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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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