Seeking Refuge? - Rights of Women

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you have copies of any evidence you give to the UK Border Agency. Alternatively you can keep the originals and give certified copies of documents to the UK Border Agency. A certified copy is a photocopy of the document that is sworn to be true by your solicitor. Your legal representative can also give your case-owner any other evidence that may be useful in your case, such as a medical report. At the end of the interview At the end of the interview, your case-owner will give you a copy of the interview notes that were taken and a copy of the interview tape. You should keep these safe and give them to your legal representative. The Gender Guidelines The UK Border Agency has two Asylum Policy Instructions that should be followed by caseowners and other UK Border Agency staff when dealing with women’s claims for protection in the UK. These are: • Gender Issues in the Asylum Claim (known as the Gender Guidelines); and • Victims of Trafficking. The Gender Guidelines go through the different types of harm that women may face and how the law should be interpreted for women who seek protection in the UK. The Gender Guidelines state that: • Case-owners and interviewers should be aware of the effect that having experienced sexual violence may have had on you. • Case-owners should take into account information about your country, including information about women’s political and legal rights. • You should also be interviewed alone, particularly if you have experienced sexual violence or are likely to have experienced it. The Gender Guidelines also contain important procedural safeguards (protections for asylumseeking women); including the right to have a female case-owner and interpreter at your interview. You (or your legal representative) should ask for a female case-owner and interpreter before the day of your interview if you can, but the UK Border Agency says that requests made on the day of interview will be met where possible. If the UK Border Agency does not follow the Gender Guidelines, you should discuss it with your legal representative. They may be able to make representations on your behalf to the UK Border Agency based on the guidelines or, if necessary, complain about the way you were treated. You can download the Gender and Trafficking Guidelines from the UK Border Agency website here: www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/ documents/policyandlaw/asylumpolicy instructions/ Information for women asylum-seekers about the guidelines is also available from Asylum Aid (an independent charity) and can be downloaded here: www.asylumaid.org.uk Things to remember • Your asylum interview is very important as it is your chance to tell your case-owner why you had to leave your country and why you cannot return there. • You should tell your case-owner any information that is relevant to your application and provide any evidence that you have which could support your claim. • There is a legal obligation on the UK Border Agency to record asylum interviews. You should ask for your interview to be recorded. • Under the Gender Guidelines, you can ask for a female case-owner. You can also ask for a female interpreter. You (or your legal representative) should request a female interpreter or case-owner in writing before your interview. Requests made on the day of the interview should be accommodated whenever possible. 34
Support organisations For legal information and advice on immigration and asylum law, see: • Anti-Trafficking Legal Project (ATLeP) • Asylum Aid (includes the Refugee Women’s Resource Project) • Community Legal Advice • Immigration Advisory Service • Immigration Lawyers Practitioners Association • Refugee and Migrant Justice (formerly the Refugee Legal Centre) • Rights of Women To discuss any other problem, contact your local One Stop Service: • Refugee Action • Refugee Council • Migrant Helpline • North of England Refugee Service • Welsh Refugee Council See Chapter 12 at the end of this book for the contact details of these, and other useful organisations. 35
Page 1 and 2: Seeking Refuge? A handbook for asyl
Page 3 and 4: Seeking Refuge? A handbook for asyl
Page 5 and 6: Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 8
Page 7 and 8: Chapter 9: Final refusal and remova
Page 9 and 10: epresentative. If you are supportin
Page 11 and 12: For information about how claims ar
Page 13 and 14: Would you be safe anywhere else? In
Page 15 and 16: Women may experience violence for a
Page 17 and 18: • Article 8 Right to respect for
Page 19 and 20: Your right to be free from inhuman
Page 21 and 22: 3 The New Asylum Model: Non-detaine
Page 23 and 24: the UK and what travel documents yo
Page 25 and 26: 4 The New Asylum Model: The detaine
Page 27 and 28: Case-owners have a number of respon
Page 29 and 30: Depending on your financial circums
Page 31 and 32: 5 Your Asylum Interview Introductio
Page 33: • look at the law that determines
Page 37 and 38: There are a number of different tea
Page 39 and 40: The law that determines whether or
Page 41 and 42: 7 Successful applications: an expla
Page 43 and 44: Unlike Refugee Leave or Humanitaria
Page 45 and 46: 8 Negative Decisions and Appeals In
Page 47 and 48: Your legal representative is the pe
Page 49 and 50: • to be adjourned (to take place
Page 51 and 52: In the room where your appeal will
Page 53 and 54: The process of deciding the appeal
Page 55 and 56: • At your appeal, your legal repr
Page 57 and 58: Voluntary Return and Assisted Volun
Page 59 and 60: • If you, or any member of your f
Page 61 and 62: 10 Fresh claims Introduction A fres
Page 63 and 64: Does the new information create a r
Page 65 and 66: 11 Financial and other support thro
Page 67 and 68: part of your asylum support and you
Page 69 and 70: What happens if someone in my famil
Page 71 and 72: order to challenge the decision 30
Page 73 and 74: y £35 every week and you can carry
Page 75 and 76: Education While you are in the UK,
Page 77 and 78: Choices Provides confidential, inde
Page 79 and 80: Rights of Women Provides women with

Seeking Refuge? - Rights of Women

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