State of the World’s Human Rights - AI’s Annual Report 2023/24
Amnesty International sounds alarm on a watershed moment for international law amid flagrant rule-breaking by governments and corporate actors
Powerful governments cast humanity into an era devoid of effective international rule of law, with civilians in conflicts paying the highest price
Rapidly changing artificial intelligence is left to create fertile ground for racism, discrimination and division in landmark year for public elections
Standing against these abuses,in 2003.2004 people the world over mobilized in unprecedented numbers, demanding human rights protection and respect for our common humanity
The world is reaping a harvest of terrifying consequences from escalating conflict and the near breakdown of international law, said Amnesty International as it launched its annual The State of the World’s Human Rights report today, delivering an assessment of human rights in 155 countries.
Amnesty International also warned that the breakdown of the rule of law is likely to accelerate with rapid advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) which, coupled with the dominance of Big Tech, risks a “supercharging” of human rights violations if regulation continues to lag behind advances.
Read more: Amnesty International, https://shorturl.at/lnGMT
Legal and Policy Infrastructures of Irregular Migration in the UK
University of Birmingham's Nando Sigona and Stefano Piemontese consider how immigration, labour and welfare regimes contribute to irregularisation of migrants The report investigates the intersection between immigration, labour and welfare regimes and how they contribute to the irregularisation of migrants and determine their living and working conditions in the UK.
As the authors note, the policy measures introduced by the UK Government since the early 2010s to create a hostile environment for irregular migrants define the contours within which irregular migrants enter and settle in the UK. The report draws on an extensive desk-based review of academic literature, as well as expert interviews with seven academics, advocates and practitioners.
Three main sections make up the report. The first provides an overview of the general trends and features of the specific national context related to irregularity. In the second section, the authors consider the relevant policies, legislation and practices contributing to the production of conditions of irregularity. The final section draws on the concept of 'irregularity assemblage' to explore how irregularity is produced and shaped in practice across migration, employment and welfare regimes. It focuses on the participation of migrants with no or precarious legal status working in the delivery of food and goods and the provision of cleaning services and domestic work.
Read more: EIN, https://shorturl.at/kJMOU
Rishi Sunak - Inward Migration far to High
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the record number of 75,000 people who came to the UK in 2022 - the last full year for which figures are available - was "far too high".
What is the minimum salary UK visa applicants need?
Most people wanting to work in the UK still have to apply for a visa through the points-based system (PBS).
But from 11 April 2024, they need a job offer with a higher salary.
They have to earn at least £38,700 - an increase of nearly 50% from the previous £26,200 minimum.
The threshold does not apply to some jobs - such as in health and social care, and teachers on national pay scales. But overseas care workers cannot bring family dependants with them.
Thrown Out Case Against UK Climate Activist Who Held Sign On Jurors’ Rights
Trudi Warner was accused of contempt for holding placard reminding jurors of right to acquit based on conscience
A high court judge has thrown out an attempt by the government’s most senior law officer to prosecute a woman for holding a placard on jury rights outside a climate trial. Mr Justice Saini said there was no basis for a prosecution of Trudi Warner, 69, for criminal contempt for holding a placard outside the trial of climate activists that informed jurors of their right to acquit a defendant based on their conscience.
The judge accused government lawyers of “mischaracterising” the evidence when they said Warner had acted in an intimidating and abusive manner, confronting potential jurors outside the court and following them, in a deliberate attempt to interfere with the administration of justice.
Read more: Sandra Laville, Guardian, https://shorturl.at/vCLR4
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Deprivation of Citizenship Shows High Number of Stalled Cases
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s report ‘An inspection of the use of deprivation of Citizenship by the Status Review Unit’ contains some interesting points around the high number of Albanian decisions, proposed solutions for what happens to a person after deprivation and some fairly troubling use of spreadsheets. Also, at the time of the inspection, there were over 300 cases that could not be progressed for various reasons. Most of those were (and still are) awaiting a decision by the Home Secretary on a ministerial submission.
The report explains that the Status Review Unit deals with most deprivation cases (around 650 cases a year) and where the main factor for consideration of deprivation is fraud or serious organised crime. Between 1 January 2019 and 10 May 2023 there were 2,817 referrals to the Status Review Unit made on fraud grounds. 2,350 were accepted for consideration and 467 were rejected.
Read more: Freemovement, https://is.gd/NQWngH
Asylum Seekers Can Leave Guarded Encampment on Diego Garcia
A group of asylum seekers who have been stranded on Diego Garcia since October 2021 have today been granted bail allowing them to leave the fenced and guarded encampment in which they have held by the BIOT Commissioner since their arrival two and a half years ago.
The claimants, who include a seven-year-old child, applied for bail to be allowed out of the fenced camp during day light hours, pending a hearing in July, to be held in Diego Garcia, to decide whether they are unlawfully detained by the Commissioner.
The claimants are seeking international protection and say they cannot return to Sri Lanka. The Commissioner has repeatedly insisted he is negotiating arrangements for the transfer of individuals stranded on the island to a safe third country, but so far no movement appears to be have made in those negotiations.
Read more: Leigh Day, https://shorturl.at/jGPZ4
Unable to Return to the UK for Over 15 Years After Home Office Mistake
The Home Secretary has lost a case where it was argued that a refugee who held indefinite leave to remain in the UK should not be permitted to return to the UK based on his right to a private life. The refugee in question had lost his travel document while outside the UK, tried unsuccessfully to get another one from the British embassy but failed to do so because the Home Office had not kept a record of his grant of indefinite leave.
The application was refused on 25 June 2015 on the grounds that there was a lack of evidence that the appellant had indefinite leave to remain. The refusal letter did not engage properly with the application and did not mention the loss of the travel document or acknowledge that the reason he was in Ethiopia was to try to return to the UK.
Read more: Freemovement, https://is.gd/suY0X0
Government Officials Working on Small Boats Policy Referred to ‘Bloody Migrants’
Cabinet Office officials working on the government’s small boats plan reportedly referred to “bloody migrants” and told colleagues they were expected to leave their “humanity at the door” in a sign of civil service tensions over the controversial policy,
Rowaa Ahmar, a former senior civil servant who has withdrawn a discrimination case against the Cabinet Office, has described “inhumane conversations” in the illegal migration taskforce. She was head of policy at the department before resigning in 2022 and later accused individuals at the heart of Boris Johnson’s government of bullying, discrimination and gaslighting.
The former civil servant, who is of Egyptian and French dual heritage, also made allegations of “systemic racism” against the Cabinet Office. “I was privy to some inhumane conversations using the words ‘let’s boomerang them’, ‘bloody migrants’, ‘let’s take them in Cat C and treat them as prisoners,’” she told The Guardian. “I can’t reveal the legal advice, but I was pushing for the legal advice to be respected.”
Read more: Matt Mathers, Independent, https://shorturl.at/nwxGS
Deprivation of Citizenship Shows High Number of Stalled Cases
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s report ‘An inspection of the use of deprivation of Citizenship by the Status Review Unit’ contains some interesting points around the high number of Albanian decisions, proposed solutions for what happens to a person after deprivation and some fairly troubling use of spreadsheets. Also, at the time of the inspection, there were over 300 cases that could not be progressed for various reasons. Most of those were (and still are) awaiting a decision by the Home Secretary on a ministerial submission.
The report explains that the Status Review Unit deals with most deprivation cases (around 650 cases a year) and where the main factor for consideration of deprivation is fraud or serious organised crime. Between 1 January 2019 and 10 May 2023 there were 2,817 referrals to the Status Review Unit made on fraud grounds. 2,350 were accepted for consideration and 467 were rejected.
Read more: Freemovement, https://is.gd/NQWngH
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