Jon Featonby
@jonfeatonby.bsky.social
I do refugee and asylum policy at the Refugee Council, so most likely a lot of the posts will be about that.
💔 Mothers and children are being forced apart by hostile asylum policies. This MUST change. Refugee Family Reunion must be urgently reinstated so families can be together. We Will #NeverLetThatGo. Learn more below👇 www.refugeewomen.co.uk/family 1/🧵
Women for Refugee Women - Families Belong Together - We Will Never Let That Go.
Refugee families are being forced apart by cruel asylum policies. Join our campaign if you agree that families belong together.
refugeewomen.co.uk
There are some clarifications that would be helpful in the reporting on the potential visa ban for Eritreans. No ban would change the UK's obligations to process Eritrean asylum claims. At initial decision alone 84% of claims are granted - will be higher after appeal www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK threatens visa bans for Eritrea over migrant return policy
The home secretary said she would not hesitate to impose measures on other countries "refusing to co-operate".
bbc.co.uk
The Conversative front bench has tabled a number of amendments to the Immigration and Asylum Bill, including one that would limit ILR to a very small proportion of people and another that would allow for the removal of ILR to many of those granted it in recent years
As the Home Office's own guidance says: "Returnees face significant and unpredictable risks, but their treatment varies." and "The Eritrean government views claiming asylum or refusing to perform national service as acts of disloyalty or treason, which can further increase the risk of mistreatment."
Colin Yeo@colinyeo.bsky.social · last wk.Thanks @sonial77.bsky.social and @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social. Those figures include returns of Eritreans to France. Figures for returns of Eritreans to Eritrea are... low. Fewer than 10 per year.
Catholic Church slams Nigel Farage asylum plan in blow to 'Christian values' claim www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
Catholic Church slams Farage asylum plan in blow to 'Christian values' claim
EXCLUSIVE: The Catholic Church of England and Wales said the Bible calls on people to 'welcome the stranger' after Nigel Farage unveiled proposals to suspend the asylum system for five years if he bec...
mirror.co.uk
Thousands of child trafficking victims in the UK may go unidentified, while few perpetrators face justice. A new report from @ecpatuk.bsky.social highlights serious gaps in protection and risks posed by immigration reforms. Read the report: tinyurl.com/58hrcfsk #AntiSlaveryWeek
Quite a few government amendments tabled to the Immigration and Asylum Bill yesterday. Includes the removal of clause 21, which created a new regulation making power for the Home Secretary relating to core protection. At first glance, all the changes would now be in the bill.
publications.parliament.uk
So from @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social's life blog, Zia Yusuf has said that "We’re not going to be sending people back to be tortured or killed." Which presumably needs a process for working out if that's going to happen to someone or not. Which starts to sound a bit like an asylum process?
There are principled and political reasons for the Labour response to the Reform plan of abolishing asylum completely to be to challenge it on decency - since most Labour voters and potential voters are sympathetic to those seeking asylum, even without the controlled + safer means they would want
There is 73% support in Britain for the principle of refugee protection - including in the UK - while 20% are opposed to this. The peak of support was 2022 at 80% (largely because the images from Ukraine had more impact than images from the Channel that year, though boats + migration were high)
Trying to follow the progress of the Immigration and Asylum Bill? I've had a go at building in the amendments and showing their potential effects: bills.freemovement.org.uk
The first lot of substantive amendments to the Immigration and Asylum Bill have been published. Includes quite a few government ones. publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbi...
publications.parliament.uk
Also quite misleading to say children will be exempt from the refugee tax. Yes a 5 year old won't be expected to pay but their parents will and that will still keep that child at destitution levels, taking vital earnings and benefits income from families.
Jon Featonby@jonfeatonby.bsky.social · 2w agoThe Home Office have published a few "factsheets" on the Immigration and Asylum Bill - www.gov.uk/government/p... One new commitment would seem to be that victims of modern slavery will be exempt from the refugee tax.
The Home Office have published a few "factsheets" on the Immigration and Asylum Bill - www.gov.uk/government/p... One new commitment would seem to be that victims of modern slavery will be exempt from the refugee tax.
Immigration and Asylum Bill 2026: factsheets
Information about the Immigration and Asylum Bill, introduced to Parliament on 30 June 2026.
gov.uk
Iain Dale said he had never heard the word "ethnonationalism" until a couple of years ago on his show. "It's a posh word for racist, basically", I suggest. LBC have put that on X x.com/LBC/status/2...
LBC (@LBC) on X
'It's a posh word for racist, basically.' With ethnonationalism on the rise in British politics, @Sundersays gives @IainDale an unfiltered explanation on what it means.
x.com
Finally, @stellacreasy.bsky.social raised the need for the left to shape the debate, criticising the dysfunction and wastefulness of the asylum system and pushing for a focus on root causes. She also emphasised the contribution refugees make in the UK, and the need for that to be part of the story.
Imran Hussain, from @refugeecouncil.bsky.social, talked about positive steps the Government has made - scrapping the Rwanda deal and processing asylum claims more quickly. But he also emphasised the need to make sure decisions made are of a high quality, and for the Govt to provide a new narrative.
@robfordmancs.bsky.social highlighted the need for public consent for the asylum system, the Govt's success at getting small boats numbers down and closing asylum hotels, and the value of safe and legal routes in building support for refugees.
With @anooshc.bsky.social as our chair, we heard first from @johnmct.bsky.social who talked about the problem created if the Government appears to not have control of its borders, but also the need for the Government to be telling a better story, one aligned with Labour values.
💼 Policy and Advocacy Manager at @4refugeewomen.bsky.social actbuildchange.com/opportunitie... We’re looking for a Policy and Advocacy Manager to join our small but mighty Campaigns team.
Policy and Advocacy Manager at Women for Refugee Women
We’re looking for a Policy and Advocacy Manager to join our small but mighty Campaigns team.
actbuildchange.com
‘Moving Forward’ with @homelesslink.bsky.social highlights our national and local recommendations to improvxe the move-on process and prevent refugee homelessness. Read it now ➡️ naccom.org.uk/moving-forwa...
Home Secretary talking about "reopening" the UK Resettlement Schemes. I assume she means she'll allow UNHCR to make referrals again. There were 296 arrivals on UKRS in the first half of the year, so people have still been coming. In the last year, arrivals on UKRS dropped by around a half.
Chancellor John Healey praises the RNLI, "risking their lives to save others on the sea" - part of "the quiet patriotism that makes Britain great"
Safe and legal routes are a good thing, and welcome that Mahmood is going to be saying this later today. But, has to been seen in the context that arrivals will be in the hundreds, and the Government have shut down the Afghan scheme and refugee family reunion. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
UK to open new refugee resettlement routes for Afghan women and Palestinians
Exclusive: Move by Shabana Mahmood comes after closure of Afghan scheme last year but experts say numbers too small to deter Channel crossings
theguardian.com
Also under current proposals they won't be allowed to be social care workers after 2028. Ministers still don't seem to understand their own plan.
Jonathan Portes@jdportes.bsky.social · 4w ago"In order to deliver the PM's promise to save social care we need a permanent class of indentured migrant workers without labour rights".
Hampshire police say man was arrested on suspicion of destroying ships or endangering their safety under the Aviation & Maritime Security Act 1990, criminal damage, criminal damage with intent to endanger life, & conduct endangering ships, structures or individuals under Merchant Shipping Act 1995
Emma Yeomans@yeomans.bsky.social · last mo.Worrying scenes in the Channel today, for all interested in asylum policy and maritime tactics. A small boat from Normandy spent more than 30 hours at sea. Those on board now on their 2nd rescue vessel as Border Force forced to play cat and mouse with far-right activists who have their own boat.
