Upcoming Events
Previous Events
Seminar series: Expert evidence – 20th November 2020 (Zoom)
The second in a series of four 'Breaking the Chains' legal seminars centred around representing child and young asylum seekers. Gurpinder Kaur Khanba, Casework Supervisor at the Breaking the Chains project, will highlight the critical role of expert evidence in Albanian claims including the need for frontloading. This seminar will assist those seeking to secure funding for expert reports at an early stage from the Legal Aid Agency. To register, click here. For more information about the Breaking the Chains project, click here. To view the recording of the seminar, click here. To view the handout click here.
Seminar series: The CPIN and assessing merits in Albanian claims – 23 October 2020 (Zoom)
The first in a series of four 'Breaking the Chains' legal seminars centred around representing child and young asylum seekers. David Neale, Legal Researcher at Garden Court Chambers will be critiquing the Albanian Country Policy and Information Note (CPIN) on blood feuds and arguing that asylum claims based on blood feuds should not be certified as "clearly unfounded". He will also be discussing the possible routes to a successful asylum claim for Albanian boys and young men who are victims of trafficking and/or domestic violence. This seminar will be useful to lawyers representing Albanian nationals and in assessing merits in Albanian asylum claims, including those who are challenging certification decisions by Judicial Review. To register, click here. For more information about the Breaking the Chains project, click here. To view the recording of the seminar, click here.
Breaking the Chains Year 1 Evaluation Launch – 23 September 2020 (Zoom)
Presenting key learnings about how effective legal representation can be provided to children and young people vulnerable to exploitation, and what more is needed to create effective change. Click to register here before 21 September. View the flyer with programme here.
No right of appeal: the mass certification of Albanian asylum claims – 19 June 2019 (London)
This free event aims to critique the Home Office practice of certifying most Albanian asylum claims, including those of children, as clearly unfounded – denying people the right to appeal the decision in the UK. Speakers will cover Home Office practice in this area and asylum claims arising from blood feuds, trafficking and domestic violence. Participants will learn about tools to challenge Home Office practice and increase successful outcomes for Albanian children and young people. Taking place on Wednesday 19 June 2019 from 6.30pm-8pm at Garden Court Chambers, to register click here.
Breaking the Chains Project Launch – 25 April 2019 (London)
This free event marks the launch of Breaking the Chains, a partnership project dedicated to improving outcomes for Albanian children and young people seeking asylum in the UK. Funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, this project works with children and young people in the asylum system, providing them with high quality casework while listening to and amplifying their voices to share our learning about how best to protect this vulnerable group. The project also offers a chance to think strategically about the issues faced by Albanian children and young people, and to harness their energy and talent to provide peer support within and across communities. The event is targeted at lawyers, social workers, academics, foster carers, teachers, NGOs and campaign groups working with and for Albanian children and young people, but will be useful for anyone working with children and young people in the asylum system. Come and hear from children and young people and those representing them. Taking place on Thursday, 25 April 2019 from 16:30 to 18:30 at the Houses of Parliament, to register click here and to view the programme click here.
Afternoon event: Breaking the Chains: Strategies to improve the prospects of Albanian children making successful protection claims – 1 June 2018 (London)
This free event taking place on Friday, 1 June 2018 aims to bring together specialist barristers and solicitors to consider how legal professionals and others who support young Albanians in the UK can ensure that children from Albania are granted meaningful protection against the risks of return to abuse in their country of origin or further exploitation in the UK. The event proper starts at 2.15-5pm (with soft reception and light lunch from 1.15pm) at the Houses of Parliament (Portcullis House) and is jointly organised by MiCLU and Shpresa Programme, and sponsored by the Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP. Young people will be present to speak about their experiences and answer questions, and expert speakers will talk on the following topics: Blood feud cases and challenging the country guidance Representing trafficking victims and strategic litigation considerations Child-centred case work and how to work with young people Review of country of origin literature and addressing the gaps in research For more information about the challenges working with unaccompanied Albanian asylum-seeking children read here. For the event programme click here. To register click here.
Conference: Walking a Tightrope: The Hidden Protection Needs of Albanian UASC – 6 June 2017 (London)
This event seeks to increase understanding of the lives, circumstances and protection needs of Albanian young people . It will bring together practitioners, legal specialists, policy makers and academics working in the field together with Albanian young people. It will combine input from expert speakers with action-planning workshops around key issues such as blood feuds and the impact of ‘Kanun,’ domestic violence (including forced marriages and honour killings), factors affecting the lives of LGBT young people, and human trafficking. For more details and to register click here.
Evening Event: Changing Our Heads: Failing to recognise the human rights violations of children and women from Albania – 31 January 2017 (London)
This free evening event at the Houses of Parliament, sponsored by the Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, aims to gather and give voice to practitioners across a range of disciplines who provide care, support and legal representation to Albanian children, young people and women, along with experts working in the field of anti-trafficking and international protection, to help understand the lives and circumstances of this forgotten group and fundamental issues of culture, and to help dispel the myths that perpetuate and act as a barrier to achieving protection and durable solutions for vulnerable members of this community. For the event programme click here. To register click here. Please contact Luljeta Nuzi at shpresaprogramme@yahoo.co.uk for registration questions.
Workshop: Trauma, Memory and Evidence in Assessing the Claims of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children in the UK – 7 December 2016 (Glasgow)
A free afternoon workshop for lawyers and mental health and other professionals working with unaccompanied asylum seeking children in Scotland, organised by the Migrant and Refugee Children’s Legal Unit (MiCLU) at Islington Law Centre, with the Centre for the Study of Emotion and Law (CSEL) and the Legal Services Agency (LSA). Hosted by the Legal Services Agency in Glasgow. For more information click here. Spaces are limited, so please register early by contacting Jennifer Ang at jennifera@islingtonlaw.org.uk or 079 6005 2141.
Conference: Supporting young asylum-seekers in a hostile environment: How rights have changed after the 2014 & 2016 Immigration Acts – 24 November 2016 (Canterbury)
This free, one-day conference, jointly sponsored by Kent Law Clinic and MiCLU and hosted by the University of Kent, will explore challenges facing practitioners in providing care, support and legal representation to young asylum seekers following the 2014 and 2016 Immigration Acts. The conference aims to bring together social workers and social care practitioners, legal representatives, advocacy workers, health and mental health practitioners, and professionals working in education, local and national government and in law enforcement, both in Kent and across the UK, to examine the shifting landscape in the provision of care and support, to learn more about the legal rights of young asylum seekers and recent legal challenges, and to identify opportunities to improve standards of care and achieve best practice in our respective fields. For more details and to register: Child Refugees Welcome? Working together to meet the challenges of the Immigration Acts 2014 & 2016 If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Ang at jennifera@islingtonlaw.org.uk, Richard Warren at r.l.warren@kent.ac.uk, or Sheona York at s.f.york@kent.ac.uk.
