Summary Report – Experiences of Justice: seeking legal help for immigration and asylum in Wales

Migration
ReportsResourcesOctober 9th, 2024

The Bevan Foundation’s new research looks to improve legal advice and related services for people migrating to Wales

Part 1: Experiences of Justice series (6 parts)

The legal crisis in the UK is much talked about, but is often told from the perspective of administration, legal providers, or politics. This report considers the lived experiences at the heart of the crisis, exploring the impacts of declining immigration legal provision on people with lives and futures that depend on getting fast and fair access to justice.

The Bevan Foundation, working with frontline partners, has carried out in-depth interviews and group discussions with over 65 people who have moved to Wales from abroad. The findings give a stark picture of the challenges faced by people within the immigration and asylum systems and their concerns. We found repeated cases of:

  • people not knowing their rights or how to exercise them
  • low standards of legal practice and poor client care
  • delays and damage to people’s legal cases and ongoing impacts on their lives
  • abuse and exploitation of people needing immigration legal help.

40% of people we spoke to who had a current legal case had been unable to find legal advice or representation.

Many people had been denied their rights, leading to homelessness, loss of work, detention, emotional harm or mental illness.

The following five editions in this series are being published throughout October and November. These look in more depth at the main themes emerging from the study’s findings and will be presented mainly through the words of the people who took part in the project. The themes are: Barriers to Access, Client Care, Rights, Interpreters, and Impacts. The full series is listed below. Links will be added as editions are published.

We have supported our Experts by Experience working group to review the research findings and develop their own recommendations for improving access to justice for people seeking sanctuary in Wales. The group will present their findings at a Senedd event on 10 October 2024, where there will be the opportunity to join them in discussion as they share their insights. Their report is published as Appendix A to this report.

We will hold a webinar to share the study’s findings on Wednesday 27th November 2024 at 13:00 – 13:45.

Other editions in this series:

EditionTitle
Part 1 (this edition)Summary Report
Part 2Barriers to Access
Part 3Client Care
Part 4Rights
Part 5Interpreters
Part 6Impacts
APPENDIX ARecommendations of the Experts by Experience Working Group
APPENDIX BProject Participants

Pages: 15

Format: PDF

Language: English

Cost: FREE

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Tagged with: BAME & migrants

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