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This
page provides more information on UNHCR’s work in the UK and
explains when and how we may be able to help.
Individual
advice and representation
Intervention in precedent-setting cases
Advice to government, non-governmental
organisations, and lawyers on refugee and asylum law and policy
Helping refugees, asylum-seekers and their legal
representatives access appropriate services
Resettlement
Quality initiative project
Individual
advice and representation
UNHCR
does not provide legal advice or representation to asylum seekers
and refugees in the UK. This is due to the nature of its mandate,
limited resources and the wide availability and provision of legal
support in the UK.
Instead,
legal assistance and advice can be obtained from private solicitors
or through specialised agencies – many of whom can provide
their services free of charge, under the Legal Aid scheme
If
you require legal advice and representation, UNHCR would recommend
that you contact one of the following agencies:
For agencies that may be able to help please click here
You
may also wish to consult the following agencies for a list of private
solicitors/legal firms or agencies specialising in immigration and
asylum law:
Community
Legal Service Direct
0845 345 4 345 or http://www.clsdirect.org.uk
Immigration
Law Practitioners’ Association (‘ILPA’)
020 7251 8383 or http://www.ilpa.org.uk
Office
of the Immigration Services Commissioner (‘OISC’)
0845 000 0046 or http://www.oisc.gov.uk/
Law
Society
http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor.law
Please
note UNHCR is not responsible for the content of external internet
sites listed here or cited elsewhere within this site
Intervention
in precedent-setting cases
General
UNHCR is able to intervene in select asylum cases, and we are interested
to hear from legal representatives about forthcoming cases regarding
matters of particular concern that are precedent-setting on significant
issues of asylum and refugee law.
Interventions
by UNHCR may take the form of letters of advice or opinion for use
at any stage of the asylum process. In exceptional circumstances
UNHCR may make direct contact about an individual case with our
counterparts in the Home Office or the Foreign Office. In appropriate
cases, UNHCR may also consider becoming a party to an asylum appeal,
or applying to act as an intervener.
Due
to limited resources and the availability of domestic legal support,
UNHCR is not able to intervene in every case, and generally limits
its interventions to cases where particularly important issues of
law are raised, and where its mandate and supervisory functions
can be most effectively exercised. We are not usually able to intervene
on questions of fact, and UNHCR's comments tend to be confined to
matters of general principle – albeit raised in the context
of individual cases – rather than offering categorical opinions
on a particular asylum seeker’s fulfillment of the criteria
for refugee status.
UNHCR’s
role when intervening in individual cases is to provide a guiding
framework, with refugee protection at the heart, through advice
on questions of principle, and through the provision of UNHCR papers
on country situations and on particular topics. We hope that such
interventions provide a framework of guidance or advice to the court,
in which legal representatives can apply their own skill and experience
to ensure that international protection is granted to those who
need it.
Why
intervene in such cases?
UNHCR recognises the important role played by UK courts in the development
of international refugee law. Jurisprudence in many jurisdictions
has lead to the refining and development of legal definitions essential
to the determination of refugee status and the quality of protection
available to refugees.
UNHCR
believes that its intervention in national courts is a powerful
means of asserting a position on refugee protection and contributing
to the development of international refugee law. Due to limited
resources, UNHCR‘s interventions have focussed on higher level
court proceedings, due to the precedent-setting nature of the decisions.
How
does UNHCR’s intervention process work?
Firstly, UNHCR receives notification of cases pending – sometimes
from the courts, but more often we rely upon legal representatives
and NGOs to contact us when a case appears to raise an important
or ground-breaking issue of refugee protection. (If you are aware
of such a case please contact
us)
The Legal Protection team will then carefully examine the papers,
and decide whether to forward the case (along with an outline of
the issues that raise our Mandate) to the Department of International
Protection at our Headquarters in Geneva for clearance. Initial
clearance for an intervention is required before the Legal Protection
team in the UK embark upon the main core of the work.
Assuming clearance is given, the UK team, along with colleagues
in the Department of International Protection, will prepare UNHCR’s
position for submission to the relevant proceedings. Where appropriate
UNHCR instructs pro bono counsel and solicitors to assist.
Timing: all requests for a UNHCR opinion, should reach the
office at the earliest opportunity and certainly no later than 3
weeks prior to the court hearing. Requests received after this point
cannot be guaranteed a response within time.
Click
here
for copies of UNCHR court interventions.
Advice
to government, NGOs and lawyers on refugee and asylum law and policy
The legal team provides advice and the UNHCR perspective to a wide
range of interlocutors in both formal and informal settings. This
may be in response to a specific request or announcement or it may
follow the referral of an issue or case by a legal representative
and/or NGO.
UNHCR
London is frequently consulted on the introduction of new policies
by the Home Office, as well as numerous other enquiries. Previous
guidance from the London office has included advice on statelessness,
exclusion, resettlement, gender guidelines, treatment of unaccompanied
children, Article 31 of the 1951 Convention, detention of asylum
seekers, country information and policy.
UNHCR
is also represented at a large number of regular NGO and government
department meetings.
Click
here to reach a range of UNHCR position papers on issues, including
those on: new legislation, policy developments, and interpretation
of the 1951 Convention.
Helping refugees, asylum seekers and their legal representatives
access appropriate services
UNHCR London is frequently asked by individuals for assistance that
it is unable to give – for example:
Can you grant asylum?
Can you arrange for my release from detention?
Can you issue a travel document?
Can you represent me in my asylum case?
Can you make arrangements for family reunification?
Although
it is possible that UNHCR London may exceptionally be able to assist
in a limited capacity in some of these matters, it is not able to
provide legal representation, nor advice to individuals in relation
to UK law and practice, and nor does UNHCR make refugee status determinations
in the United Kingdom. UNHCR London therefore tries to re-direct
such queries to a more appropriate agency.
For
general information about asylum in the United Kingdom, visit the
Government’s Immigration
Nationality Directorate website.
Details
of other agencies that can assist asylum seekers, and provide legal
representation, can be found here.
Once
the individual has been referred to a suitable agency, their caseworker
or lawyer is welcome to approach UNHCR London should there be an
outstanding issue in which UNHCR’s input may be appropriate.
Resettlement
UNHCR
recognises that refugees are not always able to return safely home
or to remain in the country where they received asylum. There are
situations in which resettlement to a third country, such as the
United Kingdom, is the only safe and viable durable solution for
refugees.
Thanks
to the generosity of resettlement countries and the tireless endeavour
of local non-governmental organizations, resettlement from the initial
host country to a further country of asylum has become a fundamental
element of the system for the international protection of refugees.
What
is resettlement?
Resettlement generally applies to an individual who is outside their
country of origin and unwilling to return due to a well-founded
fear of persecution (within the terms of the 1951 Convention), but
who is unable to remain in the initial country of asylum, for example
because they have equivalent fear in that country, or because that
country is not able to host a refugee population in safe and humanitarian
conditions. Resettlement therefore acts to address the special needs
of refugees which cannot be met adequately in the first country
of refuge.
Resettlement
under the auspices of UNHCR has a dual character. While it serves
as a tool to ensure the protection of refugees, it is also one of
the three durable solutions intended to bring the plight of refugees
to an end and to provide a sustainable resolution for individuals
in need of international protection. Resettlement is also an important
tool for burden/responsibility sharing.
Resettlement
to the UK
Many signatories to the 1951 Convention have resettlement schemes.
The terms and criteria for these vary from country to country.
There
are currently three programmes established by the Government in
the UK. A recognised refugee who meets the criteria established
by the Home Office for that programme might be eligible to resettle
in the UK.
1) Mandate Scheme:
A
mandate refugee is a person who has been granted protection by UNHCR
in another country – as UNHCR has responsibility for the refugee
status determination procedure in some countries (which is carried
out in the United Kingdom solely by the Government). The cases are
nominated for resettlement by the UNHCR branch office closest to
the mandate refugee. The administration of such referrals to the
United Kingdom undertaken by the British
Red Cross.
Each
case is submitted on its merits and must demonstrate
a)
why the individual seeking resettlement qualifies as a refugee;
b) the need for resettlement; and c) a family link in the UK (e.g.
extended family with settled status).
The
family link requirement: Family Reunion rights usually only extend
to a refugee’s spouse or dependent partner and dependent children
under the age of 18. Thus family members falling outside of that
definition may be most suitably reunited through the Mandate scheme.
2) ‘Ten or More’ Scheme:
This
scheme applies to the particularly vulnerable refugees, including
those who are medically at risk or are disabled. UNHCR opened up
a scheme in 1974, in which countries would commit to allowing in
a quota of such special cases per year – the designated number
in the UK being 'ten or more'.
The
UNHCR branch office near the recognised refugees makes the first
full assessment of the individual’s circumstances. Specific
criteria are used, including the severity of the case and whether
medical treatment is available locally. Unaccompanied children or
women, or women with dependants are given priority. UNHCR then refers
the case to an agency in one of the countries participating in the
programme. Once the agency has agreed to accept the case, the details
are forwarded to the government for their assessment and decision.
In the United Kingdom, the British Red Cross carries out the liaison
between Government, UNHCR, the sponsor agency and the refugee.
3)
The Gateway Programme:
On
29 October 2001 then Home Office Minister David Blunkett, made a
statement in the House of Commons, regarding the UK’s intention
to expand its resettlement activities. In February 2002, the Home
Office declared the creation of a formal ‘500 Gateway Programme’.
The Gateway Programme envisions the resettlement in the UK of 500
refugees each year and will augment the existing Mandate and Ten
or More resettlement schemes. The
Gateway Programme became operational in April 2003.
Please
refer to the Home Office’s Immigration
and Nationality Directorate website for further information
and updates on the Gateway Programme.
Resettlement
from the UK
There is no resettlement programme from the UK to other countries.
If an individual is interested in making an application to be resettled
to another country from the UK, he/she must contact the diplomatic
mission of the country concerned directly. UNHCR London
will not make a referral to the latter, on behalf of the individual.
It is also important to note that resettlement applies to persons
who have been recognised by refugees (whether by a State, or by
UNHCR in other countries) – individual’s whose asylum
applications have been finally rejected are not eligible.
Quality Initiative Project
In line with UNHCR’s supervisory role (as set out in Article 35 of the 1951 Convention), the previous UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers, during his visit to the UK in October 2003, offered UNHCR’s expertise to work with the Home Office on improving further the quality of first instance decision-making. Following this offer, and further discussions with the Home Office exploring how best to structure and implement a UNHCR contribution to UK first instance decision-making, the Quality Initiative project was established.
UNHCR hopes that the Quality Initiative project will have a positive influence on asylum procedures and first instance decision-making. UNHCR’s role in this regard is, without prejudice to other initiatives, aimed at further raising standards in first instance procedures and UNHCR’s contribution aims to be complementary to other mechanisms that ensure due process and fairness in asylum procedures.
Four reports setting out UNHCR’s findings and detailing recommendations have been supplied to the Minister for Nationality, Immigration and Citizenship on a confidential basis to date. These findings have highlighted a number of causes for concern, focusing in particular on the application of the refugee definition, the approach to establishing the facts (‘credibility’) and the conduct of interviews. The recommendations made in UNHCR’s reports have covered recruitment, training & accreditation, identification and management of stress, interviews, use of interpreters, provision of COI and guidance, targets, assessment and monitoring of decisions and interviews.
The reports have been welcomed by the Minister and the majority of UNHCR’s recommendations have been accepted.
UNHCR continues to work with the Border and Immigration Agency on the implementation of its recommendations, and related initiative to improve the quality of first instance decision making.
The Minister has published all of UNHCR’s reports on the Quality Initiative to date.
For more information about the Quality Initiative Project please contact us
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