News

On Wednesday 31st October, Ahmed Aydeed, a solicitor and director of public law based at Duncan Lewis Solicitors’ Birmingham branch, spoke at the Islington North Black and Minority Ethnic Forum, Black History Month event.

The event itself was open to the Islington North BAME Community and all Islington North Labour Party members as an opportunity to talk about various issues, including: the Windrush 70th Anniversary, BAME contributions to the NHS, Stephen Lawrence, race and work, BAME community action, and politics. Key figures were invited to attend to talk on relevant topics.

Ahmed was invited to speak and his talk was centred on the issues surrounding immigration detention, exploring the link between ethnicity and immigration detention. Ahmed highlighted that there are around 30,000 people detained in immigration detention in the UK every year for administrative convenience. According to the Home Office Immigration Statistics, year ending March 2018 around 47%¹ of people detained in immigration detention are asylum-seekers fearing persecution in their home country. Ahmed drew attention to the fact that the UK is currently the only country in the European Union that has not imposed a time limit on immigration detention.

Ahmed regularly acts for those who have been kept in immigration detention even though they have been identified as as ‘Adults at Risk’. His presentation at the forum further highlighted the abuse occurring within immigration detention centres (IRCs), which can result in migrants who have escaped from torture becoming re-traumatised. As a specialist in immigration, asylum and human rights, Ahmed and his team fight to protect those marginalised by challenging the policies and practices of the Home Office which risk injustice.

Ahmed’s presentation was followed by a Q & A session which invited attendees to ask about the issues which matter to them.

Other speakers at the event included Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn, London Assembly Member Jennette Arnold OBE, British social activist Patrick Vernon OBE, Islington North Labour Councillor Kaya Comer-Schwartz, TUC Race Equality Officer Wilf Sullivan and author Jernine A Russell. The event also hosted a performance by Ayan De First.

Duncan Lewis Public Law Solicitors

The Duncan Lewis public law department continues to be recommended by Legal 500 with the 2019 edition reporting its 'strong presence in this area of the law, making a particularly dominant contribution in immigration, asylum and prison law.'

The Public law team has experience in all aspects of judicial review claimant work, including obtaining emergency orders and other interim relief to prevent breaches of human rights, following up judicial reviews with actions for damages in both the County and High Court and successfully pursuing judicial review matters to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. A particular focus is the team’s work handling cases of the deprivation of British citizenship and deportation threats, with a niche specialism in challenging the treatment of immigration detainees and other marginalised communities.

To contact Ahmed, please call 020 7275 2668 or email him on ahmeda@duncanlewis.com.

¹UK Government Immigration Statistics, year ending March 2018 Data Tables: dt_01 People entering detention by age, sex and place of initial detention