| |
Migrant Children's Project Newsletter
November 2018
If you have used our guidance and resources recently, please take two
minutes to complete our short survey here. Immigration Health Surcharge rises  Following the passage of the regulation in parliament, the Immigration Health Surcharge, which must be paid at the point of making an immigration application by non-EEA migrants, will double. At the moment the charge is £200 per person per year. The date of the change has yet to be announced, but it could be any date on or after 19 December 2018. Some concern about the impact of the charge on long-resident young migrants and their rights was raised in parliament, where both the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party opposed the change. Young migrant campaigners Let Us Learn delivered photo albums to the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, in protest of the fee rise. They have written about the impact this change will have on them – you can read what they’ve written here and here.EU settlement scheme: second pilot begins As Brexit approaches, the Home Office have opened the doors to their settlement scheme for some groups in the second pilot phase of the scheme’s operation: NHS staff, individuals associated with Tier 4 (education) organisations, and vulnerable groups supported by some community organisations. Coram Children’s Legal Centre is one of those community organisations, so if you have a vulnerable client who may need support accessing the settlement scheme, get in touch at mcp@coramclc.org.uk. (Please note our capacity is limited and we may not be able to assist with every case. Priority will be given to very vulnerable families and young people, and those with complex cases. Applicants need to have an in-date biometric passport to apply during the pilot phase). While we are still in the EU (or, potentially, in a transition phase) the rights of EU nationals will stay the same. You can read about these rights in our fact sheet, here.Mental health of young asylum seekersThis month organisations have shone a spotlight on the mental health of young asylum seekers who are in the UK without their families. In a parliamentary event this week, young asylum seekers and refugees bravely shared their stories in an attempt to raise awareness of the mental health needs of this vulnerable group. A report by The Children’s Society called ‘Distress Signals’, formally launched at the event, lays out the way in which transitioning to life in the UK, and legal processes such as claiming asylum and going into care, can cause harm. Find out what support is owed by local authorities to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in our fact sheet, here.Children's citizenship application fees: campaign gains momentum This week the High Court granted permission for lawyers from the Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens, Mishcon de Reya and Garden Court Chambers to challenge the legality of the high fees charged by the Home Office for children’s applications for British citizenship. We wish them the best of luck in challenging the large profit made from children trying to access their rights, and hope this challenge is the next step along the way to lowering fees for all children and young people with human rights and entitlement applications to the Home Office. No child should be priced out of their rights. You can learn more about children’s citizenship applications here.If you have queries about these or other issues, please contact our advice line at mcpadvice@coramclc.org.uk.You can read our privacy policy here. If you have any questions or concerns about your data, you can contact us on mcp@coramclc.org.uk Our upcoming training courses Our courses can all be booked online - just visit our Eventbrite page! An introduction to the rights of children and young people in the immigration system
Coram Campus, London Access to education for migrant childrenCoram Campus, London The rights and entitlements of young refugees and migrants Coram Campus, London Supporting undocumented and NRPF families
Coram Campus, London (Dates to be announced shortly) For more information and to book, please see our eventbrite page. To commission in-house training for your organisation, please see our website. Latest news The next Windrush: The Home Office is pricing us out of our legal status
politics.co.uk, 29 November 2018
Britain must do more to help child refugees
The Guardian, 22 November 2018
‘They’ve robbed me of my life’: Jamaican woman who has lived in UK since she was a child facing deportation after losing court battle
The Independent, 20 November 2018
Libya: child refugees abused in UK-funded detention centres
The Guardian, 20 November 2018
Windrush: the inevitable result of a hostile environment and no legal recourse
openDemocracy, 16 November 2018
Briefing: Appendix EU, the rules on settled status for EU citizens
Free Movement, 15 November 2018 Home Office scraps scheme that used NHS data to track migrants
The Guardian, 12 November 2018
The Kindertransport children 80 years on: 'We thought we were going on an adventure'
The Guardian, 6 November 2018
Councils 'failing children in care with immigration issues'
The Guardian, 1 November 2018
Why legal aid matters and what you can do about it
Politics.co.uk, 1 November 2018 Let us know what you think! |
| | | |
| | |
|
Follow us on Twitter