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Asylum Procedure

Part 1: Introduction to Asylum Law

Immigration Law Asylum Law

Part 2: Introduction to Asylum Procedure

Applying for Asylum Port Applicants In-country Applicants Safe Third Countries Safe Countries of Origin The Decision-making Process Statement of Evidence Form Unaccompanied Minors and SEFS One Stop Notice and Statement of Additional Grounds Interviews Young Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers and Interviews Age Disputes Detention of Unaccompanied Minors The Decision Decision-making and Children Persecution of Children If the Claim is Successful If the Claim is Refused Where there is No In-Country Right of Appeal Child Applicants and Non-Suspensive Appeals The Adjudicator/Immigration Judge The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal Interpreters and Translators Judicial review Non-removal of Unaccompanied Minors

Section 1: Support from National Asylum Support Service

Applications to National Asylum Support Service Dispersal Unaccompanied Minors Not Normally Dispersed Asylum Seeker Families Destitute Adult Asylum Seekers Late Claims For Asylum NIAA 2002 Section 55 Challenges to Section 55 NASS Guidance on Late Claims Late Asylum Claims From Families and Unaccompanied Children Failed Asylum Seeker Families Failed Asylum seekers Without Children IAA 1999/Section4/Hard Cases Support 2004 Act Changes to Hard Cases Support Appeals: the Asylum Support Adjudicators Destitution – The Position For Unaccompanied Minors

Section 2: Local Authority Support

Support for People who Claimed Asylum Before 3 April 2000 Are Post-April 2000 Asylum Seekers Entitled to Local Authority Support? Needs Arising Solely Because of Destitution or its Physical Effects Needs Arising Otherwise than Solely Because of Destitution SWSA Section 12A Consequences of the NASS Duty to Destitute Asylum Seeker Families Local Authority Duties to Unaccompanied Minors What Happens When a Young Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker Turns 18? The Hillingdon Case in Scotland Summary of Local Authority Duties Destitution – The Position for Unaccompanied Minors

Status, Rights & Issues

What is an Asylum Seeker? Families What are Unaccompanied Minors or Separated children ? Unaccompanied Minor Asylum Seekers Rights to Stay Overseas Travel Travel Documents Family Reunion Healthcare Marriage Work Housing Homelessness Education Detention Legal Aid Forms of Leave to Remain in the UK Leave to Remain on Human Rights Grounds Adoption Fostering Female Genital Mutilation Asylum and Immigration Implications for HIV/AIDS Diagnosis Mental Health Issues Destitution Minors

Legislative Framework

Relevant Provisions of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, and their Interface with Immigration and Asylum Provisions Selected International Materials European Union Materials Regulations Directives Soft Law Measures Some UK Statutes on Immigration and Asylum Secondary Legislation Procedure Rules Statutory Instruments Soft Law Relevant Social Work Legislation

Asylum Law

Asylum law is part of international humanitarian law rather than immigration law. Although the obligation to provide a haven for those fleeing persecution is longstanding, the sources of asylum law can now be found in international conventions and agreements, such as the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, and the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.

The two basic principles of refugee law are: firstly that a refugee should not be returned to persecution (non-refoulement); and secondly that the state must provide an asylum applicant with a procedure to make their claim.

As mentioned above, domestic legislation has an important role in asylum law; both in terms of making the international conventions part of our domestic law, and in terms of setting out national procedures and enforcement mechanisms. In the EU context, asylum legislation has established common minimum standards for food and shelter that should be provided for asylum seekers, and has defined who should get refugee status and other international protection. The EU has failed to get final agreement on the procedures for determining asylum claims, and these will now have to be agreed amongst all 25 EU countries, including the states that have recently joined the EU.

Some member states, including the UK, have used the move to common EC standards as an opportunity to level down asylum seekers rights to the lowest common denominator among European Community member states. This can be seen in the draft EC procedures directive, which has been criticised for failing to preserve adequately the principles of non-refoulement and entitlement to a procedure for determining an asylum claim.