Sonia Lenegan

Contributor at Open Legal Blog Archive

Editor at Free Movement

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New report finds that children continue to be prosecuted for arriving across the Channel

3 weeks ago | freemovement.org.uk | Sonia Lenegan

A new report from Humans for Rights Network, Oxford Border Criminologies, Refugee Legal Support and Captain Support UK, “I told them the truth” looks at the ongoing criminalisation of people, including age disputed children, arriving in the UK in small boats from February 2024 to April 2025. This is an update to a February 2024 report which looked at the same data for the period June 2022 to January 2024.
Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #71

3 weeks ago | openlegalblogarchive.org | Sonia Lenegan

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!The Home Affairs Select Committee will take evidence from the Home Secretary tomorrow and she will be questioned on the immigration white paper, among other topics. The committee will be far more difficult to stonewall than MPs’ written questions, and so there is a small hope that we will get a bit more clarity around what will happen and when, and who will be affected.
Poor drafting of Appendix EU criticised again by Court of Appeal

1 month ago | openlegalblogarchive.org | Sonia Lenegan

The Court of Appeal has once again asked the Home Office to please do something about the state of Appendix EU. The context this time was trying to understand what the rules say about the definition of a durable partner. The case is Mustaj v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWCA Civ 663. I know you all like seeing the immigration rules receive judicial criticism (and this appendix in particular), so I have included the best bits in full below.
Latest statistics show that only two Syrian people have been granted refugee status this year

1 month ago | openlegalblogarchive.org | Sonia Lenegan

The latest quarterly immigration and asylum statistics have been published, covering the period January to March 2025. The asylum backlog is down, but that is fairly meaningless given how atrocious decision making is at the moment, those cases are now the First-tier Tribunal’s problem. Syrians seeking asylum in the UK remain in limbo, almost six months since the Home Office paused decision making on their claims.
The immigration white paper has been published - Free Movement

1 month ago | freemovement.org.uk | Sonia Lenegan

The immigration white paper has been published containing proposals for future legislation. The summarised proposals from the paper are set out in full below
What does the immigration white paper say about workers and students?

1 month ago | openlegalblogarchive.org | Sonia Lenegan

This morning I did a quick post to let everyone know that the immigration white paper had been published, along with the summary recommendations from the paper. Let’s now take a closer look at what is being proposed for workers and students.
Court of Appeal dismisses Albanian woman’s asylum claim

1 month ago | openlegalblogarchive.org | Sonia Lenegan

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by an Albanian women in a protection claim where she initially succeeded in the First-tier Tribunal but that decision was later overturned by the Upper Tribunal. Her asylum claim was based on a risk on return from former clients of her husband’s business and the risk of gender based violence from her husband’s family.
eVisa failures preventing access to public funds

1 month ago | openlegalblogarchive.org | Sonia Lenegan

Sonia Lenegan is an experienced immigration, asylum and public law solicitor. She has been practising for over ten years and was previously legal director at the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association and legal and policy director at Rainbow Migration. Sonia is the Editor of Free Movement.