Public Law Project obtains documents from visit by British officials to Eritrea in December 2014
The Public Law Project reported yesterday that it had obtained documents from the Home Office which reveals that a visit by its officials to Eritrea in December 2014 was made in order to discuss reducing Eritrean migration to the UK.
Image credit: WikipediaThe Guardian also reported on the revelation here.
According to the Guardian, the documents relate to a high-level meeting in Asmara between senior Eritrean government officials and a UK delegation led by James Sharp, the Foreign Office's director of migration, and Rob Jones, the Home Office's head of asylum and family policy.
The Guardian says the discussions focused on how to reduce the number of Eritrean asylum seekers granted refugee status in the UK and how to deter more Eritreans coming to the UK to claim asylum.
Following the visit, the Public Law Project says the Home Office changed its policy position and issued new guidance on Eritrea in March 2015 which led to a reduction in the number of Eritreans it recognised as refugees to 48% by June 2016, down from 85%.
This was despite the documents the Public Law Project obtained showing that the Home Office had made the assessment that doubts about the reliability of the statements made by Eritrean government officials meant the evidence it had gathered was not enough to lead to a significant reduction in the asylum grant rate.
Alison Pickup, the legal director of the Public Law Project, noted the guidance also had the effect of excluding many Eritrean unaccompanied children from being admitted to the UK from Calais.
"The fact that the Home Office has excluded many Eritrean children in France from the possibility of being relocated to the UK under the 'Dubs' amendment on the basis of a statistic which is a result of its own flawed country guidance is a tragedy," Pickup said.
Pickup told the Guardian: "It is of fundamental importance to the integrity of the UK's asylum system that decisions on refugee status are based on fair, objective and informed assessment of conditions in their country of origin. The Home Office has a legal duty to ensure that the information given to decision-makers is as accurate, up to date and complete as possible. This disclosure suggests a troubling lack of impartiality and objectivity in the selection of information to be provided to asylum decision-makers about one of the most secretive and repressive regimes in the world."
A Home Office spokesman told the Guardian: "The UK has a proud history of offering asylum to those who need it. Each application is carefully considered on its merits against background country information, ensuring only those with a genuine claim for asylum receive a grant.
"We continually review our country information and guidance to ensure it is up to date, accurate and relevant, so that staff can make fair and considered decisions. The most recent update to the guidance on Eritrea was made last year as a result of a fact-finding mission in 2016. We work closely with countries such as Eritrea to discuss migration matters."