Justice First


	Problems for People Seeking Asylum The legal and welfare provisions which apply to people seeking asylum in Britain are complex. They are also evolving rapidly as government seeks to improve the quality and speed of decisions. The difficulties which those who seek asylum experience in coming to terms with these provisions are heightened by cultural differences. A summary of the present position Law On entering Britain, a person seeking asylum must register his or her asylum claim either at immigration control on the date of arrival or at one of three designated offices in Croydon, Solihull and Liverpool within 72 hours. The claim is then processed and a decision is normally taken within 18 weeks. 90% of asylum applications are initially rejected. From the date of rejection, the asylum seeker then has 10 days in which to lodge an appeal. Appeal deliberations are necessarily lengthy and may take up to two years to complete. 75% of all appeals are rejected. On losing the appeal, the asylum seeker will not necessarily have exhausted all the available legal options. He or she may: appeal once more to an Immigration Appeals Tribunal on a point of law. Such appeals are frequent. seek leave to introduce new evidence, either through a fresh application or through a review. Following the rejection of the appeal, an applicant may receive a notice from the Home Office to return to his or her country of origin, though such notices seldom offer guidance on when and how this instruction is to be carried out. Alternatively, temporary leave to remain in Britain may be granted by the Home Office on grounds of ill health, pregnancy, the lack of a viable return route or other special circumstances. With the Refugee Council and the North of England Refugee Service, we are concerned that the application of the New Asylum Model, which is designed to fast track applications, may lead to miscarriages of justice as applicants will have even less time to prepare their cases than at present. More...

Problems for People Seeking Asylum
The legal and welfare provisions which apply to people seeking asylum in Britain are complex. They are also evolving rapidly as government seeks to improve the quality and speed of decisions.

The difficulties which those who seek asylum experience in coming to terms with these provisions are heightened by cultural differences.

A summary of the present position

Law
On entering Britain, a person seeking asylum must register his or her asylum claim either at immigration control on the date of arrival or at one of three designated offices in Croydon, Solihull and Liverpool within 72 hours. The claim is then processed and a decision is normally taken within 18 weeks. 90% of asylum applications are initially rejected.
From the date of rejection, the asylum seeker then has 10 days in which to lodge an appeal. Appeal deliberations are necessarily lengthy and may take up to two years to complete. 75% of all appeals are rejected.
On losing the appeal, the asylum seeker will not necessarily have exhausted all the available legal options. He or she may:

appeal once more to an Immigration Appeals Tribunal on a point of law. Such appeals are frequent.
seek leave to introduce new evidence, either through a fresh application or through a review.

Following the rejection of the appeal, an applicant may receive a notice from the Home Office to return to his or her country of origin, though such notices seldom offer guidance on when and how this instruction is to be carried out. Alternatively, temporary leave to remain in Britain may be granted by the Home Office on grounds of ill health, pregnancy, the lack of a viable return route or other special circumstances.
With the Refugee Council and the North of England Refugee Service, we are concerned that the application of the New Asylum Model, which is designed to fast track applications, may lead to miscarriages of justice as applicants will have even less time to prepare their cases than at present.

More...