Immigration Barristers' Blog

The UK Border Agency is to be split into two separate entities – an immigration and visa service and an immigration law enforcement organisation - as part of a package of recently announced changes.

The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has recently published his 2011/12 annual report.

In 2011, the 27 EU Member States received more than 300,000 asylum applications, a 16.2% increase from 2010.

The European Commission has published a Report on the 2011 developments in the areas of immigration and asylum, accompanied by a Eurobarometer on European citizens' attitudes towards cross-border mobility, migration and security.

Following the publication of the 'Landing in Dover' report by the Children's Commissioner for England, the Executive Director of the Centre for Social Justice, Gavin Poole, has issued a statement welcoming the increased protection for children, and calling for further changes to help protect adult victims of human trafficking.

A lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University is to undertake a study into the public’s attitude towards the problem of human trafficking – and how consumers’ spending habits contribute towards it.

The general quality of the UK Border Agency’s decision-making can and must be improved, said John Vine CBE QPM, the Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency, publishing his global review of entry clearance decision-making.

UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has published a message for International Migrants Day, which was observed on 18th December.

The European Commission has recently adopted a Communication which sets out the main options for using new technologies to simplify life for foreigners frequently travelling to the EU and to better monitor third-country nationals crossing the borders.

FRONTEX, the EU border control agency set up in 2004, is to appoint an inspector to ensure that EU border checks respect human rights, under changes to its mandate adopted by the European Parliament.