On the 22nd of July 2020, Medical Justice submitted written evidence to the Joint Human Rights Committee Inquiry’s into the Government’s response to COVID-19: human rights implications.
Below are our submissions:
Continue reading “Evidence submitted for inquiry in to the government’s response to COVID-19”
Medical Justice is grateful to Stuart McDonald MP for tabling the segregation amendment which was debated in Committee on 18th June 2020.
This amendment prohibits the use of segregation in detention except in crisis situations, and then only up to 24 hrs
Continue reading “Immigration Bill amendment on the use of segregation in detention”
Due to its high profile and legal significance, C2/2019/0050 FB (Afghanistan) -v- SSHD and C4/2019/2478 Medical Justice -v- SSHD has been selected for live streaming 7-9th July 2020 – you can watch the last day here.
    Our legal team : left to right, Rakesh Singh (solicitor) and Alison Pickup (barrister) from the Public Law Project, Charlotte Kilroy QC, Tony Vaughan if Garden Court Chambers. |
Video clips from the Committee Meeting discussing the Immigration Bill amendment on segregation
The following clips are taken from the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill Committee that took place on the 18th of June in which Stuart McDonald MP, an officer of the All Party Palimentary Group on Immigration Detention, tabled the segregation amendment.
Stuart McDonald MP: “I am grateful to Medical Justice for flagging up this particular issue – it’s about the continued use of segregation in IRCs which we believe risks causing severe and permanent damage to detainees …”
Stuart McDonald MP: “A report from Medical Justice in 2015 showed that segregation is being used as a form of punishment …”
Stuart McDonald MP: “It’s the actual availability of segregation which perpetuates inappropriate detention of the people who very often end up subject to segregation …”
Immigration Minister: “any decision to remove a detainee from association with other detainees is not one that should be taken lightly”
Stuart McDonald MP: “I am grateful to the minister and his explantuion of what should happen but … what the Minister has just described does not reflect what is actually happening in detention centres”
You are invited to watch the Medical Justice challenge of “no-notice” removals in the Court of Appeal next week
Live-stream starts 10am Tuesday 7th July 2020 – listed for 3 days (i.e. 7-9th July inclusive)
Due to its high profile and legal significance, C2/2019/0050 FB (Afghanistan) -v- SSHD and C4/2019/2478 Medical Justice -v- SSHD has been selected for live-streaming which you can access by clicking the link above.
This case is about access to justice. The Home Office removal window policy enables it to refuse a migrant’s case and forcibly remove them from the UK within hours and in many cases without access to legal representation. This has led to a series of deportations which the Home Office has acknowledged were unlawful.
Under the removal window policy we didn’t know whether our clients would still be in the country from one day to the next which made supporting them and planning casework even more difficult than usual.
In March 2019, at Medical Justice’s request, the Administrative Court granted an injunction suspending the no-notice removals policy – this is making an enormous and vital difference in our ability to manage our casework and support clients. All organisations and lawyers representing migrants subjected to removal notices are still benefiting from the injunction. Many thousands of migrants may have been affected.
This hearing is to appeal a ruling by the Administrative Court in September 2019 and ties together challenges brought by Medical Justice, represented by Public Law Project (PLP), and FB, an individual represented by Duncan Lewis Solicitors. Medical Justice’s barristers are Charlotte Kilroy QC of Blackstone Chambers, Alison Pickup, PLP’s Legal Director and Tony Vaughan of Garden Court Chambers. The instructing solicitor is Rakesh Singh of PLP.
“It is important to recognise that immigration detention is inherently harmful to health, and we regard it as part of the “deeply dysfunctional system” that the authors refer to. Well-documented health and mental health risks of immigration detention predate the pandemic (7), but COVID-19 has added an unjustified additional risk to the health of detainees and staff. We hope that this small but vulnerable group of immigration detainees is not overlooked in any future public inquiry, especially in light of the fact that none are serving a criminal sentence – their detention is optional. Most of them cannot be deported due to the global lockdown so the risk to their health, and that of the staff, is entirely avoidable.”
Continue reading “MJ doctors speak out / HMIP releases worrying report / more news…”
The first annual audit report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) into the operation of the Home Office’s Adults at Risk policy was recently published.
The Chief Inspector made a catalogue of criticisms. We feel these were a polite way of saying the policy is a mess.
Continue reading “Chief Inspector casts aspersions on the Adults at Risk policy”
The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) report on Heathrow IRCs was published 21st April 2020. Extracts include the below :
This week the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) released its annual report on the Pre-Departure Accommodation (PDA) detention facility at Gatwick.
13 of the 15 families detained were later released, questioning why they were detained in the first place.
The father of a three year old cut his own wrist with a broken glass and was hospitalized before the family was released.
Continue reading “Detained father with 3 year old cut his own wrist – hospitalised then released”
From the Brook House Inquiry : “The Brook House Inquiry is investigating the decisions, actions and circumstances surrounding the mistreatment of detainees in Brook House from 1 April 2017 to 31 August 2017 as depicted in the BBC Panorama programme ‘Under-Cover: Britain’s Immigration Secrets’ broadcast on 4 September 2017 (watch here) to understand what happened and make recommendations that prevent anything like it from happening again.
We launched our call for evidence on 21st April 2020 with a public statement from Chair Kate Eves, (watch here) and are working hard to reach anyone with information relevant to the Inquiry’s terms of reference.
Continue reading “The Brook House Immigration Removal Centre Public Inquiry”