We are delighted to announce that Lord Victor Adebowale (Victor Adebowale) has been appointed as the new chair of trustees at IPPR.

It’s hugely exciting that such a dynamic contributor to our civil society is prepared to lead our Board at this pivotal moment.

ippr.org/media-office/i…

It’s one way to get the backlog down: loads of fearful asylum seekers disappear from asylum accommodation and support and become street homeless instead. That’s obviously a terrible outcome in every way and it’s also very, very predictable.

Times: new analysis from refugee Council on broken asylum system will leave > 100k people in permanent limbo, even if 2000 people sent to Rwanda
thetimes.co.uk/article/115000…

Getting the Safety of Rwanda bill passed was the easy part. Now the government faces an array of logistical and legal hurdles to making the Rwanda plan work in practice.

At this stage, the prospects of the scheme operating at scale seem distant.

Out of the 83k cases in the asylum backlog, only c.12% can be processed currently due to the Illegal Migration Act. S30 bans granting leave to anyone who arrived irregularly after 7 March 2023. That’s potentially 73k cases. But there’s no guidance on processing those claims.

Latest asylum stats show efforts to bring down the backlog are starting to stall.

Looks like this is because Home Office unwilling to process cases since 7 March 2023.

We could see a growing 'perma-backlog' in coming months unless govt changes course.

New proposal from EU to negotiate Youth Mobility visa scheme with UK

They're suggesting much more generous conditions to the young people than UK youth schemes currently offer (e.g. 4 years not 2, no 'excessive' fees, home tuition for study)

ec.europa.eu/commission/pre…

Even if the Rwanda bill passes, it is unlikely to ever operate at scale. The logistical, legal & costly challenges are far too overwhelming. There isn't even an airline willing to make the flights.

Marley Morris on BBC Scotland ⤵️

The Rwanda scheme is a distraction, not a deterrent. The UK/Rwanda simply would not have the capacity to detain or remove those who arrived on Sunday 14th April 2024, (whatever Sunak decides to do avout the previous 35k arrivals, or the next 500)

'Many of the measures are expected to impact very small numbers of people & are difficult to operate at scale. This makes... any deterrent effect highly unlikely'

Marley Morris Cathy Haenlein for RUSI on efforts against organised immigration crime

rusi.org/explore-our-re…

New piece for RUSI with Cathy Haenlein on organised immigration crime - we argue:

- Govt deterrence measures to stop people smugglers unlikely to work

- A new approach is needed focused on ensuring safe routes and greater cooperation with Europe

rusi.org/explore-our-re…

Great work by Islington Law Centre
and Asylum Aid

Home Office refusal of Gaza family reunion requests ‘irrational’, judge rules theguardian.com/politics/2024/…

New ICIBI report on Home Office handling of social care visas. It's not pretty reading. gov.uk/government/pub…

The paradox of immigration preferences in a nutshell -Majority of Conservative voters support large cuts to immigration, but most also oppose cutting the specific migrant groups who drive current inflows - in fact they want *more* migration from these groups

Stride's Telegraph front page remarks are wrong. 1/ 'mental health culture' has not gone too far- need is rising. 2/ most people out of work due to health have complex needs. IPPR find half have 3+ conditions, a quarter have 6+

Grasping for simple explanation to complex problem

Extraordinary figures revealed by the National Audit Office:

- Cost of alternative sites to accommodate asylum seekers incl. the Bibby Stockholm & two military sites is MORE than hotels

- Wethersfield & Scampton sites are running 10 times and 6 times over budget

thetimes.co.uk/article/rebel-…

One of the things that should be worrying people is that this cost could be dwarfed by how much it will cost to implement the Illegal Migration Act, which will leave tens of thousands of people in permanent limbo.

'I'm surprised that this is what the UK government negotiated'.

Marley Morris speaks to LBC about the extraordinary high costs of the Rwanda scheme ⤵️