Yeah, as things stand there’s not much practical point in extending the discussion that far. It’s sort of one of the reasons I don’t like all the ‘exceptional circumstance’ paragraphs I’ve written about elsewhere. Their existence hides from many politicians, policy makers, academics and others the reality of how things work in practice at the moment. As soon as a ‘good migrant’ sympathetic case hits the media, officials use those provisions to grant that particular case.
An Afghan woman was granted leave here after photos were published on unhcr website of her accepting an award for a British council film of her work empowering women in her community. Her husbands family were sent that image and accused her of adultery and apostasy. So she was granted almost immediately. That was nearly 5 years ago. Her mother and sisters went into hiding with the children for two years while she sought family reunion. The solicitor said it would not take long over 2 years ago so they went to Pakistan and waited. Only he had put in the wrong forms so they were all refused. They were left stranded in Pakistan after a year when their visa had run out. Finally the two children ( now 14 and 18) were allowed to come leaving the mother and two aunts alone (and now illegal) in Pakistan. If they are deported back to Afghanistan they will be unable to sustain themselves as well as being in danger.
The woman is still trying to get them here - her 14 year old daughter cannot settle for anxiety about them.
It makes me think about how distant the political philosophy discussion of the issue is from anything going on in the domain of law or policy. Briefly, political philosophers argue about whether privileging "romantic" relationships is impermissibly illiberal and whether neutrality doesn't shouldn't permit citizens to sponsor, say, close friends, instead or as well. Meanwhile, in the real world, parents can't get past Border Force.
Yeah, as things stand there’s not much practical point in extending the discussion that far. It’s sort of one of the reasons I don’t like all the ‘exceptional circumstance’ paragraphs I’ve written about elsewhere. Their existence hides from many politicians, policy makers, academics and others the reality of how things work in practice at the moment. As soon as a ‘good migrant’ sympathetic case hits the media, officials use those provisions to grant that particular case.
An Afghan woman was granted leave here after photos were published on unhcr website of her accepting an award for a British council film of her work empowering women in her community. Her husbands family were sent that image and accused her of adultery and apostasy. So she was granted almost immediately. That was nearly 5 years ago. Her mother and sisters went into hiding with the children for two years while she sought family reunion. The solicitor said it would not take long over 2 years ago so they went to Pakistan and waited. Only he had put in the wrong forms so they were all refused. They were left stranded in Pakistan after a year when their visa had run out. Finally the two children ( now 14 and 18) were allowed to come leaving the mother and two aunts alone (and now illegal) in Pakistan. If they are deported back to Afghanistan they will be unable to sustain themselves as well as being in danger.
The woman is still trying to get them here - her 14 year old daughter cannot settle for anxiety about them.
Have you any advice?
Email on clerks@trentchambers.co.uk
House of Lords Migration and Justice Report in Feb 2023 noted the sharp decrease in ADR Visa Grants since the changes to the Rules in 2012:
“2011 (1,783) 2012 (1,389) 2013 (784) 2014 (187) 2015 (64) 2016 (33) 2017 (11) 2018 (18) 2019 (16) 2020 (1) 2021 (0) Source: Home Office, ‘Statistical dataset, Managed migration datasets’ (24 November 2022): https://www.gov.uk/ government/statistical-data-sets/managed-migration-datasets#settlement [accessed 25th Nove
House of Lords Migration and Justice Report (Feb 2023) noted the sharp decrease in ADR Visa Grants since the changes to the Rules in 2012:
“2011 (1,783) 2012 (1,389) 2013 (784) 2014 (187) 2015 (64) 2016 (33) 2017 (11) 2018 (18) 2019 (16) 2020 (1) 2021 (0) Source: Home Office, ‘Statistical dataset, Managed migration datasets’ (24 November 2022): https://www.gov.uk/ government/statistical-data-sets/managed-migration-datasets#settlement [accessed 25th November
It makes me think about how distant the political philosophy discussion of the issue is from anything going on in the domain of law or policy. Briefly, political philosophers argue about whether privileging "romantic" relationships is impermissibly illiberal and whether neutrality doesn't shouldn't permit citizens to sponsor, say, close friends, instead or as well. Meanwhile, in the real world, parents can't get past Border Force.