and pay for this yourself, or<br />
you can be helped to return through an<br />
Assisted Voluntary Return Programme.<br />
• If you are given removal directions, you<br />
should seek legal advice straight away as it may<br />
be possible to challenge your removal, for<br />
example by judicial review and / or making a<br />
fresh claim.<br />
• If it is possible that action will be taken to<br />
remove you, you should prepare for this by<br />
making sure that you have a telephone, useful<br />
telephone numbers and a file with all your legal<br />
documents prepared. This is so that if you are<br />
taken into immigration detention, you can<br />
contact your legal representative or anyone else<br />
who is supporting you. You will not be told in<br />
advance that a decision has been taken to take<br />
you into immigration detention.<br />
• Once you have left the UK you may be<br />
prevented from returning for a certain period<br />
<strong>of</strong> time. This is called a re-entry ban. It is<br />
important to get legal advice on returning to<br />
your country, because the length <strong>of</strong> time that<br />
you have to wait before you can return to the<br />
UK is linked to how you left (whether you left<br />
the UK voluntarily or were removed), as well as<br />
the circumstances <strong>of</strong> your case.<br />
• The people who escort you during your<br />
removal are allowed to use force to enable<br />
them to return you to your country. However,<br />
they are not allowed to use force that is either<br />
unnecessary or unreasonable. Whether the<br />
force used against you is either necessary or<br />
reasonable will depend on all the circumstances<br />
<strong>of</strong> the case.<br />
Support organisations<br />
For legal information and advice on immigration<br />
and asylum law, see:<br />
• Anti-Trafficking Legal Project (ATLeP)<br />
• Asylum Aid (includes the <strong>Refuge</strong>e <strong>Women</strong>’s<br />
Resource Project)<br />
• Community Legal Advice<br />
• Immigration Advisory Service<br />
• Immigration Lawyers Practitioners Association<br />
• <strong>Refuge</strong>e and Migrant Justice (formerly the<br />
<strong>Refuge</strong>e Legal Centre)<br />
• <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Women</strong><br />
For information about returning to your country,<br />
contact:<br />
• Choices<br />
• International Organisation for Migration<br />
For information about campaigning to stay in the<br />
UK, contact the National Coalition <strong>of</strong> Anti-<br />
Deportation Campaigns.<br />
For information and support on applying for bail<br />
from detention, contact Bail for Immigration<br />
Detainees.<br />
If you want to discuss removal or returning to<br />
your country, you can also contact your local One<br />
Stop Service:<br />
• <strong>Refuge</strong>e Action<br />
• <strong>Refuge</strong>e Council<br />
• Migrant Helpline<br />
• North <strong>of</strong> England <strong>Refuge</strong>e Service<br />
• Welsh <strong>Refuge</strong>e Council<br />
See Chapter 12 at the end <strong>of</strong> this book for the<br />
contact details <strong>of</strong> these, and other useful<br />
organisations.<br />
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