The WS Society’s Symposium on Immigration and Asylum Law took place on 18 May, supported by Burness Paull. The programme addressed the human consequences of the migration crisis and how to improve global mobility. Bringing together lawyers, policy makers, academics, business and third sector leaders, discussions were knowledgeable, informed and compassionate. The keynote address with given by the Hon Lord Richardson, who was followed by further expert speakers from across the UK. In the evening the Signet Library was transformed into an atmospheric cinema for a screening of the award-winning documentary ‘Through Our Eyes’, a moving account of the human voices behind displacement by war. After the screening the audience were engaged by a memorable conversation between the journalist, Joyce McMillan and the film’s director, Samir Mehanović.

Grace McGill WS, chaired the legal sessions. An extract from Grace’s opening remarks, follows:

“When we staged our first conference on Immigration Law four years ago, as we were coming to terms with lockdown, I made mention of the extraordinary and interesting times in which we found ourselves. We were on the cusp of Brexit, adjusting to the reality of Covid and lockdown and an abundance of new Immigration Acts and rules introduced aimed at modernising our Immigration system in the post Brexit era to attract the best and brightest to the UK with the expansion of the points-based routes for migration. We thought those to be the most challenging of times.

We now face even more challenges which would have been unimaginable then… the war in Ukraine, war in Sudan, humanitarian disasters in Syria and Turkey and a plethora of Government measures, such as the Rwanda Asylum policy , Berthed tankers AKA Floatels , being for the provision of accommodation for asylum seekers and of course, the Illegal Migration Bill. And were this not enough to contend with, the Immigration minister Robert Jenrick told the House of Commons in February that the Home Office was ‘monitoring the activities’ of immigration lawyers. While the Home Office sought to clarify the statement saying that the Home Office only ensures that firms raising immigration matters have the correct regulatory credentials, the Immigration Law Practitioners Association pointed out that simply checking if people are regulated is one thing, ‘but the hyperbole is very concerning, and the rhetoric can be dangerous’, asserting there have been previous attacks against the legal community by the Government.

The Government has recorded crossings of the Channel by migrants rose to 45,000 last year. To put this into context, the research briefing paper from the House of Commons in April reports that, whilst the UK received almost 75,000 asylum applications last year — the highest annual figure since 2002 and that excludes applications from Ukrainian nationals who arrived in the UK under Home Office schemes — they place the UK fifth in terms of asylum applications in Europe in 2022 – behind Germany, France, Spain and Austria, with Germany receiving approximately two-and-a-half times the number of applications of the UK. There are complicated dynamics driving irregular migration and discriminatory narratives simply perpetuate harmful stereotypes and contributes to a climate of hostility.

Similarly, whilst the Rwanda policy and the Illegal Migration Bill are considered justified to assert of UK borders, it can be seen as contributing to the dehumanisation of asylum seekers, while ignoring important factors such as the contribution refugees make to UK society and how the lack of safe, legal routes for seeking asylum in the UK drives small boat arrivals.

Various stakeholders such as the Law Society of Scotland and of England and Wales, Faculty and Bar Council , the UN and Amnesty International, Just Right Scotland and most recently the Archbishop of Canterbury, have all raised concerns over the passing of the Bill and the effect of undermining access to justice, removing judicial scrutiny of executive action and incompatibility with Human Rights obligations. We will indeed have an interesting overview this afternoon from our panellists which is of course followed by the exclusive screening of an award-winning documentary charting the human catastrophe of the Syrian conflict, followed by a conversation with the film’s director, Samir Mehanović.”

Photos by Albie Clark