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Tuesday 09 September 2021,  14:00 – 16:00

This webinar is part of the ILPA Representing Victims of Trafficking Series. We are also running webinars focusing on Vietnamese (5th Oct) and Nigerian (9th Nov) victims of trafficking. 

In the recent years the National Crime Agency has reported a large increase in the number of victims trafficked from Albania to the UK. While the plight of Albanian women and girls, trafficked for sexual exploitation, is recognised by the Home Office in the CPIN as a basis for a Refugee Convention claim on the basis of a PSG, the Home Office does not extend this same recognition to victims of domestic servitude or forced labour. There is also little understanding of the problems for trafficked Albanian boys and men and the current Country Guidance case of TD and AD (Trafficked women) CG [2016] UKUT 00092 (IAC) from the Upper Tribunal deals exclusively with women and girls. Another frequent problem is the certification of Albanian asylum claims.

This webinar will explore the best ways to represent Albanian victims of trafficking in their trafficking claims before the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and their asylum claims before the Home Office/ First-tier Tribunal. We will examine the often complex overlaps in female cases between domestic violence/ forced marriage/ honour crimes and trafficking; and in male cases with sexuality and/or blood feuds and trafficking; and how to best build a case where there are multiple heads of risk.

While some of the tactics, evidence and legal arguments discussed in this session will be applicable to victims of trafficking from other countries, this webinar will focus explicitly on building the strongest case for Albanian victims.

This webinar will examine the following:

•    Common bases for Albanian trafficking claims for both female and male victims and how to best present these;
•    How to address certification of Albanian asylum claims;
•    Common reasons for negative NRM decisions in and how to prevent/ challenge these;
•    Common reasons for negative asylum decisions and how to prevent/ challenge these;
•    Examining the objective country material and how to use it to maximum advantage;
•    Examining Home Office documents, including the CPINs on Victimes of Trafficking; Blood Feuds; Domestic abuse; Mental health and Sexual orientation and how to use these to maximum advantage and/ or challenging or distinguishing their findings where necessary;
•    The importance of expert evidence including medical evidence (also addressing issues of vulnerability) and country evidence;
•    Problems of internal relocation including the small size of the country and intricate networks; and the difficulties facing single/lone women with or without children in Albania;
•    Sufficiency of protection and the authorities approach to trafficking;
•    Alternative bases for claiming asylum for Albanian VOTs including where relevant blood feuds, domestic abuse, sexuality, forced marriage or honour crimes; and
•    How to build a case for Article 8 ECHR/ very significant obstacles especially due to the stigma involved (“kurva”) for victims of sexual exploitation.

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Tuesday 05 October 2021, 10:00 – 12:00 

This webinar is part of the ILPA Representing Victims of Trafficking Series. We are also running webinars focusing on Albanian (7th Sep) and Nigerian (9th Nov) victims of trafficking. 

The shocking discovery of 39 Vietnamese migrants, dead in the back of a lorry in Essex in October 2019, shed a stark light on the plight of Vietnamese migrants who are smuggled or trafficked to the UK. The investigation and trial into the men responsible for their deaths provided unprecedented insight into the routes taken by thousands of Vietnamese people over the past twenty years, and into the exploitation and debt bondage that many face as part of that journey. Yet the smuggling and trafficking of Vietnamese people to the UK has not abated since; in fact, according to some experts, it has simply increased the price of the journey.

In this webinar we will explore the best ways to represent Vietnamese victims of trafficking in their trafficking claims before the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and their asylum claims before the Home Office/ First-tier Tribunal. There is currently no Country Guidance case from the Upper Tribunal regarding risk to Vietnamese trafficking victims, making it all the more important to build each individual case as comprehensively as possible. While some of the tactics, evidence and legal arguments discussed will be applicable to victims of trafficking from other countries, this webinar will focus explicitly on building the strongest case for Vietnamese victims.

This webinar will examine the following:

•    Common bases for Vietnamese trafficking claims and how to best present these (i.e. trafficking for sexual exploitation; for criminality –  i.e. cannabis farming; and for forced labour – i.e. nail bars);
•    Common reasons for negative NRM decisions in and how to prevent/ challenge these;
•    Common reasons for negative asylum decisions and how to prevent/ challenge these;
•    Examining the objective country material and how to use it to maximum advantage (i.e. understanding the US State Department TIP rankings; the Asylos/ ARC report, etc.);
•    Examining Home Office documents, including the Vietnamese trafficking CPIN and Fact Finding Mission reports, including how to use these to maximum advantage and/ or challenging or distinguishing their findings where necessary;
•    Vietnamese trafficking victims as a Particular Social Group (PSG);
•    The importance of expert evidence including medical evidence (also addressing issues of vulnerability) and country evidence;
•    The particular position of male victims;
•    Problems of internal relocation including the Household Registration system;
•    Sufficiency of Protection and the authorities approach to trafficking (problems with the Vietnamese NRM and non recognition of victims identified overseas; the exception for labour exploitation cases; corruption);
•    The relevance of Country Guidance cases from other countries (i.e. Nigeria, Albania) on Vietnamese claims;
•    How to address the case of Nguyen (Anti-Trafficking Convention: respondent’s duties) [2015] UKUT 170 (IAC) (which is not country guidance but is often used by the Home Office as such); and
•    How to build a case for Article 8 ECHR/ very significant obstacles due to stigma/ discrimination faced by Vietnamese trafficking victims.

This webinar is part of the ILPA Representing Victims of Trafficking Series. We are also running webinars focusing on Albanian (7th Sep) and Vietnamese (5th Oct) victims of trafficking. 

In 2020 Nigeria was downgraded by the US State Department from a Tier 2 country to the Tier 2 watchlist, signifying a worrying deterioration in conditions for victims of trafficking.

This webinar we will explore the best ways to represent Nigerian victims of trafficking in their trafficking claims before the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and their asylum claims before the Home Office/ First-tier Tribunal. The current Country Guidance case of HD (Trafficked women) Nigeria CG [2016] UKUT 00454 (IAC) from the Upper Tribunal places significant weight on an individual’s personal characteristics of vulnerability as being determinative of risk on return and we will explore how to best build a case regarding personal characteristics. Furthermore, the country situation has deteriorated since HD.

While some of the tactics, evidence and legal arguments discussed in this session will be applicable to victims of trafficking from other countries, this webinar will focus explicitly on building the strongest case for Nigerian victims.

This webinar will examine the following:

•    Common bases for Nigerian trafficking claims and how to best present these (i.e. trafficking for sexual exploitation and domestic servitude);
•    Common reasons for negative NRM decisions in and how to prevent/ challenge these;
•    Common reasons for negative asylum decisions and how to prevent/ challenge these;
•    Examining the objective country material and how to use it to maximum advantage (i.e. understanding the downgrading by the US State Department TIP rankings looking at other types of country evidence from EASO and beyond);
•    Examining Home Office documents, including the CPINs on Nigerian Trafficking of Women; Nigeria Medical and Healthcare issues; and Nigeria Internal Relocation and how to use these to maximum advantage and/ or challenging or distinguishing their findings where necessary;
•    The importance of expert evidence including medical evidence (also addressing issues of vulnerability) and country evidence;
•    Problems of internal relocation including the civil registration system and the difficulties facing single/lone women with or without children in Nigeria;
•    Sufficiency of protection and the authorities approach to trafficking;
•    Alternative bases for claiming asylum for Nigerian VOTs such as on the basis of poor mental health and the serious harm that may befall those with mental health problems in Nigeria and risks to any children from trafficking; and
•    How to build a case for Article 8 ECHR/ very significant obstacles due to stigma/ discrimination faced by Nigerian trafficking victims, especially assumptions made about young women returning from Europe.

ILPA will be hosting its inaugural ‘Women in the Hostile Environment Conference’ in celebration of International Women’s Day on 06 March 2020. International Women’s Day (08 March) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. This conference aims to cover a broad range of issues and developments facing women in the hostile environment, as well as sharing campaign initiatives, strategic litigation cases and best practice.

The conference will be addressing the following topics:

• Women in the hostile environment
• Access to primary and secondary healthcare and maternity charging
• The Istanbul Convention
• European Law and Article 8 of the ECHR
• Destitution and Section 17 of the Children’s Act 1989
• Detention
• Trafficking and the NRM

This conference is also an opportunity for us to celebrate the contributions of women within the legal and immigration sector in challenging systemic, structural and social inequalities as well as the positive impact they make to the lived experiences of migrant women and their families in the UK and abroad.

Chair: Nicole Masri, Rights of Women

Panellists: 

Lucy Mair, Barrister, Garden Court North Chambers

Neena Acharya, Senior Solicitor, Coram Children’s Legal Centre

Carita Thomas, Solicitor, ATLEU,

Katy Robinson, Partner, Wilsons Solicitors,

Priya Solanki, Barrister, One Pump Court

Louise Hooper, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers

Abi Brunswick, Director, Project 17 and member of the Unity Project Steering Committee

Rosalind Bragg, Director, Maternity Action

Tutors: Lucy Mair, Garden Court North Chambers, Bryony Rest, David Gray Solicitors and David Pountney, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU)

This course is a practical session designed to help a caseworker become a pro at using the EU Settlement Scheme. The training will take you through the life cycle of a case using the Android app and will provide you with a detailed overview of the new system and how to effectively navigate it to assist your clients.  The materials will cover the law, documents required, red flags and how non EU national family members also apply under the Scheme. There will also be a specific focus on issues impacting those with vulnerabilities who are looking to make applications under the Scheme.

• The legal framework of the Settled Status Scheme and the legal basis of the status;
• The development of the Scheme and the plasticity of the rules – a warning that things can change fast;
• How to use the app to get to the application;
• How to make an application;
• The documentation: what to collect before starting the process including issues with regards to variations of documentation;
• Submitting documentation; the limitations of size and number and making paper applications;
• What to do if there is a request for further documentation and how to address the questions;
• Issues of importance in respect of people with vulnerabilities – identifying the vulnerabilities and seeking to overcome them;
• Regional case studies

This training was part of the ILPA EU Settlement Scheme training programme, which comprised of seventeen training sessions delivered in eight regions across the UK between June 2019 – December 2019.

Tutors: Lucy Mair, Garden Court North Chambers and Carita Thomas, ATLEU

This one-day course looks at the law, processes and skills involved in representing victims of trafficking in an immigration context. The morning session will cover the identification process, legal challenges and the range of immigration issues that might be engaged. The afternoon session will focus on the practical skills required in representing victims of trafficking who are seeking asylum.

This session will provide an introduction and comprehensive overview on the issues involved in representing victims of trafficking and modern slavery, the different routes to obtaining leave, and guidance on legal challenges. We will also consider how to work with clients, and the skills required to prepare successful cases.

Topics:

• Identification of victims of trafficking and slavery
• the law (including ECAT, Home Office guidance, and case law)
• the funding of cases
• Rules-based and discretionary leave
• human rights and protection applications
• remedies (including reconsiderations
• judicial review and appeals) and their interplay
• drafting witness statements
• instructing experts
• preparing representations and appeals
• working under a Legal Aid contract

This course forms part of ILPA’s project on ‘Upholding Legal Rights for Unaccompanied Children: Fostering Quality Legal Assistance in the Asylum Procedure’ – in collaboration with ECRE. The aim of this project is to ensure access to quality legal assistance for unaccompanied children by improving the knowledge of legal standards that protect and promote children’s rights in Europe, including the right to asylum.

The project is co- funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) Programme of the European Union.

ILPA is commissioned by Parliament UK to deliver training to MP researchers and caseworkers throughout the UK on Introduction to Immigration Law and Introduction to Asylum and International Protection.

Often lawyers are asked to step in when things go wrong. What happens to employees when their employer loses his/her licence to sponsor them? Can employers challenge revocation of their licence?  What should they do when a licence is suspended.  Judith Farbey QC and Nichola Carter have acted in these complex and difficult cases.  Their training has a reputation for clarity of explanation and they will guide you through this pressurized and difficult work, helping you to understand the full range of options open to clients.

Tutors: Natalie Fulop, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit and Lucy Mair, Garden Court North Chambers

This course will examine the routes for refugees to apply for family reunion focussing on the rules, case law, UKVI policy, common reasons for refusal and how to best argue cases for family members who are not covered by the rules. We will consider problems of gathering evidence and the use of objective and expert evidence.

We will also look at how to apply for legal aid (ECF) for applications and/or appeals or alternative ways of obtaining pro bono assistance, including for costs with travel tickets.

Finally, we will deal with practical problems such as travelling during covid including quarantine hotel costs and possible exemptions.

Tutors: Lucy Mair, Garden Court North Chambers and Sumita Gupta, MiCLU Islington Law Centre

This course is a practical guide to preparing successful applications for leave to remain for children (and their families) who have lived in the UK for 7 years or more, and challenging negative decisions on these applications. The course will provide an overview of law and practice in relation to these applications, and will also address fee waivers and No Recourse to Public Funds conditions and their relevance in applications. The course will also address the benefits of taking a Child Rights based approach to evidence and legal argument when preparing applications and appeals.