Your local voice for Amnesty International
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has verified a total of 5,587 civilian deaths during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as of 14 August, but says real numbers are likely to be much higher. The UN reports at least 12 million people have fled their homes. Nearly 9,000 Ukrainian military have…
Continue reading Update on Ukraine and Ukrainian Refugees
Between November 2021 and May 2022, AI conducted dozens of interviews with refugees and migrants in Lithuania who had attempted to enter from Belarus. In March 2022, a delegation from AI also travelled to Lithuania. They visited two detention centres, conducted interviews with detainees, spoke with relevant authorities and representatives of humanitarian and civil society…
Continue reading Lithuania: Forced Out or Locked Up – Refugees and Migrants Abused and Abandoned
This report, an Inspection of the Initial Processing of Migrants Arriving via Small Boats between December 2021 and January 2022, published recently after a three-month delay, focused on protecting the border through security checks and the identification and safeguarding of vulnerable people. It said that ‘these migrants crossed the Channel in dire circumstances. Many were…
Continue reading Report by the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration
According to multiple interviews conducted by Amnesty researchers with returnees or their relatives, Syrian intelligence officers have subjected women, children and men returning to Syria to unlawful or arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment including rape and sexual violence, and enforced disappearance. These violations have been a direct consequence of their perceived affiliation with the…
Continue reading Amnesty International’s Report ‘You’re Going to Your Death’
The following sections provide more information about the proposals to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, with the government committed to scheduling another flight. It intends to issue more removal notices than seats in the plane in the hope that it can take off with some people on board. Numbers 28,000 migrants and refugees crossed the…
Continue reading Asylum Seekers and Deportations to Rwanda
British Courts: A judicial review on the government’s policy to send refugees to Rwanda will take place in July. In the meantime, numerous organisations applied for injunctions to block the first flight, due to take off on 14 June, including the Public and Commercial Services Union, Care4Calais and Detention Action. In rejecting the application for…
Continue reading The Flight that Did Not Take Place
In August 2021, the UK government promised ‘to do right by Afghans’. Almost a year later, Afghans without safe passage to the UK are the largest national group of asylum seekers arriving on small boats. More than 1,000 arrived in the UK between January and March 2022, strong evidence of insufficient safe and legal routes…
Continue reading Afghans Left Behind
The SchemeIn April, the government signed an agreement with the East African nation Rwanda to send migrants who arrive in the UK and who are deemed ‘inadmissible’ – that is they have arrived without a visa and through an unofficial route – to detention centres in Rwanda. They will be detained in the UK pending…
Continue reading A Compassionate Response to Asylum Seekers – One-way Tickets to Rwanda?