Jon Featonby
@jonfeatonby.bsky.social
I do refugee and asylum policy at the Refugee Council, so most likely a lot of the posts will be about that.
The upcoming changes to the asylum system, which are all about putting refugees off from coming to the UK. are being sold as “the most radical” since the Second World War.”Presumably that’s referring to the signing of the Refugee Convention and recognising the importance of the rights of refugees….
November 14, 2025 at 7:15 AM
The upcoming changes to the asylum system, which are all about putting refugees off from coming to the UK. are being sold as “the most radical” since the Second World War.”Presumably that’s referring to the signing of the Refugee Convention and recognising the importance of the rights of refugees….
Baroness Lister's amendment would give refugees 56 days after getting a positive asylum decision before they lose their Home Office support, instead of 28 days. The Home Office started a pilot of 56 days last December, but "paused" it for most refugees in August, despite an ongoing evaluation.
November 5, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Baroness Lister's amendment would give refugees 56 days after getting a positive asylum decision before they lose their Home Office support, instead of 28 days. The Home Office started a pilot of 56 days last December, but "paused" it for most refugees in August, despite an ongoing evaluation.
This letter from the Home Office to the Home Affairs Select Committee confirms how ridiculously expensive putting people seeking asylum in hotels is compared to housing in communities. It costs more than six times as much. And large sites aren't much better committees.parliament.uk/publications...
October 15, 2025 at 11:03 AM
This letter from the Home Office to the Home Affairs Select Committee confirms how ridiculously expensive putting people seeking asylum in hotels is compared to housing in communities. It costs more than six times as much. And large sites aren't much better committees.parliament.uk/publications...
There’s a statement of changes to the immigration rules on today’s Commons order paper commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/Document/978...
October 14, 2025 at 5:31 AM
There’s a statement of changes to the immigration rules on today’s Commons order paper commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/Document/978...
Nice afternoon for a cup game #RoadtoWembley
September 13, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Nice afternoon for a cup game #RoadtoWembley
Confirmation of new migration ministers in the Home Office. Alex Norris takes over the asylum brief from Angela Eagle, while Mike Tapp is the new migration minister
September 8, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Confirmation of new migration ministers in the Home Office. Alex Norris takes over the asylum brief from Angela Eagle, while Mike Tapp is the new migration minister
Written statement on a statement of changes to the immigration rules on tomorrow’s order paper. Presumably it will be to put in place the suspension of refugee family reunion provisions, leaving thousands of families unable to reunite.
September 3, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Written statement on a statement of changes to the immigration rules on tomorrow’s order paper. Presumably it will be to put in place the suspension of refugee family reunion provisions, leaving thousands of families unable to reunite.
Looks like an extra day has been added for committee stage of the Border Security bill in the lords. Won’t be until after the conference recess.
September 3, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Looks like an extra day has been added for committee stage of the Border Security bill in the lords. Won’t be until after the conference recess.
In her statement in parliament today, note that when referencing the restrictions in Denmark and Switzerland the Home Secretary said they applied to those with “humanitarian protection”, not refugee status. Would have been good had she also shared the rights of refugees in those countries.
September 1, 2025 at 7:57 PM
In her statement in parliament today, note that when referencing the restrictions in Denmark and Switzerland the Home Secretary said they applied to those with “humanitarian protection”, not refugee status. Would have been good had she also shared the rights of refugees in those countries.
The coverage of the Reform plans today really needs to reflect what is being proposed. The plan isn't for a duty to remove people who "arrive" without leave - but for anyone in the UK who doesn't have it. It would be Windrush on steroids.
August 26, 2025 at 10:36 AM
The coverage of the Reform plans today really needs to reflect what is being proposed. The plan isn't for a duty to remove people who "arrive" without leave - but for anyone in the UK who doesn't have it. It would be Windrush on steroids.
Leaving aside any thoughts on the scheme, why do this? It's quite clear that the pilot will not mean everyone who arrives irregularly will be returned.
August 5, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Leaving aside any thoughts on the scheme, why do this? It's quite clear that the pilot will not mean everyone who arrives irregularly will be returned.
Last day that the Commons is sitting before the summer recess, and there’s a written statement due on the ICIBI report on age assessment. I don’t think there are usually written statements on ICIBI reports, so interesting to see what it says commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/Document/967...
July 22, 2025 at 6:03 AM
Last day that the Commons is sitting before the summer recess, and there’s a written statement due on the ICIBI report on age assessment. I don’t think there are usually written statements on ICIBI reports, so interesting to see what it says commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/Document/967...
There was a statement in the Commons yesterday on the UK-France deal. Not sure we learnt anything new, but good that @stellacreasy.bsky.social asked about the process for people applying to come to the UK hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025...
July 15, 2025 at 9:11 AM
There was a statement in the Commons yesterday on the UK-France deal. Not sure we learnt anything new, but good that @stellacreasy.bsky.social asked about the process for people applying to come to the UK hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025...
On Monday’s Common’s order power there’s a statement updating on the processing of Syrian asylum claims. All decision making on those claims, and settlement applications, has been paused since last December commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/Document/965...
July 11, 2025 at 5:46 PM
On Monday’s Common’s order power there’s a statement updating on the processing of Syrian asylum claims. All decision making on those claims, and settlement applications, has been paused since last December commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/Document/965...
The Commons is sitting today for Private Members’ Bills, and there is a written statement on UK-France migration co-operation. I’m guessing any oral statement on the summit will wait until Monday.
July 11, 2025 at 6:18 AM
The Commons is sitting today for Private Members’ Bills, and there is a written statement on UK-France migration co-operation. I’m guessing any oral statement on the summit will wait until Monday.
Bit more info on how people will be selected to come to the UK under the new deal. People will submit an “expression of interest” in France. No idea what the decision criteria would be though, or what status it would give people www.gov.uk/government/n...
July 10, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Bit more info on how people will be selected to come to the UK under the new deal. People will submit an “expression of interest” in France. No idea what the decision criteria would be though, or what status it would give people www.gov.uk/government/n...
The gov.uk pages now have been update to say the Afghan resettlement schemes are closed www.gov.uk/guidance/afg...
July 1, 2025 at 7:17 PM
The gov.uk pages now have been update to say the Afghan resettlement schemes are closed www.gov.uk/guidance/afg...
There’s a written statement on a statement of changes in immigration rules, which will
be the second lot of changes in a week.
be the second lot of changes in a week.
July 1, 2025 at 6:08 AM
There’s a written statement on a statement of changes in immigration rules, which will
be the second lot of changes in a week.
be the second lot of changes in a week.
There may be an explanation for this somewhere, but yesterday's announcement on asylum hotels made me think about it again. The number of asylum decision makers dropped by around 500 positions (or 20%) between the election and the end of last year.
June 12, 2025 at 1:22 PM
There may be an explanation for this somewhere, but yesterday's announcement on asylum hotels made me think about it again. The number of asylum decision makers dropped by around 500 positions (or 20%) between the election and the end of last year.
It’s now six months since the Government paused all Syrian asylum claims after the fall of the Assad regime. There is still no sign of those claims being processed - leaving over 7,000 people not knowing what’s going to happen to their applications.
June 9, 2025 at 1:12 PM
It’s now six months since the Government paused all Syrian asylum claims after the fall of the Assad regime. There is still no sign of those claims being processed - leaving over 7,000 people not knowing what’s going to happen to their applications.
As Yvette Cooper just told HASC, the backlog of initial decisions has fallen (the majority of those cases are now applications that were made post-election).
But, that says nothing about the quality of those decisions, and the unnecessary pressure being put on the appeals system.
But, that says nothing about the quality of those decisions, and the unnecessary pressure being put on the appeals system.
June 3, 2025 at 3:49 PM
As Yvette Cooper just told HASC, the backlog of initial decisions has fallen (the majority of those cases are now applications that were made post-election).
But, that says nothing about the quality of those decisions, and the unnecessary pressure being put on the appeals system.
But, that says nothing about the quality of those decisions, and the unnecessary pressure being put on the appeals system.
As has been shown before, the number of people on each boat has been increasing in recent years and is a key reason why the crossings have become more deadly - in 2022 there were record high numbers, but very few deaths.
June 3, 2025 at 9:54 AM
As has been shown before, the number of people on each boat has been increasing in recent years and is a key reason why the crossings have become more deadly - in 2022 there were record high numbers, but very few deaths.
The Home Office have published some data on channel crossing numbers and what they call "red days". Red days are when the Met Office predicts there is a 55% or higher likelihood of crossings.
The Home Office will argue there has been a particularly high number of "red days" in the last year.
The Home Office will argue there has been a particularly high number of "red days" in the last year.
June 3, 2025 at 8:54 AM
The Home Office have published some data on channel crossing numbers and what they call "red days". Red days are when the Met Office predicts there is a 55% or higher likelihood of crossings.
The Home Office will argue there has been a particularly high number of "red days" in the last year.
The Home Office will argue there has been a particularly high number of "red days" in the last year.
Not exactly the most illuminating response to @lisasmartmp.bsky.social’s questions about the immigration white paper and the potential restrictions to refugee family reunion questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-ques...
May 23, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Not exactly the most illuminating response to @lisasmartmp.bsky.social’s questions about the immigration white paper and the potential restrictions to refugee family reunion questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-ques...
The immigratiion stats include updated inadmissibility figures for the first time in a while. This is the process that was supposed to replace Dublin system. It has been pointless. Since the start of 2021 over 100,000 claims have been considered as potentially inadmissible with 33 people removed.
May 22, 2025 at 3:49 PM
The immigratiion stats include updated inadmissibility figures for the first time in a while. This is the process that was supposed to replace Dublin system. It has been pointless. Since the start of 2021 over 100,000 claims have been considered as potentially inadmissible with 33 people removed.