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Reposted by Jon Featonby

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 1d

I asked Chris Philip this.
- the last govt passed laws saying those who came without permission could not claim asylum
- the government cleared a backlog well, but then ceased to process claims in the last year.
- they had 60,000 people in hotels. Surely over 50k of them were never going to Rwanda?

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Jon Featonby @jonfeatonby.bsky.social · 1d

John Tuckett has been confirmed as the new Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, around 10 months since his pre-appointment hearing with the Home Affairs Select committee www.gov.uk/government/n...

John Tuckett appointed as new ICIBI

The Home Secretary has today announced John Tuckett's appointment as Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI).

www.gov.uk

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Reposted by Jon Featonby

Andrew Cutting @andrewcutting.coe.int · 2d

Interesting: Leaving the #ECHR would be a grave mistake, writes former UK Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland KC👇

🔗 conservativehome.com/2025/10/05/r... via @conservativehome.bsky.social

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Jon Featonby @jonfeatonby.bsky.social · 3d

Moving to large scale sites won’t save money. The last government tried and it ended up costing more with people housed in unsuitable places. The cheaper and faster way to get out of hotels is to give leave to people who will either eventually get it anyway or who can’t be removed.

Arj Singh @arjsingh.bsky.social · 5d

Asylum hotel closures could be be fast-tracked to help Reeves balance books in Budget, Treasury source indicates

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Asylum hotel closures could be be fast-tracked to help Reeves balance books in Budget

Treasury says asylum costs are 'top of the list' for savings

inews.co.uk

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Reposted by Jon Featonby

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 3d

Kemi Badenoch asked where she would send the 150,000 people she says she would deport every year, replies that it's an "irrelevant question".

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Reposted by Jon Featonby

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 4d

Yes, that's what we need, marauding gangs of masked Trumpist thugs tearing neighbourhoods apart and grabbing anyone they think looks foreign

Front-page headline on the Sunday Express: "Tory ICE force would deport 150.000 a year"

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Jon Featonby @jonfeatonby.bsky.social · 4d

Granting leave to people who will either end up getting it or who can’t be removed anyway would free up enough capacity to close the hotels in around 6 months. Granting leave to people from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan and Syria would do it www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/stay-informe...

Ending the use of hotels to house people seeking asylum - Refugee Council

New analysis outlines how the UK can responsibly end the use of asylum hotels within a year through a secure, practical solution.

www.refugeecouncil.org.uk

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Jon Featonby @jonfeatonby.bsky.social · 4d

All the options discussed involve trying to find alternative accommodation. The last government tried that- it’s either too expensive, completely inappropriate or there’s not enough of it. Our @refugeecouncil.bsky.social proposal would give c.30,000 people leave, letting them get on with their lives

Jon Featonby @jonfeatonby.bsky.social · 4d

This @politicshome.bsky.social article on how the Government can end the use of hotels in the asylum system misses the cheapest and quickest option - making quick grants of leave to reduce demand www.politics home.com/news/article/asylum-seeker-hotels-accommodation-military-sites

How Will Labour Meet Its Promise To Close Asylum Hotels?

After a summer of protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers, the government is under renewed pressure to find alternative accommodation. What ...

www.politicshome.com

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Reposted by Jon Featonby

Sian @sian37.bsky.social · 4d

@enversol.bsky.social states this so coherently

“It doesn’t matter if that woman works two jobs, attends evening classes, studies for a degree and raises British children who become hard-working, tax-paying members of society. It will never be enough.”

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

There are plenty of ways to humanely control British borders. So why isn’t Keir Starmer using them? | Enver Solomon

Labour’s incoherent asylum policies are vilifying refugees. A better and more compassionate route is possible, says the Refugee Council’s Enver Solomon

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Jon Featonby

John Peters @johnthejack.bsky.social · 5d

Letter from @enversol.bsky.social in Times today

Text:

Golden ticket claim
Sir, Further to your report “Starmer promises to end asylum seekers’ golden ticket to UK” (Oct 2), to people who have been persecuted, tortured or seen family members killed in brutal wars or by despots, asylum is a lifeline. Talk of them having a golden ticket risks overlooking this fundamental reality and promoting the corrosive myth that the UK gets more refugees than other countries in Europe or the wider world. Ninety per cent of refugee family reunion visas go to women and children. Further restrictions on these visas would risk closing one of the few safe and legal routes to the UK for women and children who need protection. This would be good, if not golden, news for the people smugglers.
Enver Solomon
CEO, Refugee Council

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Reposted by Jon Featonby

ECRE @theecre.bsky.social · 6d

#ECREWeekly Updates on UK:
▪️Launch of ‘One in, one out’ people transfer scheme
▪️Channel crossings and deaths
▪️Lawyers and NGOs call out threats from far-right
▪️NGOs urge the government to stop scapegoating people on the move
▪️Migration and asylum-related policy announcements

shorturl.at/4sgMp

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Jon Featonby @jonfeatonby.bsky.social · 6d

That will be very interesting! And congratulations on getting a response to an FOI

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Reposted by Jon Featonby

Sonia L @sonial77.bsky.social · 6d

I went to a Right to Remain event last week where a few people who were directly affected by the sudden closure of the refugee family reunion route spoke about the impact on them and their children, it was incredibly distressing to hear. Families should be together! This is not okay!

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Jon Featonby @jonfeatonby.bsky.social · 7d

The idea that being a refugee is somehow a “golden ticket” is genuinely awful. These are people who the government have recognised are in need of protection. Do they think people chose that? That that’s what people wanted?

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Starmer to end asylum ‘golden ticket’ of resettlement and family reunion rights

People granted asylum will have to earn right to invite family in plan charities call ‘straight from populist playbook’

www.theguardian.com

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Jon Featonby @jonfeatonby.bsky.social · 13d

"One of the “pull factors” of small boat migration is believed to be promises by traffickers that it is easy to find work on the black market"

Genuinely interested to understand the logic that thinks ID cards mean people wouldn't be exploited through the black market.

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

'BritCard' digital ID will be made law for all adults in bid to tackle small boats

No 10 believes a mandatory ID card system will help stop illegal immigrants working

inews.co.uk

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Jon Featonby @jonfeatonby.bsky.social · 13d

It does annoy me that the Home Office continue to publish daily stats on channel crossings yet haven't updated the appeal stats since March 2023, but...

What they do show is it's been a relatively quiet summer - and as of 23 Sep there had been more crossings in 2022 than at the same point in 2025.

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Jon Featonby @jonfeatonby.bsky.social · 14d

It remains the case that if the asylum claims of those crossing the channel were processed, the majority (around 6 in 10 at initial decision) would be granted.

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Jon Featonby @jonfeatonby.bsky.social · 14d

For clarity, the people being sent back to France haven’t have their asylum claims rejected, they haven’t been refused. Their claims have been deemed inadmissible to the UK’s asylum system.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 14d

Family of three are first arrivals in UK under ‘one in, one out’ immigration deal

Small child part of first reciprocal intake after removal of four asylum seekers from Britain to France over past week A family of three including a small child have become the first arrivals from France under Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” deal, the Home Office said on Wednesday. The move follows the removal of the first four asylum seekers from the UK to France over the past six days, despite ongoing legal challenges. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Jon Featonby

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 15d

The Conservative Party chair is saying the 60,000 people in hotels would have been deported to Rwanda. The capacity of the scheme was 300 in year one

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Reposted by Jon Featonby

Ilona Pinter 🧡 @ilonapin.bsky.social · 14d

This story was on R4 this morning. For me the fact that this kid has spent 9 of her young 12 years of life on Asylum Support at £5-6/day in deep persistent poverty. 15000 children like her are growing up on Asylum Support each year. But no that wasn't the story. It was why are ppl taking taxis.

Ilona Pinter 🧡 @ilonapin.bsky.social · 15d

glimps into kid's experiences: 12yo 'says she wants to engage with the protesters and is frustrated the hotel staff won't allow her: "Me and my friends have always wanted to go up to them and speak to them face-to-face. What is their problem with the kids as well?"'
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Behind the doors of asylum hotels - what I found when I went inside

A BBC reporter goes into four hotels and speaks to asylum seekers and staff about what daily life is like.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Jon Featonby

CJ McKinney @cjmckinney.bsky.social · 15d

New Liberal Democrat asylum policy, as approved at its party conference this week: www.libdems.org.uk/news/article...

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Reposted by Jon Featonby

Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden.bsky.social · 15d

The Home Office's appeal against this ruling has been refused

The judges threw it out in minutes, without hearing arguments from the man's lawyers, telling them "we don’t need to trouble you" after questioning Home Office barrister in an increasingly surreal exchange
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/w...

Asylum Seeker Wins Bid to Delay Deportation Under U.K.-France Treaty

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Jon Featonby

Colin Yeo @colinyeo.bsky.social · 15d

Important read. Refugees caught in a bureaucratic nightmare. Nothing to do for months or years. Cooking in the bathroom instead of eating constant chips and chicken nuggets. Forced to take taxis no matter the length of the journey, long or short.

CJ McKinney @cjmckinney.bsky.social · 15d

Good BBC report on life in asylum hotels www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Behind the doors of asylum hotels - what I found when I went inside

A BBC reporter goes into four hotels and speaks to asylum seekers and staff about what daily life is like.

www.bbc.co.uk

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