May Bulman
@maybulman
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Investigations editor @LHreports, formerly social affairs corro @Independent DMs open | email: [email protected] | Signal: 00447919210950
Joined April 2012
Finally moved over to Bluesky (not sure why it's taken me this long). Please follow!
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I'm told by a Home Office source that civil servants got no parting message from Priti Patel, not even a brief thanks for their work. Apparently this is v unusual for a parting home sec. Quite telling of Patel's relationship with and treatment of her staff while she was in office.
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Suella Braverman just referred to Channel crossings as an 'invasion on our southern coast'. The UK government's rhetoric around small boat arrivals has been hostile and dehumanising for some time, but this takes it to another level. It's the language of the far-right.
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NEW: Home Office admits gay, lesbian & bisexual refugees sent to Rwanda could face persecution - but plans to send them there anyway. HO docs also acknowledge Muslim refugees sent to majorty Christian country could face risk, but claims this is 'justified'.
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Ghana's statement in response to reports yday that it is in talks with Britain about hosting a processing centre for UK asylum seekers. States that it is not engaged in any such discussions and 'does not intend to consider any such operation in the future'
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How is it that the UK Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), designed to offer refuge to people at high risk in Afghanistan, was announced with fanfare nine months ago but is yet to bring anyone - not a single person - from Afghanistan to the UK?.
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BREAKING: Court of Appeal halts deportation of many of those set to be on Jamaica charter flight on grounds that they weren't given adequate access to justice ahead of removal.
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On this day last year, the Home Office’s Afghan resettlement scheme (ACRS) opened, promising to resettle 20K Afghans - 5K in its first year. A year on, not one person has been relocated from Afghanistan under the scheme. Short thread🧵
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Excl: An Afghan man who sought refuge from the Taliban in the UK has been shot dead after being deported by the Home Office . Zainadin Fazlie, 47, had lived in this country since 2000 and had a wife and four British children aged 16, 13, six and three.
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Excl: Home Office put refugees in barracks after fears better housing would ‘undermine confidence’ in system. Internal docs reveal govt justified placing asylum seekers in military camps bc more ‘generous’ housing would damage public perception of system
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An asylum caseworker just told me the UK govt’s claim today to have cleared the asylum legacy backlog is ‘figure manipulation’ – & we can see it from the data. They also said they've been told to rush through cases despite knowing the decisions might be wrong. Quick thread 🧵.
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'We see people using human rights, modern-day slavery, as reasons why they cannot be removed' – Priti Patel. Because these ARE reasons why some vulnerable asylum seekers cannot be removed. It's the law.
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Harnessed like dogs, transported like criminals: The harrowing stories of the men forced onto yesterday’s failed Rwanda flight. The plane may have been grounded at the 11th hour, but these people endured trauma that will be difficult to forget. W @Beltrew .
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Just watched the first #SmallAxe episode Mangrove & it’s a hard watch but brilliantly portrays a shameful episode in Britain’s history of racism - everyone should watch. My family used to live next door to the amazing Frank Crichlow - here’s an odd little me with him in about ‘95
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Home Office stops recording how many Windrush people have died while waiting for compensation. Patel accused of avoiding public scrutiny after refusing to say how many people have passed away before receiving payments - despite revealing data previously
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An asylum seeker in Napier Barracks has just sent me this photo of 8 Covid test result letters: 4 positive and 4 negative. These 8 people all have to sleep in the same dorm (along with 6 others). 'They've just left us to all get sick,' said the man, who has just tested positive
Home Office urged to publish review into asylum camps amid concerns about Covid outbreak. Ministers come under pressure as hundreds remain in Napier Barracks where a Covid outbreak has taken hold. One man told me he is sleeping outdoors to protect himself
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BREAKING: Gay woman who was gang-raped after being unlawfully deported to Uganda wins court case against Home Office. She was brought back to UK under court orders last year and the HO tried to appeal to send her back, but the appeal has been dismissed.
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Also, I'm sorry but journalists should do their research - if you're going to report that talks are taking place between two countries, you should approach both countries about it before putting it on your front page.
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NEW: European border forces are using secret facilities to systematically detain asylum seekers before illegally deporting them. @LHreports and partners can today reveal a number of these 'black sites' operating along the EU border. One is this derelict cage in Bulgaria:
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BREAKING: British-born boy who was refused entry to UK on return from holiday granted emergency passport. 6-year-old Mohamed Bangoura is finally coming home. Just spoke to his mum who was so relieved she could hardly speak. This should never have happened.
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Excl: Journalist arrested after sharing images of protest outside Napier Barracks. Andy Aitchison was charged with criminal damage after taking and sharing images of activists demonstrating against conditions at the controversial camp (ie doing his job)
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Breaking: £1,000 fees for child citizenship are unlawful, appeals court rules. The Court of Appeal says the Home Office's £1,012 fee - for a process that costs £372 - fails to assess and consider the impact on children and their rights @PRCBC1.
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I still can't get my head around the @ukhomeoffice's justification for deporting Reshawn Davis. He has been in Britain since he was 11 – 2 decades. He was convicted of a crime 10 years ago – under now abolished joint enterprise law – for which he spent 2 months in prison. 1/3.
Excl: Man who has been in UK since age 11 and has British baby set to be deported to Jamaica. ‘I was brought up here. I don’t know anything else. I made one mistake in life and it’s as though I tried to kill the Queen,’ Reshawn Davis tells me
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A story of Home Office incompetence:. On Wednesday I spoke to a Somali-Dutch man, Hussen Mohamed, 27, who's lived in UK since age 10. He applied for EU settlement in Nov 2019 but is yet to receive a decision. Each time he'd call to ask he was told there's a backlog, keep waiting.
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Excl: Home Office staff feel ‘nothing but deepest shame’ over ‘ungodly’ Rwanda plan. Perm sec to face avalanche of questions and comments from employees raising alarm over ‘immoral’ policy. If you work in the HO and want to talk anonymously my DMs are open
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Excl: NHS worker facing deportation after 17 years in UK. It took me a while to get my head around this case – so many legal complexities & unlawful practices – but figured it was necessary to highlight what so many innocent migrants are forced to navigate
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REVEALED: Afghans facing torture and death as UK fails to resettle them despite promise. Not 1 person has been accepted & resettled under UK's Afghan resettlement scheme nearly a year after it opened. For months, @NicolaKelly and I have been investigating .
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Excl: British boy who has lived in country since birth refused entry to UK on return from holiday. When is it ever okay to block a child from the only country he has ever lived in? Especially when his mum is in said country, waiting for him to come home.
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It's not the first time. Govt sources have previously 'leaked' plans to offshore asylum seekers to Gibraltar, Scotland and Albania - and all countries have quickly (and angrily) denied them. Does make you question who is leaking this fake news and why
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Home Office forced to pay out £9.3m for over 300 cases of unlawful detention last year - a record high. That's a lot of taxpayers' cash & a lot of people detained with no legal basis. Unfortunately Patel's immigration plans will likely lead to more of this
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BREAKING: A leaked copy of the Windrush lessons learned review seen by @DavidLammy and @BBCNewsnight calls on @ukhomeoffice consider ending the deportation of foreign born offenders. YET the govt is about to deport dozens of people on a charter flight to Jamaica. Grim.
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BREAKING: Home Office placed hundreds of asylum seekers at serious risk of fire in Napier Barracks, previously unseen docs show. Fire safety inspection from Nov reveals effective fire safety measures were not in place and no fire drills had been undertaken
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New: Female special forces soldier is among the Afghan commandos paid & trained by Britain who've been left behind & now live in peril. We reveal women served in 'Triples' & played a vital role in UK's fight against the Taliban — but they've been forgotten.
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Some job news🚨 I’m excited to say that in 2 weeks I’ll be leaving the Independent for a reporting and editing role at @LHreports, where I’ll focus on investigations on migration and other issues in the UK and across Europe, published in leading outlets across the continent.
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Boris Johnson faces accusations of racism after saying migrants should not ‘treat UK as their own’. 'To know that the leader of the only place I have ever called home doesn't believe I should treat this country as my home is disappointing to say the least'
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Asylum seekers at Napier Barracks tell me there is no heating/hot water/electricity on the site following yesterday's fire. One said his dorm was 'like a fridge'. Another: 'I didn't sleep last night. This is like being back in the prisons of Syria. Am I really in the UK?'.
Over 300 men have been left in Napier Barracks after yesterday's fire. Many spent the night with their belongings destroyed and without electricity or heating. We are fundraising to help get emergency provisions into the camp - you can donate here: .
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EXCL: Child refugees forced to share rooms with adults after being wrongly deemed over 18. One girl was placed in a hotel with adult males, while a teenage boy was found sharing a bed with a man. 'I’m afraid among the big people,' said one young person.
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NEW: Minister refuses to rule out deporting Ukrainian refugees to Rwanda. Pursglove also indicates Afghans who served w British Army could face removal under policy. & he can provide no evidence base, nor numbers or overall costs for plan @CommonsHomeAffs .
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Night mode: Giant iPhone advert blocking out daylight to poverty-hit families in London apartment. ‘For us, there is no light, no sun, it is blocking us from the outside. But they don’t care about us,’ one tenant told me.
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BREAKING: Home Office policy giving people 72-hours' notice of removal ruled to be unlawful. @Medical_Justice @publiclawprojct .
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Tragic news from the Channel today. On the same day I hear more former British Embassy staff have been refused under the UK's Afghan resettlement scheme, with no reason given. It's no surprise people take the risk of small boat crossings when our 'safe routes' are utterly failing.
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BREAKING: Serco, private firm accused of multiple abuses against immigrants, handed £200m Home Office contract to run two removal centres. The firm has faced string of allegations of sexual abuse in Yarl's Wood & been accused of mistreating asylum seekers
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BREAKING: UK sent 13 Afghans back to their home country in past year and refused asylum to 401, official figures show. 497 Afghans were also placed in UK immigration detention in the year to June 2021, with 218 detained in the first six months of this year
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Excl: Priti Patel faces legal action over Rwanda deportation deal. Lawyers representing asylum seeker eligible to be removed under plans argue it would violate his human rights. This is likely to be the first of many legal challenges against the policy.
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Scene at Home Office visa centre right now. People have been waiting hours for their visa appointments. Many here with children, many travelled miles to get here. The system has been ‘down’ for hours. What is going on @SopraSteria_uk? And why does this keep happening?
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Bruce was deported to Zimbabwe last night. Usually I try not to express my opinions on here, but I am genuinely shocked. Maybe naively, but based on prev experience, cases like his (here since children, one conviction 10yrs+ ago) are taken off the flight after legal intervention.
Excl: Fears for rugby-loving ‘Yorkshire lad’ being deported to Zimbabwe. ‘He’s an absolute diamond. If he goes over there, I think that’s going to be it. He’ll do something to himself. He’s said this to me,’ says Daniel Priestly, friend of 29yo Bruce Mpofu.
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Excl: Girl, 10, refused EU settled status in UK despite all family members being accepted. Italian national Sara Bajraktari told she isn't eligible for post-Brexit status along with parents + brother due to lack of adequate evidence she was in UK with them.
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Excl: Husband of heavily pregnant British woman refused entry to UK just before Christmas. ‘I feel like this country is forcing me to be a single mum of two. I’ve got a husband who wants to support me, but I’m left on my own’. This is one case of many.
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This is simply not true. Just because someone doesn’t claim asylum in the first ‘safe’ country they arrive in does not mean they aren’t eligible for refugee status.
Spread the word to dispel this myth. - Those crossing the Channel are NOT refugees.
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UPDATE: Albania's ambassador to UK has told me this story is 'totally fake', saying it is 'not happening' & 'would never happen' bc it would be 'against intl laws'. He was furious w The Times for publishing the story despite him apparently telling them it wld 'never ever happen'.
HO clearly v keen to make it look like they're taking dramatic action to reduce Channel crossings. Not clear yet if Albania wld agree (we know foreign minister prevsly said idea was 'fake news') & even if they did, £100kpp is eye-watering cost to taxpayer.
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Breaking: Judge forces Home Office to cancel deportation flight bc asylum seekers faced destitution on arrival. The HO had planned to fly a charter flight to Spain tmrrw, two weeks after asylum seekers were left homeless in Madrid following removal from UK.
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EXCL: UK’s ‘inhumane’ approach to immigration will not work & will cost more, says ex Home Office minister. Tory MP Caroline Nokes accuses ministers of 'paying lip service' to Windrush review & 'whipping up unpleasant reaction' to vulnerable asylum seekers.
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Nearly a month on, Dean is still stuck in Ghana. He said this to me yday: "I've put my name and story out to the world, and still not got any kind of help. Is this was the world has come to? No empathy, no one saying, let's get this individual back home".
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Patel/the HO keep claiming Rwanda has already resettled 127,000 refugees as proof that it has the means/capacity to take in thousands of UK asylum seekers. In fact 90% of the refugees in Rwanda live in camps and are depending on humanitarian assistance. Not really 'resettled'.
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Man died in immigration detention after staff ‘dismissed’ stroke as sign he had taken spice. Carlington Spencer, 38, had to wait 48 hours before being taken to hospital despite repeated warnings from fellow detainees that he was suffering from a stroke.
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For nearly three years a young man's life has been blighted bc the HO mistook him for his twin. The worst thing about it is that Hussen's desperate attempts to ask HO what the issue was were repeatedly ignored. This is not 'seeing the face behind the case'.
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Excl: Jamaican nationals taken off charter flight in 11th hour over trafficking concerns. At least nine people have been granted last min reprieve. But many - including apparent modern slavery victims & fathers to British kids - still about to be deported
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Calls for Home Office to create safe routes to UK for Afghans fleeing Taliban. Patel has scrapped the UK's resettlement target and said she wants to be quick to respond to internationl crises & help refugees at 'immediate risk'. Now's the time to prove it.
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BREAKING: Woman in Yarl’s Wood tests positive for coronavirus in first confirmed case in UK removal centre. The diagnosis has prompted renewed calls for @ukhomeoffice to release people from detention during the pandemic.
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In light of this testimony from one of the men on the failed Rwanda flight, I want to re-emphasise that my DMs are always open to Home Office and HO contractor staff to speak on a totally anonymous basis
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Teenage refugee who took his own life was moved to adult accommodation despite age dispute, inquest hears. ‘Lovable’ Eritrean national Alexander Tekle was found dead a year after arriving in UK. The first day of this inquest made for difficult listening.
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NEW: Most people who cross Channel in small boats are refugees, @refugeecouncil analysis shows. Findings contradict Priti Patel’s claims that 70 per cent of arrivals are ‘economic migrants’. Still unclear how she came to that figure.
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Priti Patel’s asylum plan will break international law, warns @UNHCRUK . It says plan to create a two-tier system for refugees based on their method of arrival 'has no basis in intl law' and will 'undermine govt's stated goal of improving protection'.
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Surprise surprise – the woman in this article from 2 days ago, who had been waiting months for a response to her EU settlement application, has now been granted settled status. It's difficult to have any confidence in a system that only resolves cases when a journalist intervenes.
ICYMI: EU settlement scheme delays leaving people unable to get jobs or housing, lawyers warn. ‘It’s causing a burden financially. I am constantly anxious. I check my EU settlement status online numerous times a day because I am so nervous from waiting’.
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Exc: Morale among Home Office staff at ‘rock bottom’ following failed Rwanda flight, source says. Staff frustrated at being seen to be 'going along with' policy despite it being 'purely ministerial led'. Says treatment of ppl yday 'shameful'. More to come.
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The revelations come after a major Covid outbreak at Napier Barracks and repeated warnings that residents don't have adequate access to legal reps or healthcare. Critics say the document shows ministers 'pandering to prejudice and jeopardising health for 'political ends'.
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Got me an award at #AntiSlaveryDay2019 event for this news story . Most importantly Theresa May was present and she got heckled
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BREAKING: First UK prisoner infected with coronavirus. There is no doubt prisons are going to have a very hard time dealing with this outbreak
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Windrush man who served in British army for nine years told there is no record of him. To make matters worse, Paul Nichols is struggling to obtain compensation two years on. He is one of many who complain of a lack of govt-funded support to help them apply
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Children getting their voices heard ahead of a major High Court case beginning today challenging the Home Office over astronomical child citizenship fees (see
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I contacted the HO earlier after hearing reports that 100+ people in Napier had Covid. Their response has been to BLAME the residents. They are 20+ to a dorm. You can’t expect that many people to sit in one room for 10 days. They should not have been put in this risky situation
‘I’m scared I will die here’: Hundreds of asylum seekers locked in ex-military camp after Covid outbreak. Residents at Napier Barracks told to stay in camp or face arrest. Many warn they cannot protect themselves while sharing rooms with dozens of others
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Update: Home Office meanwhile admits there’s been mobile phone outage in Heathrow detention centres since 13 Jan - preventing people accessing legal advice/challenging deportation. Worse, it took 23 days to take any action - during which 3 charter flights have left the country.
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Revealed: PHE warned that Napier Barracks was 'not suitable' for accommodation two weeks before the HO moved hundreds of asylum seekers in, court docs show. Comes as six asylum seekers granted permission to legally challenge conditions at the military site
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UK condemned Rwanda for human rights abuses months before signing migration deal. Experts say it's 'ludicrous’ to think people seeking sanctuary in UK can build lives in east African nation, citing human rights abuses and economic issues. Thread 1/.
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Majority of immigration appeals against the Home Office are now successful, figures show. This is a damning indictment of the quality of HO decision making, esp when you consider that many people do not have the means to challenge the decisions in court .
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Hussen's case is particularly shocking but he isn't the only one facing a delay. Nearly 250,000 EU nationals and their family members are still waiting on settlement decisions a year on from the scheme's deadline
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NEW: Immigration minister Kevin Foster refuses to give evidence to @CommonsHomeAffs on UK’s response to Ukraine refugee crisis. It's v unusual for ministers to decline these invitations. Foster is being urged to reconsider given ‘urgency of the situation’.
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Zainadin's wife, Samira, speaks out a week after discovering her husband had been killed in Afghanistan. "It’s not just about us - it’s all the people they’re sending back. We’re suffering today, tomorrow it might be someone else". Incredibly strong woman
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Thrilled to have won this Amnesty Award for our investigation exposing how Afghan commandos who were paid & trained by the UK have been abandoned by Britain - and the harm they’ve faced. @Holly_JoyB @fahimabed @MonicaCCamacho @LHreports @Independent.
Next up, the winner of the Written News category is ‘Murdered, tortured or in hiding from the Taliban: The special forces abandoned by Britain’ from @Independent and @LHreports. A big congratulations to @Holly_JoyB @maybulman @fahimabed and @MonicaCCamacho. Read the full story:
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Suella Braverman tells Laura Kuenssberg didn’t know the Rwandan authorities fired shots at protesting refugees in 2018, killing 12. If the HO has done any proper research into the safety of Rwanda for asylum seekers/refugees she should surely know this.
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As Priti Patel is probed by @CommonsHomeAffs on immigration policy (and giving some pretty unsatisfactory answers), it emerges more than 1,000 Windrush cases are yet to be considered by Home Office
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BREAKING: British child citizenship fees ruled unlawful by High Court in landmark ruling.
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Excl: People forced to travel more than 80 miles for Home Office appts as coronavirus cases soar. Vulnerable asylum seekers and visa applicants having to take long journeys on public transport. Asylum interviews are then carried out via video link anyway.
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NEW: Unseen footage reveals UK-funded French police are carrying out violent interceptions of small boats in the Channel. @LHreports @ObserverUK @lemondefr @derspiegel find aggressive tactics include flooding, ramming & stabbing dinghies as UK mounts pressure to 'stop the boats'
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Govt defends mass deportation flight to Jamaica amid backlash from MPs. @RishiSunak insists deportees have committed 'very serious crimes' such as murder & rape. But we know this is simply not true in many cases. & @ukhomeoffice won't provide any breakdown
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Excl: Man who has been in UK since age 11 and has British baby set to be deported to Jamaica. ‘I was brought up here. I don’t know anything else. I made one mistake in life and it’s as though I tried to kill the Queen,’ Reshawn Davis tells me
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Excl: Home Office evicting asylum seekers in areas with local lockdowns in breach of its own guidance. Lawyers are challenging the lawfulness of the move while local councils and charities describe it as ‘dangerous’ and ‘unbelievably callous’.
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Britain urged to offer sanctuary to some of the thousands of asylum seekers left stranded after a fire on Lesbos, including unaccompanied minors with relatives here. 'If there was ever a time for the UK to take responsibility, it is now'.
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Excl: Home Office blocks US resident from entering UK to see daughter suffering from advanced ovarian cancer . And guess what – Ms Begum received a phone call from the HO 36 mins after the piece was published saying they were reviewing the decision.
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UPDATE: Helpline adviser tells me the first they heard of the new/updated visa scheme was Patel's announcement yday. 'We’ve not been updated ourselves. My supervisors haven't been updated regarding the announcement'. They say they're getting lots of calls but have no info to give.
NEW: Home Office helpline for Ukraine refugees manned by advisers who ‘know nothing’ about new visa scheme. Helpline advisers say they ‘haven’t been briefed’ about scheme. Desperate people being told to call back later or check govt website for updates.
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Excl: Thousands of women in their fifties and sixties have been left destitute as changes to the state pension age leave huge holes in their finances – with the worst hit driven to self-harm and contemplating suicide
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Excl: EU countries rule out bilateral asylum returns deals with UK in blow to Patel’s immigration plans. France, Germany and Belgium say they won’t agree to such deals, with Belgian minister saying UK ‘cannot continue to count on our European solidarity’.
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Europe is giving huge sums of money to N African countries each year in an effort to curb migration. Our year-long investigation reveals this money is being used to indiscriminately round up Black people & dump them in desert areas, sometimes leaving them for dead. Short thread🧵
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Excl: UK govt has stopped chartering evacuation flights for Afghans who worked with the British, leaving +1,000 stranded. Afghans have been told they must now source their own housing before they come to UK - most can't. By me (@LHreports) and @Holly_JoyB .
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@LHreports We also discovered shipping containers in Hungary & prison vans in Croatia being routinely used to imprison people & prevent them claiming asylum. Experts call it 'torture'. And we can prove that they’re part funded by the EU, & in some cases operated under the noses of .@Frontex
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Ha, during the same Commons debate Braverman has just accused an opposition MP who described Manston processing centre as 'unsafe and inhumane' of 'creating alarm unnecessarily' by using 'inflammatory language'.
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Come on @BBCNews - this headline is factually incorrect. It should be amended to make it clear that it is about small boat arrivals, not all arrivals. This kind of inaccuracy is misleading and dangerous.
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As Priti Patel continues to denounce 'last-minute legal claims' that 'frustrate' removals, new @followMFJ research shows most asylum seekers don't have access to legal advice until days or hours before deportation – so is it any surprise?.
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Excl: Home Office spent £10k per deportee in rush to remove asylum seekers before Brexit, figures show. Millions of £s of taxpayers’ money has been spent on charter flights since July, with some carrying only a few people (in one case ONE person) onboard.
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NEW: Priti Patel has just announced a U-turn on Ukraine visa scheme. "From Tues, Ukrainians w passports will no longer need to go to a visa application centre to submit their biometrics before they come to the UK [. ] They will be able to get permission to come here fully online".
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