Sheroy Zaq, Public Law and Immigration solicitor at Duncan Lewis, was invited to talk on the Voice of Islam’s Breakfast Show on the 2nd November about the way that the UK government are serving decisions to detain individual EU nationals by working alongside the police and homeless charities to target those EU nationals that they suspect to be sleeping rough. Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors is proud to announce its involvement in King’s College London’s (KCL) Legal Clinic. The firm will be offering regular free immigration and asylum advice at the KCL, which is located on the Strand, offering assistance and support to law students at KCL in advising clients in need of specialist immigration advice. Read more...
In a judgment handed down on the 10th October 2017, the Home Office was told that its policy regarding how it defines those who have suffered torture is unlawful, for the purposes of identifying those who are vulnerable and at risk in detention. Read more...
Entrepreneurs are usually in a league of their own. Admirably so, as they show capacity and willingness to develop and manage a business venture along with any of its risks to make a profit. Talent and drive has led to the success of many notable entrepreneurs: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, JP Morgan and Coco Chanel, just to name a few Read more...
The High Court has ruled, in YA v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWHC 2135, that it was unlawful for the Home Office to detain YA, a torture victim who provided indicators of vulnerability, including a letter from the Helen Bamber Foundation that stated the detainee’s case merited further clinical investigation Read more...
‘Do I need to sell my bracelets?’ asked Sham at our first meeting. ‘I have been selling all my jewellery bit by bit to support my family since we left Syria. These are all I have left. Shall I sell them to pay your fee?’ Read more...
Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prevents removal from the UK to a country where there are substantial grounds for believing an individual will face a real risk of serious harm including torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Read more...
Many migrants with no status that have fled their country of origin due to torture, violence and/or the fear of persecution will escape to countries which are globally perceived as havens of justice, equality and liberty Read more...
I recently assisted a Hungarian Roma (gypsy) in his immigration appeal against the Secretary of State’s decision to remove him to Hungary on the basis of his Article 3 ECHR grounds. Initially I couldn’t fathom that the treatment of Roma people in my home country of Hungary, an EU country, could be so bad. However, after my client’s flight was stopped, I felt a sudden curiosity to explore the plight of the Hungarian gypsies and the type of discrimination they are subject to on a daily basis Read more...
Naim Hasani, immigration and public law consultant solicitor with Duncan Lewis Solicitors, participated at a conference on Albanian asylum seekers on Tuesday 6 June 2017. The conference, ‘Walking a tightrope’: Exploring hidden issues, challenges and complexities surrounding the protection needs of unaccompanied minors from Albania living in the United Kingdom, took place at University College London Read more...
Sondos Arafa spent a week in Athens helping asylum seekers as part of the ILPA (Immigration Practitioners Association) Athens Legal Support project. The project is a pilot scheme aimed at sending volunteer asylum lawyers to Greece to provide legal advice and assistance Read more...
In October 2016, I travelled on two occasions to the Refugee Camp in Calais, known as the ‘Jungle’ with my colleagues. The camp was due to be destroyed imminently in a collaborative effort between the French and British governments. This destruction left thousands of asylum seekers who dreamed of seeking refuge in the United Kingdom homeless and in limbo Read more...
This July, Duncan Lewis Solicitors are sending Toufique Hossain, Director of Public Law, and Patrick Page, a caseworker in that department, to work in the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement of central Uganda Read more...
Duncan Lewis is pleased to announce that Public Law Director Toufique Hossain has been shortlisted for Immigration and Asylum Lawyer of the Year at the forthcoming Legal Aid Practitioners Group Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year (LALY) Awards Read more...
A group of solicitors from Duncan Lewis took part in pilot scheme run by the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association (IPLA) to help asylum seekers in Greece Read more...
Ahmed Aydeed was interviewed by Channel News Asia for a special video feature about the plight of the victims who have been trafficked from Vietnam Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors is currently representing a Libyan national in an asylum appeal against a decision by the Secretary of State dated September 2015 for the Home Department to refuse asylum Read more...
The story is familiar but that does not make it any less shocking. I am speaking with a client who now has the threat of forced removal to Afghanistan hanging over him. He may be in a detention centre, told that he is to be removed in a couple of days. He is terrified that every time he reports, he may be detained. Read more...
Patrick was invited to ABN to discuss the state of detention centres in the most popular arrival destinations for refuges in Europe. Having spent time visiting a detention centre in Malta Patrick focused his discussion on the knowledge he garnered from this Read more...
We are pleased to announce the appointments of Rohena Wallace as Director of Public Law & Immigration and Zofia Duszynska as Director of Immigration Read more...
On 15th March, seven refugee children were invited to Parliament by Citizens UK, where they met their local MPs and Lord Dubs, the man who sponsored a crucial amendment to the Immigration Act 2016 that allowed for the safe passage of unaccompanied refugee children to the UK at a time when the European migrant crisis was at its peak Read more...
On Tuesday 7 March Zofia was delighted to be invited by Norton Rose Fulbright to join a panel discussing the distinct issues facing women and child refugees Read more...
Pamela* had just had a shower and was still in her underwear, applying moisturiser, when the immigration officers came into her room to remove her from the UK. Our client refused to be taken to the airport, as she still had an outstanding application for leave to remain in the UK, so the officers tried to remove her by force, one grabbed her neck and head, pushing these down towards her chest and blocking her windpipe. ‘I was filled with fear and tried to get out of her grip,’ Pamela told us, ‘I kept telling her “I cannot breathe” but she continued to push my head towards my chest. Eventually I stopped trying to get out of her grip and fell to the floor’ Read more...
When an unaccompanied minor child enters the UK seeking asylum, some would have their age disputed by the authorities, and would have to be subject to an age assessment by the relevant Local Authorities. Normally, such referrals would be made by the Home Office before any decision can be taken on the asylum claims Read more...
On 27th February 2017 two clients of Duncan Lewis Immigration Consultant Solicitor Naim Hasani were granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court in three linked nationality cases. This matter looks to clarify when it is appropriate to deprive an individual of British nationality or treat the citizenship claim as a nullity, in cases where the individual has obtained citizenship by way of impersonation, fraud and/or concealment of a material fact. The cases are lined up to set a precedent for future decisions regarding nationality claims via naturalization as a result of false representations Read more...
The Calais ‘Jungle’ in early October 2016 was tense and dangerous. As Dan Tucker from Social Workers Without Borders (SWWB) put it, ‘the most creative of poets could not encapsulate the frustration and prolonged misery of that place’. The French authorities had announced their intention to destroy the camp, but none of the residents knew when this was due to happen, or where they would go. Read more...
The Dubs Amendment, named after its key proponent Lord Dubs who was rescued, via the kindertransport network, from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia when he was six, legislated that the government would have to ‘make arrangements to relocate to the United Kingdom and support a specified number of unaccompanied refugee child from other countries in Europe’ Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors’ Cardiff Immigration team, headed by Director of Immigration, Vinita Templeton, discloses position of client Bashir Naderi’s current legal battle Read more...
Legal 500 “Leading Law Firm” Duncan Lewis are pleased to announce the appointment of Bahar Ata as Director of Public Law & Immigration for our Luton Office. Read more...