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UNHCR's submission to the Labour Party's Partnership in Power Third Year Consultation: Britain in the World (February 2008)
UNHCR welcomed the opportunity to input into the future direction of the Labour Party’s policies on Britain in the World. UNHCR recommends that the Labour Party pay attention to the following areas in relation to refugees and asylum seekers: Millenium Development Goals, promoting human rights, preventing conflict, terrorism, climate change, the Middle East, Britain and the EU, human trafficking and managing migration.
UNHCR's submission to the Labour Party's Partnership in Power Third Year Consultation: Crime, Justice, Citizenship and Equalities (February 2008)
UNHCR welcomed the opportunity to input into the future direction of the Labour Party’s policies on crime, justice, citizenship and equalities. UNHCR recommends that the Labour Party pay attention to the following areas in regards to refugees and asylum seekers: Protecting UK borders, the asylum-migration nexus, smuggling and trafficking, failed asylum seekers and quality of asylum.
UNHCR's parliamentary briefing on the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill (January 2008)
UNHCR has issued a succint guide to our official comments (see below) ahead of the second reading of the Bill in the House of Lords on the 22nd January 2008. UNHCR's concerns relate to the criteria the Government will use to designate individuals for special immigration status, now clause 182 of part 12 of the Bill.
UNHCR's comments on the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill (January 2008)
UNHCR's comments from July 2007 have been updated to reflect structural changes in the Bill. The primary focus of UNHCR's concerns is now clause 182 of the Bill, which provides the criteria that the Government will use to designate individuals for special immigration status. UNHCR is concerned that the criteria used rely on previous UK legislation that undermines the international protection the 1951 Refugee Convention seeks to afford individuals with a well-founded fear of persecution.
UNHCR's Westminster Briefing (November 2007)
An overview of UNHCR's operations in Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Chad and Central African Republic.
UNHCR Comments on the UK implementation of Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 laying down minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status (October 2007)
UNHCR welcomes the opportunity afforded by the UK Government to comment on the Home Office’s Implementation Paper “UK implementation of Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 laying down minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status” and on the potential impact of the Procedures Directive on the protection of persons of concern to UNHCR.
UNHCR's submission to the Home Office Border and Immigration Agency's initial consultation on Simplifying Immigration Law (August 2007)
In June 2007 the Government issued this initial consultation as part of their Simplification Project. UNHCR welcomes the intention to maximise transparency, efficiency, clarity and predictability, whilst also boosting public confidence in the immigration and asylum system. UNHCR stresses the need to ensure that the simplification enhances the UK's compliance with international protection obligations while safeguarding the institution of asylum. One of UNHCR's key recommendations is for a single legislative instrument bringing together all refugee protection provisions.
UNHCR's comments on the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill (July 2007)
UNHCR’s primary focus was on clause 116 of the Bill which provides the criteria that the UK Government will use to designate individuals for special immigration status. UNHCR’s concern is related to the criteria proposed for the designation of special immigration status, in particular where it concerns individuals whose asylum claim is assessed against Article 1F and refugees where it is considered that Article 33 (2) applies.
UNHCR's comments on the UK Borders Bill (June 2007)
The UK Borders Bill became an Act in October 2007. UNHCR's comments focused on clauses 5 and 7 (2) on biometric registration, clause 16 with regard to conditional leave to enter or remain, and clause 31 (2) concerning automatic deportation.The Bill is part of a package of Government measures to underpin the Border and Immigration Agency which consists of new powers, a substantial increase in enforcement resource and exploitation of identity technology, in particular to tackle illegal working.
UNHCR Submission to the Conservative Party Globalisation and Global Poverty Policy Review Group (March 2007)
UNHCR welcomed the opportunity to input into the future direction of the Conservative Party’s policies on globalisation and global poverty.
In this submission UNHCR recommends that the Conservative Party should pay special attention to the following areas in relation to refugees and asylum seekers: the Humanitarian Assistance - Development Aid Gap, the Asylum-Migration Nexus, Internally Displaced People (IDPs), Trafficking in Persons, Gender, Refugee Children and Resettlement.
UNHCR Submission to the Conservative Party Party National and International Policy Group (March 2007)
UNHCR welcomed the opportunity to input into the future direction of the Conservative Party’s policies on national and international security.
In this submission UNHCR recommends that the Conservative Party should pay special attention to the following areas in relation to refugees and asylum seekers: UK Security and Immigration, Detention, the Quality Initiative Project, Resettlement, Integration, the Asylum-Migration Nexus, Trafficking in Persons and Internally Displaced People (IDPs.)
UNHCR Submission for Consultation on DFID Conflict Policy Paper (November 2006)
UNHCR's submission for the Consultation on the DFID Conflict Policy paper stresses that long-term stability can only be guaranteed through the more effective linking of humanitarian aid and development programmes. There is also a need to integrate refugees into development programmes so that they too can benefit from the long-term peace and development process.
UNHCR Submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) Inquiry into the Treatment of Asylum Seekers (October 2006)
UNHCR addressed the treatment of asylum seekers by the media in this submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights. Asylum seekers in the UK have been subjected to particularly hostile reporting in recent years by some sections of the UK press. It is the view of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees that the negative effects of this tone of reporting have not been tempered by enough substantive reports on conditions in countries of origin behind the claims of persecution and war, or stories highlighting the individual asylum claimants and their reasons for fleeing abroad.
UNHCR's comments on the implementation of Council Directive 2004/83/EC on Minimum Standards for the qualification and satus of third country nationals or stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection granted.
(August 2006)
UNHCR welcomes the importance accorded to the implementation of the Qualification Directive by the UK in the furtherance of the aims of EU Member States to create a common European asylum system based on a full and inclusive application of the 1951 Convention.
Comments on Clause 52 of the Immigration Asylum and Nationality Bill 2005 (December 2005)
UNHCR's comments on the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill explored the implications of Clause 52 on the application of Article 1F of the 1951 Convention. Article 1F states who the 1951 Convention does not apply to and UNHCR are concerned that Clause 52 may result in an overly broad application of Article 1F with the result that certain persons, who do not fall within the scope of the exclusion clauses, are denied the benefit of international protection.
UNHCR Comments on the UK Government’s five year strategy for asylum and immigration: ‘Controlling our borders: Making migration work for Britain’
(June 05)
UNHCR strongly commends the reaffirmation by the Government of its commitment to the 1951 Convention and to the basic principles of human decency that it safeguards, and also welcomes the rejection of the idea of a fixed quota on refugee numbers.
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