Last week, the BPP Human Rights Unit hosted the Reframing the Rights of Refugees event. They were joined by four fantastic guests – Toufique Hossain, Pierre Makhlouf, Marina Brizar, and Ruvimbo Mutyambizi – who shared their experiences of working refugee issues.
Lou Lou Curry reports on the event.
Organised by the BPP Human Rights Unit and moderated by one of the unit’s student directors Hannah Anson, ‘Reframing the Rights of Refugees’ took place virtually on 4th February with over 200 attendees tuning in. The virtual format, however, did not detract from the powerful stories and insight the panellists had to offer with respect to the current state of refugee rights in the UK and globally.
First to speak was Toufique Hossain, the head of Public Law at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, whose work mostly comprises of judicial review claims and is funded substantially by legal aid. After a brief overview of the process of seeking asylum in the UK (a process which, it is worth noting, is not entirely covered by legal aid), his talk centred mostly around the work he and his firm are currently doing regarding the housing of asylum seekers in ex-military barracks. Following a rapid rollout of emergency asylum accommodation, rationalised by the Home Office as a consequence of significant pressures in the asylum system, asylum seekers have been housed in ex-military accommodation across rural areas such as Pembrokeshire and Norfolk. Hossain and his team, however, argue that this is not a response to a ‘crisis’ but an attempt to limit these refugees’ access to wider society whilst restricting their civil liberties. This is an unprecedented development in the UK which has so far watched on as these camp-style accommodations have emerged elsewhere, in areas such as Calais. In response to the current situation, Hossain is leading a judicial review claim against the Home Office, challenging their decision to house asylum seekers in these conditions on the basis that they have breached their public sector duty of equality and departed from their own policy without fair process. He argues that the claimants, six individuals from the barracks, are facing unlawful discrimination on the grounds of race in their de-facto detention, contrary to their Article 5 ECHR rights. Hossain concluded his segment of the panel with an encouraging message that many of the junior lawyers currently working on the ground of this crucial operation were not long ago ‘in your shoes’.
Pierre Makhlouf, Assistant Director at Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) spoke next. His career history included work at both Simons Muirhead & Burton as well as Hackney Law Centre. His work at BID combines several different strands, all tackling the issue of immigration in the UK, including an advice line, helping people represent themselves, making referrals, policy work and research. One aspect of Makhlouf’s work which is particularly interesting is BID’s campaign for increased and consistent legal aid. As an organisation which does not rely on legal aid, BID is essentially campaigning itself out of existence in the hope that one day refugees won’t need the services and support of organisations such as their own. Makhlouf recounted the case of Kiarie and Byndloss v Home Secretary [2017] UKSC 42 where BID was successful in arguing that s94(b) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 was incompatible with the procedural and substantive protections afforded under Article 8 of the ECHR. The Supreme Court unanimously allowed the appeal and held that the policy of ‘deport first; appeal later’ constituted a violation of human rights by reference to the Article 8 respect for privacy and family life. (For readers interested in Makhlouf’s work, the BPP Pro Bono team recruits law students biannually to volunteer at BID.)
The following speaker, Marina Brizar, recounted her lived experiences as a refugee born in Sarajevo as well her success as an immigration lawyer and founder of Talent Beyond Boundaries. She lamented the current state of refugee rights in Australia, where she was resettled as a child before gaining her Bachelor of Laws, as well as working on offshore and onshore detention centres following graduation. Talent Beyond Boundaries is the first organisation dedicated to opening up displaced talent mobility and offers work options in order to be lifted out of displacement through their Talent Catalogue (with over 25,000 people on their books currently). She maintains strongly that her organisation is a ‘disruptor’ and not a recruitment agency, however. Through this ‘hybrid’ method, Brizar adopts an effective skills-based approach to a humanitarian outcome.
Ruvimbo Mutyambizi, the final speaker on the panel, also offered heartfelt stories of a lived experience of seeking asylum. Ruvimbo, or ‘Ruvi’, is the founder of the not-for-profit For Her Child, an initiative for mothers and children living precariously in the UK which seeks to bring awareness to issues of forced adoption of refugee children in the UK. It aims to move away from what she describes as the ‘clinical’ language of asylum and toward notions of sanctuary and safety. A recent example of the work done by For Her Child is the provision of ‘expression packs’ for mothers and children, allowing for communication and engagement at what may be a particularly difficult time for families. Ruvi described the moment her son was removed from her care and placed in forced adoption. Instead of giving up, she listened to her maternal instincts and began an endeavour to remedy some of these hardships that refugees face in Britain. Since arriving in the UK in 2002, Ruvi graduated from the University of Greenwich before completing her LLM in Human Rights at Roehampton University. She completed her GDL at the University of Law and aside from her inspiring work with For Her Child, she has also interned with Liberty and works with the Helen Bamber Foundation.
Following the panel talks there is a question and answer session where students asked a number of interesting and thoughtful questions. Among the issues addressed were concerns of the relationship between nationalism and the refugee system, the impact of Brexit, and the precarious position of citizenship following the case Shemima Begum. The panel concluded with an interesting discussion on the difficulties faced by LGBTQ+ refugees who, upon seeking asylum in the UK, must prove their vulnerability and risk of persecution. The panel unanimously agreed that one of the biggest difficulties that refugees faced was the hurdle of convincing the Home Office of the sincerity and genuine nature of their claims and experiences.
Disclaimer: The BPP Human Rights blog, and all pieces posted on the blog, are written and edited exclusively by the student body. No publication or opinion contained within is representative of the values or beliefs held by BPP University or the Apollo Education Group. The views expressed are solely that of the author and are in no way supported or endorsed by BPP University, The Apollo Education Group or any members of staff.
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