A UK immigration and asylum tribunal has ruled that three Syrian youths and an accompanying dependant adult living in the Calais “jungle” refugee camp should be allowed to enter Britain immediately to join their relatives, while their asylum claims are under consideration. Two of the four applicants were in their teens, whilst one was a 26 year old man suffering from mental health problems and dependent on his 17 year old brother. All four fled Syria in October 2015 and were deeply traumatised by their experiences. They had applied to the British government to take charge of their asylum applications so they could be granted permission to live in the UK with their family while their claims were being assessed.
However the UK Home Office rejected this, stating that this could only be done if the applicants had first applied for asylum in France and the French authorities formally requested that they be assessed in Britain so they could join their families, under the so called “Dublin regulations”. Under these regulations, the EU Member State responsible for assessing asylum applications is held to be the Member State through which the asylum seeker first entered the EU. Lawyers representing the four Syrians challenged the decision of the Home Office through judicial review, arguing that the Dublin regulations were no longer working in light of the on-going refugee crisis. The tribunal judges also accepted their argument that evidence of a written claim seeking asylum in France on the part of the applicants was sufficient proof that they had initially sought safety there. The applicants were granted permission to join their relatives in Britain while their asylum claims are considered by the Home Office.
In the course of the hearing, the tribunal heard evidence from volunteers in the Calais camp stating that the conditions were akin to a “living hell”. The judges were also told that the applicants had spent just one night in heated accommodation, despite having arrived there in October 2015. The decision has been described as “ground breaking” by UK based refugee advocacy groups, and could have a significant impact on the way in which the UK government assess asylum seekers in relation to reunifying families, especially applications made by children and dependant family members.
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