By John Smith • Published: 29 Dec 2016 • 12:55
Part of a UK demonstration in support of refugee children
A BRITISH legal practice, Duncan Lewis Solicitors whose director of public law Toufique Hossain specialises in asylum cases has taken up the cudgels on behalf of 36 teenagers from the Calais jungle.
The youngsters who are aged between 14 and 17 were all residents in the Calais refugee camp who applied for access to the United Kingdom with 28 of them having their applications refused whilst the others still await a decision.
Having been removed to different reception centres throughout France their legal representatives argue that the British government has not acted in accordance with section 67 of the 2016 Immigration Act which covers the admission of vulnerable unaccompanied children into the UK.
The solicitors have requested a judicial review of the Home Office decision to refuse entry or delay a decision as it has not given proper written reasons for refusal and in fact did not use reasonable discretion in these cases.
According to a statement issued by Mr Toufique, his office has written to the Home Office on two separate occasions and received no reply and he is particularly worried as some of those who had been rejected for admission suffered from certified emotional and psychological problems.
So far it appears that just 200 of the many unaccompanied children from the camp had been admitted to the UK and that no new action is likely to take place until well into the New Year dependent upon the decision reached in the judicial review.
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Married to Ophelia in Gibraltar in 1978, John has spent much of his life travelling on security print and minting business and visited every continent except Antarctica. Having retired several years ago, the couple moved to their house in Estepona and John became a regular news writer for the EWN Media Group taking particular interest in Finance, Gibraltar and Costa del Sol Social Scene. Currently he is acting as Editorial Consultant for the paper helping to shape its future development. Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews
But EU states that people should claim asylum in the first safe country they arrive in… is France not a safe country? Yes it is, so asylum should be claimed there under EU law! I wonder if these lawyers are not just jumping onto some sort of “paid by government” case where they get their costs covered by UK government even if they lose, nothing would surprise me!
Precisely who is paying the costs, the English taxpayer? How did these “children” come to approach these Solicitors or are the Solicitors “ambulance chasing”? Many of the Calais “children” already admitted to England are in fact NOT children but criminal illegal economic migrants.
There is no doubt that the West faces a never ending migration crisis given the billions of poor people in Africa and Asia as well as the Middle East. Many of the migrant children or others have no right to live in the UK or Europe. They are abusing the asylum system being transported by traffickers and often paid for by their families in other continents beliievng they will receive sympathetic treatment. It is hard to refuse children. But there are also more lawyers, politicians and human rights workers who are themselves of immigrant origin and naturally they support the migrants. This is a delicate area and questions the wisdom of allowing people from other cultures and religions, often with double nationality to become involved in Government or the law of the country. Where do their allegiances lie?
Well said Peter. Considering that only a quarter of the people flooding into Europe are from war-torn countries it is up to the governments to come together and put a stop to this mass migration. All refugees should be vetted, and those not from Syria should immediately be returned. Also, concerted action should be undertaken by all countries to put these evil traffickers out of business. They are making millions from the people desperately wanting to come here, and these refugees will be the downfall of Europe as the numbers increase year on year. All the unaccompanied young males should automatically be refused entry and sent back immediately, for many of them could be Islamic State terrorists. Also, they are responsible for the multitude of rapes against European women that is slowly gaining in numbers.
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