Letter from @enversol.bsky.social in Times today

#ECREWeekly Updates on UK: ▪️Launch of ‘One in, one out’ people transfer scheme ▪️Channel crossings and deaths ▪️Lawyers and NGOs call out threats from far-right ▪️NGOs urge the government to stop scapegoating people on the move ▪️Migration and asylum-related policy announcements shorturl.at/4sgMp

I went to a Right to Remain event last week where a few people who were directly affected by the sudden closure of the refugee family reunion route spoke about the impact on them and their children, it was incredibly distressing to hear. Families should be together! This is not okay!

The idea that being a refugee is somehow a “golden ticket” is genuinely awful. These are people who the government have recognised are in need of protection. Do they think people chose that? That that’s what people wanted? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

"One of the “pull factors” of small boat migration is believed to be promises by traffickers that it is easy to find work on the black market" Genuinely interested to understand the logic that thinks ID cards mean people wouldn't be exploited through the black market. inews.co.uk/news/politic...

It does annoy me that the Home Office continue to publish daily stats on channel crossings yet haven't updated the appeal stats since March 2023, but... What they do show is it's been a relatively quiet summer - and as of 23 Sep there had been more crossings in 2022 than at the same point in 2025.

For clarity, the people being sent back to France haven’t have their asylum claims rejected, they haven’t been refused. Their claims have been deemed inadmissible to the UK’s asylum system.

The Conservative Party chair is saying the 60,000 people in hotels would have been deported to Rwanda. The capacity of the scheme was 300 in year one

This story was on R4 this morning. For me the fact that this kid has spent 9 of her young 12 years of life on Asylum Support at £5-6/day in deep persistent poverty. 15000 children like her are growing up on Asylum Support each year. But no that wasn't the story. It was why are ppl taking taxis.

New Liberal Democrat asylum policy, as approved at its party conference this week: www.libdems.org.uk/news/article...

The Home Office's appeal against this ruling has been refused The judges threw it out in minutes, without hearing arguments from the man's lawyers, telling them "we don’t need to trouble you" after questioning Home Office barrister in an increasingly surreal exchange www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/w...

Important read. Refugees caught in a bureaucratic nightmare. Nothing to do for months or years. Cooking in the bathroom instead of eating constant chips and chicken nuggets. Forced to take taxis no matter the length of the journey, long or short.

Nigel Farage pledged yesterday to remove all non-British citizens from any form of welfare access - including permanent residents who have contributed. Zia Yusuf then exempted those with EU settled status from the policy - so the slogan is now a false one. Reform have forgotten about Ireland too

UNHCR official warns that the 1951 Refugee Convention is increasingly under threat

So @enversol.bsky.social welcomes this as an important reminder that the public do not reject refugees. There are challenges to get policies right in principle and practice: a controlled, workable and humane system for Britain to protect refugees is what more people want than ripping up every treaty

Latest post from us: Home Office amends modern slavery guidance to facilitate returns to France following High Court decision | Sonia Lenegan

Today I’m excited to launch Nation, State and Politics - a Substack exploring the powerful role that ideas of nations and nationhood play in shaping the political forces swirling around us today nationstateandpolitics.substack.com/p/nation-sta...

Good question at Home Office questions from @lisasmartmp.bsky.social on the move-on period for refugees, after the part suspension of the pilot giving 56 days instead of 28. The Home Secretary said they were following the evidence of what works - but the evaluation of the pilot is still underway.

The MHCLG website has been updated with the new ministerial responsibilities. Good to see that alongside her brief on local government and homelessness, @allymcgovern.bsky.social has resettlement. Vital role for MHCLG to play in successfully resettling refugees, and the move-on period for refugees.

Nice afternoon for a cup game #RoadtoWembley

Letter from Seema Malhotra to HASC about the rules changes stopping refugee family reunion that (a) doesn't even try to justify why the rules fail to comply with the 21 day notice period and (b) doesn't mention that over 90% of visas go to women and children committees.parliament.uk/publications...

The appeals system is clearly a significant bottleneck in the asylum process, and reform is reportedly coming. Yet the Home Office haven't updated their appeals stats since March 2023, and the MoJ are delaying what should have been an update this week until December www.gov.uk/government/s...

Confirmation of new migration ministers in the Home Office. Alex Norris takes over the asylum brief from Angela Eagle, while Mike Tapp is the new migration minister

There is a much cheaper, more sustainable and more human alternative to using military sites that could end the need for hotels in months www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/stay-informe...

So with Diana Johnson being reshuffled, two former HASC chairs have left the Home Office this week. Angela Eagle has also been moved, so new asylum minister needed. Alex Norris and Sarah Jones both appointed, but not clear with what role yet.

Latest post from us: Refugee family reunion route closed in statement of changes: HC 1298 | Sonia Lenegan

Statement of changes to the immigration rules just published, suspending applications for refugee family reunion from 3pm today. Barely 30 minutes notice. No end for the suspension given www.gov.uk/government/p...

A reminder that the deadline for all refugee family reunion applications is today at 3pm.

"There exists a consensus at international and European level on the need for refugees to benefit from a family reunification procedure that is more favourable than that foreseen for other aliens", according to the European Court of Human Rights hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-14...

Written statement on a statement of changes to the immigration rules on tomorrow’s order paper. Presumably it will be to put in place the suspension of refugee family reunion provisions, leaving thousands of families unable to reunite.

Written statement on a statement of changes to the immigration rules on tomorrow’s order paper. Presumably it will be to put in place the suspension of refugee family reunion provisions, leaving thousands of families unable to reunite.

Looks like an extra day has been added for committee stage of the Border Security bill in the lords. Won’t be until after the conference recess.

I propose to give centre-right, centre and centre-left voices until the end of the conference season to see whether anybody has criticised Lowe/Restore Britain on his "proper mass deportations" means "millions" of legal settled migrants Next to nobody on the record so far from any frontbench

Here is our guide to making refugee family reunion applications: freemovement.org.uk/refugee-fami...

Dublin wasn't simply a returns agreement - it was about deciding which country should be responsible for a claim. Top of the criteria was family unity, which is why some families were reunited through it.

Until now, family reunion has been one of the only safe and legal routes available that allows refugees fleeing war and persecution to be reunited with their partner and children. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

In her statement in parliament today, note that when referencing the restrictions in Denmark and Switzerland the Home Secretary said they applied to those with “humanitarian protection”, not refugee status. Would have been good had she also shared the rights of refugees in those countries.

The EU has specific family reunion rules for refugees, including unaccompanied minors, which are more favourable than the general family reunion rules (and these rules were not amended by the asylum pact). I notice that the Home Secretary made no comparison to that...

The fact that country x or country y has done something is not a moral justification

A new system for refugee family reunion will be brought in later this year including longer periods before refugees can apply to be reunited with their family, and new conditions in line with those that apply to non-refugee applicants.

New immigration rules will be published this week to temporarily suspend any new applications under Refugee Family Reunion route until a new scheme can be brought in. Refugees will be covered by the conditions and rules that apply to everyone else.

Multiple times today on 5live the family reunion changes have been described as changes for “asylum seekers”. They’re not. It’s refugees. People the UK government have recognised as refugees, who can’t return home, and who can’t be safely with their family in their own country.

The oral statement on Borders and Asylum is the first of three, so will start around 1535. It's followed by statements on the Middle East and Ukraine, both of which are about issues that are causing global displacement...

In the year to June 2025, 92% of refugee family reunion visas were given to women and children. More than half went to children. Two thirds to people from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran and Sudan. It helps integration and provides a safe route. Family reunion should be easier, not harder.

Looks like there will be more detail tomorrow on how the government will restrict access to refugee family reunion - a safe route that grants more than 90% of visas to women and children.

The message the Home Office takes from the overturning of the injunction on the Bell Hotel shouldn’t be that ending the use of hotels by 2029 is fine. It should, and could, be done much faster. Yesterday, @refugeecouncil.bsky.social set out how www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/stay-informe...

The Home Office and the owners of The Bell hotel in Epping have won their appeal to quash a temporary injunction requiring asylum seekers to be moved out by 12 September The full case over the council's argument that it breaches planning law will be heard in October www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/w...

We had been wondering about this given the lack of urgency there seems to be about getting the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill through parliament

Today we've published a report showing that asylum hotels could be shut by March 2026 with a one-off scheme for people from five countries. Find out more here: www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...