Latest news with #FreeMovement
Time Business News
11-06-2025
- Business
- Time Business News
Section 3C Leave: Ensure UK Visa Compliance
A legal dilemma faces employers when a valued staff member's visa is due to expire but their extension application has not yet been decided. Section 3C 'bridging leave' automatically bridges that gap when an employee submits a valid, in-time application before their current leave expires. This leave extension still qualifies the employee to work legally while the decision from the Home Office is pending. To verify Section 3C for e-visa holders, request a share code, enter it online alongside their date of birth, and save a dated screenshot. For paper visa holders, get their stamped application or 12-digit UAN and send an ECS request referencing that UAN alongside proof of an in-time application. The Home Office tends to respond to ECS requests within five working days when your statutory excuse still applies. Record all checks in a central record—note method, date, result, and any reference numbers—and keep such records for up to five years for potential audits. Automate reminders: set calendar reminders three and one month before expiry and send email or Slack reminders using templated messages. Remind employees to submit share codes or ECS receipts in time. Store all confirmations in your HR portal or secure shared folder to prevent lost documents. One retail client avoided a £15,000 unfair dismissal award after adopting this process, and a fast-growth tech company completed 25 verifications last year with no delays or fines. Employers must review their right-to-work policies today, implement the above measures, and train HR staff on Section 3C verification to maintain ongoing workstreams. Having Section 3C checks down pat safeguards your employees and guarantees compliance with UK immigration rules, saves costly mistakes on bridging leave. Practical templates and automation tools make it easy to incorporate these checks into existing systems without inordinate IT spend. By collecting evidence of in-time applications, checking through share code or ECS, automating reminders, and centralising records, employers keep teams working and risks at bay. For additional guidance and sample templates, download the official Employer's Guide to Section 3C Leave from Free Movement's website. Begin implementing these steps today to keep your team working and compliant. For more information contact Leena Chouhan at Taylor Hampton Solicitors 02024275970. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Spectator
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
How a Luxembourg village divided Europe
I am in the most EU-ish bedroom in the EU. That is to say, I am lying in a refurbished room in the handsome 14th-century Chateau de Schengen, in the little village of Schengen, Luxembourg. From my casements, opened wide onto the sunny Saarland afternoon, I can see the exact stretch of the river Moselle where, on a boat floating between Germany, France and Luxembourg, the Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985. This was the agreement that sealed Free Movement as Europe's defining ideal – one whose consequences are still unfolding. I've been in Luxembourg for a week, on assignment, and this week has given me an insight into why the nations of the EU undertook their bold, remarkable experiment of no more borders. The first and obvious motivator was war. Luxembourg can look oddly new, or newish. Ancient-sounding villages are full of blocky 1960s houses. Supposedly medieval churches are clearly modern, lacking the rich patina of age. This is because they were all flattened in war – especially the last German offensive of the second world war, the Battle of the Bulge – which raged across snowbound Luxembourg from December 1944 to January 1945. As a result, much had to be rebuilt or heavily restored. Reviving international trust took even longer, as the war here was brutal. In little towns like Diekirch, teenage Nazi conscripts casually gunned down innocent civilians in the streets. The angered Allies felt no huge need thereafter to take German prisoners alive. The yearning to overcome this evil trauma – and reconcile – was one big driver of the EEC, which reached its frontierless, post-national apotheosis here in Schengen. But another was sheer practicality. Yesterday, my local guide, Anna, told me how she once had to show her passport every day to cross the Moselle to and from Germany. She can remember the queues and frustration. She recalls a crimped, claustrophobic Europe – like an office with too many cubicles. Nowadays the quaint old customs houses have been turned into tourist bureaux or posh chocolatiers, and everyone breezes between countries with total freedom. The other day I drove a meandering route through the rustling green winelands and must have crossed between Lux and DE half a dozen times, barely noticing. At its best, Schengen is indeed wonderful. But there's the geopolitical rub. Schengen at its Platonic best is magnificent. In practice, it may be turning into a tragic failure. A primary reason is migration – not within Europe, but without. To illustrate my point, Anna told me another story of Luxembourg. She explained how, in the 1970s, the now-prospering little Duchy required workers. As she put it, with bracing candour: 'We chose the Portuguese because they were poor and wanted the work, but also because they are European, Christian, Catholic, like us. We felt they would assimilate.' And so they have. You can see unexpectedly good selections of Douro wines in Luxembourg supermarkets. Otherwise, the 15 per cent of the population that is Portuguese is barely discernible. Schengen might, perhaps, be in much less trouble if every other country had followed those careful Luxembourg policies. But they didn't. France drew people from its old empire – Algeria, Morocco, sub-Saharan Africa. Germany imported millions of Turks, then another million Syrians under Merkel's idealistic Willkommen policy of 2015. Britain turned to the Caribbean, then Pakistan, India, Bangladesh. Combining open internal borders with sovereign external migration policies – inviting millions from far outside Europe – was, in retrospect, bound to create a problem. It's like a flat share where everyone agrees to leave their doors open and split the rent, but each person gets to invite their own guests, who then stay forever, use the bathroom, and host loud parties. Irritation is guaranteed. Some housemates will get seriously annoyed. Take, for example, the Somali migrant population in Holland. Tens of thousands of them moved to the UK under Free Movement. The UK could do nothing to stop this – as Britons duly noted. This is one example of how Free Movement, which peaked with Schengen, led quite directly to Brexit. It was perhaps sheer bad luck that Schengen coincided with one of the most ill-conceived experiments of recent times: multiculturalism plus mass immigration. Or maybe it wasn't coincidence, and they derive from the same well-meaning, liberal universalism – only this time taken too far. Frontiers are intrinsically sad – divisions within humanity made all too real Whatever the case, as I write this in my room in the Chateau de Schengen, I can also read the daily and unhappy news that springs from Europe's mass immigration experience: of riots and deaths in France following the football victory of Paris Saint-Germain; of another call for an inquiry into rape gangs in the UK; of a hard-right Polish politician becoming president, vowing to keep Poland migrant-free; of once-peaceful Sweden – now 'the bombing capital of the West'. Or I can read about de facto blasphemy laws in Britain and Denmark, introduced to placate militant Islam. And I can read of endless terror shifting across Europe untracked, leading even mainstream politicians in Germany, Austria, Italy to argue for the suspension of Schengen. Yes, of course there are multiple good, successful stories of integration and assimilation across Europe. But for many Europeans, judging by the remarkable electoral shift to the hard right, the good is now majorly outweighed by the bad. Is there any hope for that faded but shimmering Schengen ideal of a borderless Europe? I'd like to think so. Frontiers are intrinsically sad – divisions within humanity made all too real – even if Robert Frost knew what he was talking about when he said 'good fences make good neighbours'. The day is closing here in the Chateau de Schengen, and the summer sun sets lazily over the Auxerrois vines. They have a nice restaurant in the hotel, which has a classic French menu. I want to eat French food in Luxembourg while looking at Germany. It feels Schengen-y. But as the waitress brings my tranche de foie gras maison, the capricious Luxemburg weather turns. It's been in the forecast for a while – now it has arrived: a cold wind from the Ardennes is sweeping down the Moselle valley. The rain lashes the ancient gardens, and the waiters drift toward the windows, watching as the parasols surrender to the storm.
Zawya
09-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) deepens engagement with community citizens to advance implementation of free movement protocol across West Africa
In a renewed effort to enhance free movement of persons and goods and strengthen regional integration and trade across West Africa, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Commission) is intensifying collaboration with Community citizens and key stakeholders to advance the effective implementation of the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Goods, and Services. As part of this initiative, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency Dr. Omar Alieu TOURAY, undertook a working visit to the Nigeria–Benin (Lagos/Seme) Border on Wednesday, 7 May 2025. The visit aimed to assess the state of implementation of the ECOWAS Free Movement Protocol and to engage directly with border officials, national authorities, and Community citizens. During the visit, H.E. Dr. TOURAY held consultations with representatives of the governments of Nigeria and Benin, as well as other critical stakeholders to explore ways of improving operational efficiency and removing barriers to the seamless movement of people and goods along the Lagos-Seme corridor—one of the busiest border crossings in the region. Dr. TOURAY was accompanied by Ambassador Musa.S. NUHU, Permanent Representative of Nigeria to ECOWAS; Mr. Albert SIAW-BOATENG, Director of Free Movement at the ECOWAS Commission; Mr. Abdou KOLLEY, Director of Cabinet in the Office of the ECOWAS President; and other senior Commission staff. The delegation visited the Seme-Krake Joint Border Post to inspect the functionality of infrastructure provided by ECOWAS and to interact with Nigerian and Beninois customs and immigration personnel. Speaking during the visit, Dr. TOURAY emphasized the importance of first-hand assessments in understanding the challenges on the ground. According to Dr. TOURAY, ' This visit is important to ECOWAS in many ways. It has enabled us to see how the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement is being implemented at this very important corridor which is the busiest in the region. What happens here tells us a lot about the ECOWAS Free Movement Protocol. The challenges we are facing here can be resolved to enable us to replicate what works well here elsewhere.' ' Before arriving at this Joint Border Post, I had the opportunity to interact with Community citizens including transporters, road corridor users and security officials. We have listened carefully to them because the aim of this mission is to listen to them and report back to our authorities with strong recommendations that will work in favour of our Community citizens. It is a pleasure to see this Joint Border Post. It is a structure that has a lot of potential. But it is at the same time disappointing to see that some facilities that cost us a lot of money are not working.' He added, 'We can't continue to have expensive infrastructure of this nature and not having them work. This visit has enabled us to really have a good idea of how things are so that we can address the challenges because I don't think that our Community will forgive us for having infrastructure in place that should be working at an optimal level, but it is not working. We will dig into this to see how we can make it work.' Reaffirming the ECOWAS Commission's commitment to removing operational bottlenecks, Dr. TOURAY called on citizens to uphold their responsibilities by traveling with proper identification. ' I want to use this opportunity to also appeal to our Community citizens to always bear in mind that free movement does not mean no documentation. The appropriate identification papers, security checks, and customs procedures remain necessary to balance openness with safety and order. Our people must understand that they need valid identification to travel. Security and freedom must go hand in hand,' Dr. TOURAY said. In his remarks, Nigeria's Permanent Representative to ECOWAS, Ambassador Musa S. NUHU praised the ECOWAS President for undertaking the on-the-ground visit and highlighted Nigeria's efforts to improve compliance with the ECOWAS Protocol. He noted that the Nigerian government has established a Presidential Task Force to dismantle illegal checkpoints along the corridor to facilitate smoother cross-border movement. In an interactive session with Dr. TOURAY, Nigerian and Beninois customs and immigration officials at the Joint Border Post commended the visit and appealed for ECOWAS support in repairing key infrastructure—including scanners, weighbridges, electricity supply systems, and water facilities. They expressed confidence that the President's visit would lead to enhanced infrastructure and more efficient border operations. The ECOWAS Commission continues to prioritize initiatives that enhance trade, mobility, and security, thereby fostering deeper integration and improved livelihoods for all Community citizens across the West African region. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Telegraph
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Immigration judge wrote for pro-open borders website
An immigration judge behind a string of controversial rulings has written dozens of articles for a pro-open borders website. Judge Sarah Pinder, whose decisions at tribunals have sparked a backlash in recent weeks, previously wrote for Free Movement, an online publication, and described detention centres as 'truly abhorrent'. The site was founded by Colin Yeo, a barrister specialising in asylum cases, who has been critical of government efforts to curb illegal immigration. Judge Pinder has made controversial rulings including allowing a Zimbabwean paedophile to stay in Britain because he would face 'hostility' back in his home country. She was also one of two judges to declare that a Sudanese asylum seeker was a child despite the Home Office saying he was at least 23 with a receding hairline. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: 'Judges are trusted to park their political beliefs at the door. But when a judge's open borders political views seamlessly overlap with their expansionist judicial decisions, it's hard to escape the conclusion that they have been compromised. 'The framers of the ECHR [European Convention on Human Rights] could hardly have anticipated the breadth with which it has since been interpreted by some judges. It destroys public confidence in our immigration and criminal justice systems.' Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, said Judge Pinder 'should resign or be fired', adding: 'Sarah Pinder is clearly not fit to be an immigration judge. 'She simply does not agree with the concept of detention, deterrence and strong borders. The vast majority of British people do not want these people to put our safety at risk. She should resign or be fired.' The articles date from 2011 to 2022, with the last piece published three years after Judge Pinder's appointment to the first-tier tribunal as a part-time immigration judge in 2019. She was later appointed to the upper tribunal, which reviews first-tier decisions, in 2024. Before her career as a full-time judge, she was an immigration barrister at Goldsmith Chambers. Judge Pinder appears to have recently deleted her social media profiles, with her LinkedIn and X accounts closed within the past month. Her more recent articles for Free Movement looked at concessions for Afghan citizens on study and work routes in the UK and the process of reopening a finalised immigration appeal. In 2011, she described government detention centres as 'truly abhorrent' following the deaths of three detainees. She also criticised the Metropolitan Police and Sir Mark Rowley, now the force's commissioner, over an operation targeting foreign offenders in 2013, describing the social and cultural ramifications as 'incredibly worrying'. Greg Smith, the Tory MP for Mid Buckinghamshire, said: 'The public expect our judiciary to be independent, not peddling their own agenda. There is no excuse for judicial activism, and any identified activism like this must be stamped out.' It comes after a string of immigration rulings exposed by The Telegraph where migrants or convicted foreign criminals have secured the right to remain in the UK or avoided deportation in controversial circumstances. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, has criticised a decision by a different judge to allow a Palestinian family to live in the UK after they applied through a scheme for Ukrainian refugees. Judge Pinder's decision to block the deportation of a convicted Zimbabwean paedophile on the basis he was likely to face 'substantial hostility' in his home country was criticised by Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary. She previously ruled that a Jamaican drug dealer should be spared deportation after being told he had a transgender child. Together with Judge Hugo Norton-Taylor, she also quashed a council's verdict that a Sudanese migrant was an adult, rather than 16 years old as he had claimed. Mr Yeo, the founder of Free Movement, recently warned that Labour's new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill 'won't work' if it is intended to stop or even cut down on small boat crossings. In a piece for the website, he wrote: 'Prosecuting people smugglers who never set foot on British soil is impossible, and more would spring up to meet demand anyway. 'Even if people are sent to prison, it seems highly unlikely that would deter anyone else from trying the same thing in future. It's punishment without deterrence or rehabilitation. 'If its purpose is political, to show that the Government is doing something, that won't work either. Passing new laws makes it sound like you're doing something but of itself has no real world impact. It increases expectations while doing nothing to sate them.' A spokesman for the judiciary said: 'Judicial independence and impartiality are fundamental to the rule of law. 'Upon taking office, judges take the judicial oath where they swear to act 'without fear or favour, affection or ill will'. 'In each case, judges make decisions based on the evidence and arguments presented to them and apply the law as it stands.'
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Immigration judge wrote for pro-open borders website
An immigration judge behind a string of controversial rulings has written dozens of articles for a pro-open borders website. Judge Sarah Pinder, whose decisions at tribunals have sparked a backlash in recent weeks, previously wrote for Free Movement, an online publication, and described detention centres as 'truly abhorrent'. The site was founded by Colin Yeo, a barrister specialising in asylum cases, who has been critical of government efforts to curb illegal immigration. Judge Pinder has made controversial rulings including allowing a Zimbabwean paedophile to stay in Britain because he would face 'hostility' back in his home country. She was also one of two judges to declare that a Sudanese asylum seeker was a child despite the Home Office saying he was at least 23 with a receding hairline. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: 'Judges are trusted to park their political beliefs at the door. But when a judge's open borders political views seamlessly overlap with their expansionist judicial decisions, it's hard to escape the conclusion that they have been compromised. 'The framers of the ECHR [European Convention on Human Rights] could hardly have anticipated the breadth with which it has since been interpreted by some judges. It destroys public confidence in our immigration and criminal justice systems.' Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, said Judge Pinder 'should resign or be fired', adding: 'Sarah Pinder is clearly not fit to be an immigration judge. 'She simply does not agree with the concept of detention, deterrence and strong borders. The vast majority of British people do not want these people to put our safety at risk. She should resign or be fired.' The articles date from 2011 to 2022, with the last piece published three years after Judge Pinder's appointment to the first-tier tribunal as a part-time immigration judge in 2019. She was later appointed to the upper tribunal, which reviews first-tier decisions, in 2024. Before her career as a full-time judge, she was an immigration barrister at Goldsmith Chambers. Judge Pinder appears to have recently deleted her social media profiles, with her LinkedIn and X accounts closed within the past month. Her more recent articles for Free Movement looked at concessions for Afghan citizens on study and work routes in the UK and the process of reopening a finalised immigration appeal. In 2011, she described government detention centres as 'truly abhorrent' following the deaths of three detainees. She also criticised the Metropolitan Police and Sir Mark Rowley, now the force's commissioner, over an operation targeting foreign offenders in 2013, describing the social and cultural ramifications as 'incredibly worrying'. Greg Smith, the Tory MP for Mid Buckinghamshire, said: 'The public expect our judiciary to be independent, not peddling their own agenda. There is no excuse for judicial activism, and any identified activism like this must be stamped out.' It comes after a string of immigration rulings exposed by The Telegraph where migrants or convicted foreign criminals have secured the right to remain in the UK or avoided deportation in controversial circumstances. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, has criticised a decision by a different judge to allow a Palestinian family to live in the UK after they applied through a scheme for Ukrainian refugees. Judge Pinder's decision to block the deportation of a convicted Zimbabwean paedophile on the basis he was likely to face 'substantial hostility' in his home country was criticised by Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary. She previously ruled that a Jamaican drug dealer should be spared deportation after being told he had a transgender child. Together with Judge Hugo Norton-Taylor, she also quashed a council's verdict that a Sudanese migrant was an adult, rather than 16 years old as he had claimed. Mr Yeo, the founder of Free Movement, recently warned that Labour's new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill 'won't work' if it is intended to stop or even cut down on small boat crossings. In a piece for the website, he wrote: 'Prosecuting people smugglers who never set foot on British soil is impossible, and more would spring up to meet demand anyway. 'Even if people are sent to prison, it seems highly unlikely that would deter anyone else from trying the same thing in future. It's punishment without deterrence or rehabilitation. 'If its purpose is political, to show that the Government is doing something, that won't work either. Passing new laws makes it sound like you're doing something but of itself has no real world impact. It increases expectations while doing nothing to sate them.' A spokesman for the judiciary said: 'Judicial independence and impartiality are fundamental to the rule of law. 'Upon taking office, judges take the judicial oath where they swear to act 'without fear or favour, affection or ill will'. 'In each case, judges make decisions based on the evidence and arguments presented to them and apply the law as it stands.' Judge Pinder and Free Movement have been approached for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
