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Seeking Refuge? - Rights of Women

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Case-owners have a number <strong>of</strong> responsibilities<br />

including:<br />

- Meeting you at the first reporting event (see<br />

above).<br />

- Being responsible for any reporting<br />

conditions that are imposed on you.<br />

- Conducting your asylum interview.<br />

- Working with your legal representative to<br />

clarify the issues in the case.<br />

- Controlling the progression <strong>of</strong> your case by<br />

altering the times that certain things are<br />

done (for example, the date <strong>of</strong> the<br />

interview), if flexibility is required.<br />

- Making an initial decision on whether you<br />

should be granted protection in the UK, or<br />

whether your claim should be refused.<br />

- Ending your case by either assisting you with<br />

your integration in the UK, or arranging for<br />

your re-documentation and removal.<br />

Your legal representative (or you, if you don’t<br />

have a legal representative) should be in close<br />

contact with your case-owner(s) throughout<br />

the process.<br />

The asylum interview<br />

The asylum interview is a very important part <strong>of</strong><br />

the process in deciding your application for asylum.<br />

For information about the interview, and the<br />

evidence that may be provided to a case-owner to<br />

help them make a decision, see Chapter 5.<br />

Decision<br />

After the interview, the case-owner will examine<br />

all the information and evidence which you and<br />

your legal representative have put forward, and<br />

decide whether or not you should be given<br />

protection in the UK.<br />

Things to remember<br />

• It is important to claim asylum as soon as<br />

reasonably practicable. If you have delayed in<br />

claiming asylum, it is important that you<br />

explain the reasons for this.<br />

• When you are screened to check your identity,<br />

you will be asked questions about why you<br />

cannot return home. It is important to answer<br />

these questions clearly, as your answers may be<br />

used to decide whether or not you should be<br />

given protection in the UK.<br />

• If you are not detained, you may be given<br />

temporary admission or be released subject to<br />

certain reporting restrictions.<br />

• You can ask for a female case-owner, so that<br />

you are interviewed by another woman. You<br />

can also ask for a female interpreter. You may<br />

have the same case-owner throughout the<br />

asylum process, or you may have different caseowners<br />

at different stages <strong>of</strong> the process.<br />

Support organisations<br />

For legal information and advice on immigration<br />

and asylum law, see:<br />

• Anti-Trafficking Legal Project (ATLeP)<br />

• Asylum Aid (includes the <strong>Refuge</strong>e <strong>Women</strong>’s<br />

Resource Project)<br />

• Community Legal Advice<br />

• Immigration Advisory Service<br />

• Immigration Lawyers Practitioners Association<br />

• <strong>Refuge</strong>e and Migrant Justice (formerly the<br />

<strong>Refuge</strong>e Legal Centre)<br />

• <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Women</strong><br />

To discuss any other problem, contact your local<br />

One Stop Service:<br />

• <strong>Refuge</strong>e Action<br />

• <strong>Refuge</strong>e Council<br />

• Migrant Helpline<br />

• North <strong>of</strong> England <strong>Refuge</strong>e Service<br />

• Welsh <strong>Refuge</strong>e Council<br />

See Chapter 12 at the end <strong>of</strong> this book for the<br />

contact details <strong>of</strong> these, and other useful<br />

organisations.<br />

24

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