Refugee Legal Support (RLS)

Trading in human lives: unpacking the UK/European transfer scheme - Free Movement On Tuesday, the government introduced a new Appendix UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme to the immigration rules and below we consider the implication of

Read the full article on the Free Movement website: freemovement.org.uk/trading-in-h...

"Numerous organisations in Calais and Grande-Synthe have already expressed their disgust that the new scheme promotes a cold trade of humans. When people apply for entry clearance they do so knowing their arrival may equal the removal of another person who was in their position weeks earlier."

🔵 Restrictive document requirements
🔵 Lack of clarity on quotas and prioritisation
🔵 Accessibility of the application process
🔵 Inadequate safeguards for returns

RLS’s Basma Kamel and Francesca Parkes have written an insightful article for @freemovement.bsky.social unpacking the new UK/France agreement, and why it’s unlikely to work and will cause serious harm.

They highlight key issues with the scheme, including:

We’ll continue to work hard through our specialist legal casework to urge greater transparency and accountability, and challenge unfairness, including prolonged delays.

Data breach factsheet - Refugee Legal Support Save the document PDF in English PDF in Dari PDF in Pashto Table of Contents Information Sheet: UK Government Afghan Data Breach [Last updated: 28 July 2025] This factsheet provides information about ...

At RLS, we’re continuing to work to provide vital legal casework support for the Afghan community as they navigate access to the schemes.

For those impacted by the breach, we’ve compiled a detailed info sheet with practical guidance and resources: refugeelegalsupport.org/legal-info/f...

The details of this breach have remained secret via an unprecedented super-injunction preventing all, including those impacted, from being made aware.

In this time, the MoD operated another secret resettlement scheme - the Afghanistan Response Route - for a small number impacted by the breach.

Just weeks later, on 15 July 2025, the UK Government announced that there had been a major data breach in 2022.

This breach related to applications made on or before 7 January 2022 to the UK’s ARAP scheme and its forerunner, the Ex-Gratia Scheme (EGS)

The UK’s Afghan resettlement schemes came to an abrupt end on 1 July 2025. Pending applications will continue to be considered, but this closure ends access to one of the few “safe and legal routes.”

This is a stark reminder that the UK is turning its back on Afghans it once vowed to stand beside

Yesterday, the Government announced the immediate closure of the Afghan resettlement schemes. Read our response to the news below ⬇️

London Legal Walk 2025 Thank you for supporting our team for the 2025 London Legal Walk! We’ll be walking 10km across London to fund essential legal support for people seeking safety and family reunion. Our team is: Flora B

There’s still time to sponsor our team for their incredible achievement. Every donation makes a difference - £25 could pay for someone to receive essential information about their legal rights.

You can visit our fundraising page here: londonlegalsupporttrust.enthuse.com/pf/refugee-l...

We’re grateful to have a community of colleagues, supporters and friends who continue to support our work, especially as the rights of people on the move are being threatened around the globe.

Yesterday, we were reminded of the importance of community at the London Legal Walk. A team of RLS colleagues and supporters walked 10km across London to raise vital funds for people seeking safety.

The theme for this year’s #RefugeeWeek is “Community as a Superpower.” Community is integral to everything we do at RLS. It brings people together, creates a sense of belonging, and provides a source of strength.

Join us in person or online—register below 👇
www.biicl.org/events/12024...

📅 Tuesday 3 June 2025
⏰ 18:30 – 19:45 (UK time)
📍 BIICL, Russell Square, London and Online

We're thrilled to be organising the event, hosted by @biicl.bsky.social and welcoming Prof. Jane Mcadam AO, Prof. Geoff Gilbert and Kees Wouters and, as Chair, Emily Rowe.

International Protection for People Displaced Across Borders in the Context of Climate Change and Disasters Tuesday 3 June 2025, BIICL, Russell Square, London and Online

📣UPCOMING EVENT📣

Join us on Tuesday 3rd June for International Protection for People Displaced Across Borders in the Context of Climate Change and Disasters: A Practical Toolkit.

www.biicl.org/events/12024...

Urgent appeal: support people on the move to resist government cruelty We're RLS - a team of frontline UK and European asylum lawyers and activists. We assist displaced people with casework support and legal advice.

This is the last week of our fundraising campaign. Visit our CrowdJustice page and pledge today so that we can continue providing vital legal support to people on the move.

www.crowdjustice.com/case/support...

Diallo’s RLS lawyer provided expert legal support to appeal his case and get him recognised as a refugee.

He’s able to start looking to the future.

However, there are so many people like Diallo who aren’t able to get legal support and rebuild their lives.

This is occurring against a backdrop of a rapidly growing far-right movement across Europe.

People seeking safety in Greece are facing:
🔵A new Minister of Migration and Asylum who is a known fascist
🔵Being left in limbo by government policy
🔵Inhumane conditions in refugee camps
🔵A lack of financial support
🔵Evictions from camps

Legal aid in Greece is under severe threat. Funding has collapsed. Every day we see the impact this has on people on the move.

Our client, Diallo, fell victim to this collapse. His asylum claim had already been rejected when the lawyer who was supporting him lost his job due to a lack of funding.

Read this report by @reflegalsupport.bsky.social @captainsupportuk.bsky.social, @bordercrim.bsky.social @humansforrights.bsky.social to learn more about the appalling treatment of people seeking safety at our borders:

No Such Thing as Justice Here - Humans for Rights Network.

‘It was steer or they would kill me’: why Sudanese war refugees are filling prisons in Greece Prosecutors are using harsh anti-smuggling laws to jail people who have no connection to criminal offences, say migrants’ lawyers

The racist criminalisation of people seeking sanctuary must end. Here and across Europe, hundreds – mostly young Black men – are doubly victimised: first by the conflicts they flee and then by a racist border system that criminalises them. Report below 👇.

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

She explains how Section 24 D1 of the Immigration Act 1971 is currently being used arbitrarily to prosecute people arriving on small boats, the lack of defences, and how the Government could amend the Bill to improve the situation.

➡️Read her blog on ILPA’s website: ilpa.org.uk/crimes-of-ar...

Francesca Parkes, Senior Caseworker and Northern France Coordinator at RLS, has written an insightful new blog for ILPA.

In “Crimes of Arrival: an entirely arbitrary approach to prosecution,” Francesca analyses the new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.

Urgent appeal: support people on the move to resist government cruelty We're RLS - a team of frontline UK and European asylum lawyers and activists. We assist displaced people with casework support and legal advice.

We’re seeking to raise £8,000 so we can continue providing vital legal support to people on the move.

If you’re able to, please visit our CrowdJustice page and make a pledge today. Every pledge makes a difference.

www.crowdjustice.com/case/support...

Legal support is the most effective tool we have to fight back. It helps people gain asylum and stability and it reunites families. It gives people hope.

Their harmful policies reflect the wider global trend of a shift towards the far-right - as demonstrated by Trump’s aid cuts and deportations, and the growing far-right movement across Europe.

It’s more important than ever that we stand in solidarity with people on the move.

At a time when the far right is rising across the globe, the UK government has resorted to performative cruelty to appeal to the far-right.