Feminist lawyer, classicist, King Arthur fan. Barrister @No5Chambers. Tweets hopefully my own. She/her or they/them pronouns.
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Aug 8 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
So much about the immigration and asylum system is just completely unknown to people day to day. Some examples:
Asylum seekers are housed only if they have no £ or friends to stay with. Many asylum seekers are never housed by the state because they have somewhere to go. Asylum housing is usually very low quality in a random location so if it can be avoided people do.
Mar 8, 2023 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
The more I think about the illegal migration bill the more silly it seems. It’s just so very stupid. Apparently created by someone with the IQ of a table leg. The gov really want an appalled culture war about its racist, shocking contents but I’m not sure that’s my reaction.
If small boat arrivals aren’t refugees then just decide the asylum claims in the normal process - it doesn’t have to be done in a desperate rush but within maybe 2-3 months with access to professional assistance - and then if they’re economic migrants their cases will be refused
Live - Suella Braverman's announcement. Bleugh it's happening parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/c5…
'Indeed my own parents' - she says - oh how utterly hateful.
Dec 22, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
In case it’s useful, I have worked intensively with a case with a trans person who is a sex offender. There was no suggestion their gender identity had anything to do with the sexual offence. The person was very dysregulated and unwell. Their gender was irrelevant to that.
People generally weren’t aware they were trans (their gender expression in line with birth gender) but we discussed the process of getting a GRC so they were aware. Their gender identity did not increase their risk to others in anyway.
Dec 22, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
The inadmissibility process is the unwelcome sibling to downgrading refugee status. Asylum law is complicated but with these processes what you get is people who need proper advice. Hard to marry that up with legal aid market failure. This guidance suggests proper record keeping.
I guess a key point is that there is a lot more capacity for public law (mostly judicial review) work at the moment than for normal asylum work so the public law lawyers can use the records kept by NGOs.
Dec 21, 2022 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
Good immigration case news in time for Christmas. Brief backround first. In June @Leary5Leary put a doctor friend in touch with me about a worrying case. @Project17UK also became involved and the family were taken on by @migrantsorg where I worked with them.
The family was a mum and two kids. One with a severe medical condition - 6 month prognosis without a bone marrow transplant. The family were being charged/quoted impossible NHS fees and their visas were due to run out.
Dec 20, 2022 • 37 tweets • 8 min read
Alright the Rwanda judgment. 🧵
Judgment here: judiciary.uk/wp-content/upl…
Nothing here is any criticism of any of the claimant lawyers involved. Instead I think they did an absolutely incredible job under the immense pressure of a removal flight and unduly harsh court timetable. The case was massive and has not been given enough time.
Sep 29, 2022 • 19 tweets • 5 min read
Are Ukrainians offered safety in the UK facing mass homelessness? Yes. A🧵
The UK has granted 188,700 Ukraine Scheme visas. gov.uk/government/pub… 131,700 of those have arrived so far.
Sep 27, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I mean we are supposed to have a points based system already. I shouldn’t think it matters much to rejig it a bit. It wouldn’t impact on asylum and human rights claims unless someone wanted to rather tastelessly ascribe numerical values to human suffering.
The things that’d transform the immigration system would be removing immigration decision-making from the Home Office, placing asylum/human rights decisions with a specialist agency and embracing concepts that promote dignity like family cohesion, reunion and early settlement.
Sep 26, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
I think my female dog might be going into season or smelling a bit like it but omg my male dog is just making crying noises all the time like his heart hurts. He tried to lick my ear earlier which is some kind of transferred romance (I declined).
Now he’s licking her ear again. If she does go into season we’ll have to see about separating them for bits of the day because although we’re happy for them to breed it might be a bit full on having him clean her ears for three weeks!
Jun 16, 2022 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
If you want to claim asylum then the *ONLY* way to do that is from within the UK. gov.uk/claim-asylum. That is why people are arriving in boats.
For Ukrainians - and only for Ukrainians and their family members - the UK has introduced an international humanitarian pathway to allow them to get to the UK. It gives them temporary protection on arrival and they can claim asylum once here if they wish. gov.uk/guidance/suppo…
Jun 16, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
We need a route to settlement for people on the Homes for Ukraine Scheme. Many people will go back but some just won’t be in a position to and need to be able to plan their lives.
Eg Ukrainian considering spending all their money setting up a flower shop in Scotland. Sounds like a lovely healing idea but what will happen if their visa is only temporary?
Jun 15, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
I just gave evidence to the asylum inquiry session on resettlement and it was so stark how different the Ukraine Schemes are from an actual resettlement scheme. (committees.parliament.uk/event/13621/fo…)
resettlement is usually where the UK rehomes refugees whose best chance at durable safety is in the UK. They’ve always left their country of origin and are in a tricky situation needing long term protection.
Jun 14, 2022 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
I myself have wondered why refugees didn't stay in European countries and have travelled on. So I asked them.
I asked a Sudanese boy who had badly broken his leg on his third attempt to get on a moving lorry from France. He had not been allowed to claim asylum in France and had been beaten by police. He'd heard he'd have a fair hearing in the UK.
Jun 13, 2022 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
I don't think the general public realise that the refugees being transported to Rwanda are chosen randomly. They may have the strongest claims, have been through the most horrendous persecution, have the most sympathetic and tragic stories and are still being punished not helped
I don't think people realise that refugees may be transported to Rwanda who have no connection to people smuggling at all and who were never transported by a smuggler or gang. They are random people sacrificed to make the UK look unwelcoming so other people wont pay to come here.
Mar 13, 2022 • 22 tweets • 4 min read
Ukraine Community Sponsorship Scheme details will apparently be released tomorrow - different information has been trailed in different news outlets over the weekend. What is needed? 🧵
People entering under the scheme will enter with leave to remain (reports vary but hopefully three years) with the right to work and access to public funds. ✅ Self sufficiency outside of charitable hosts is vital for the welfare of applicants.
Nov 19, 2019 • 19 tweets • 4 min read
*Thread* kindness in immigration appeals. Unrepresented litigant on my list at court today. At 10am he wasn’t there. Many judges might have gone ahead and just heard the case in his absence.
If the case had gone ahead in his absence, since the issue was (as I later found out - spoiler) disputed credibility and it was for him to prove his case he could not have won. It was an asylum appeal so he potentially faces very serious harm or death as a result of this appeal.
