Weekly news 06/12/2024

Every year, 10th December marks International Human Rights Day. This day celebrates the power of human rights and commemorates the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.  

This year the theme of Human Rights Day is: Our Right, Our Future, Right Now. This theme celebrates the significance and relevance of human rights to all of us. It is about demonstrating the importance of human rights in our day to day lives, something which sits at the heart of our work here at BIHR. As an organisation, we champion the positive impact and protections of our Human Rights Act and the practical difference it can make in people's lives every day.  

As part of BIHR’s work to enable positive social change through the practical use of the Human Rights Act, we share real stories of people who have used human rights in their lives and work to make positive changes. What better time to share stories of change and what human rights mean to different people than on Human Rights Day? We would love to hear from you about what human rights mean to you or your organisation or you could tell us about how you are celebrating Human Rights Day this year. You can tag BIHR using #HumanRightsDay. We are @BIHRHumanRights on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and you can also find us on LinkedIn.  

At BIHR we are marking Human Rights Day by hosting an event in the House of Lords to celebrate human rights together with community groups, civil society organisations and parliamentarians from across the UK. At the event, four community groups who have been working with BIHR throughout 2024 will launch their co-produced human rights resources. These are designed to support people to use human rights law to address the specific social justice issues that each group works on every day.  
 

The resources will also be available online from 10th December. Keep an eye on our website and social media pages for updates! 

Our 2025 diary for human rights practice training and consultancy for public bodies, services and providers, is now open for booking! Whether it's frontline staff, managers or leaders, commissioners or regulators, BIHR's team brings decades of expertise in connecting service delivery, policy and legal frameworks across health, social care, housing, education, and welfare, to the practical use of human rights not only as the overarching legal duty but as a tool that can engage and empower staff, especially in challenging times. And, where relevant, we can do this alongside our Lived Experience Experts.  

As our diary opening coincided with Black Friday we are offering some big one-off discounts for new bookings: 

(1) ONE OFF TRAININGS: 20% off bookings made by 31 Jan 2025 (quote BF20); plus an additional 5% discount for returning clients, who have had BIHR training during 2023-2024. This could be a maximum saving of more than £500!  

(2) PROGRAMMES OF SUPPORT: 12.5% off programme rates for bookings made by the 1 March 2025 (quote BFProgramme). PLUS an additional 5% discount for returning clients, who we have worked with in between 2023-2024.  

FOR OUR BOOKING INFORMATION AND FORM PLEASE CONTACT Valentina on training@bihr.org.uk or https://lnkd.in/dUPjykAf 

On 6 November 2024, a new Mental Health Bill was introduced to the UK Parliament which sets out a series of changes to the Mental Health Act, the main law which covers the assessment, treatment and rights of people experiencing mental distress in England and Wales.

This week, we shared an explainer on the Mental Health Bill. This contains digestible information about the Mental Health Act and the journey to its reform, some key changes put forward by the Bill, and  which parts of the Human Rights Act are relevant in the proposals.

BIHR ran open workshops in 2021 to gather people's views on the proposed changes, and people told us that human rights principles should be written at the centre of the Mental Health Act. From our experience at BIHR, we know that staff implementing any changes to the law needs to be properly supported to do so in a human rights-respecting way, ensuring that people receiving mental health care are treated with dignity, respect and fairness.

Many unable to access eVisa’s to prove right to live and work in the UK 

The Home Office has acknowledged that there are a large group of people who have the right to live and work in the UK but cannot provide proof of this because they are unable to access their eVisas.  

The Home Office is transferring to a digital immigration system at the end of December which means that most physical documentation to evidence the right to live, work, rent a home  or access services in the UK will expire.  

Human rights campaigners are particularly concerned about migrants who are on a Home Office Visa known as the 10 year route. This is an expensive visa which usually comes with a delay of about a year each time it is renewed. Whilst they wait for their renewal, people are usually granted “3C leave”, allowing them to work or rent properties in the UK. However, there are issues with the new eVISA system, and many people are unable to open their documentation or provide digital proof of their right to live and work in the UK.  

The Home Office has said that there are alternative ways to provide proof when people’s eVisas fail to work. But people struggling to access their eVisas argue that some employers and estate agents are unwilling to accept any other evidence.  

Nick Beales, the head of campaigning at Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London has referenced a High Court ruling earlier this year which found that the previous the Home Secretary acted unlawfully by failing to provide documentary proof of immigration status to thousands of migrants on so-called '3C leave'. He said: 

“With the visa system going digital in one month, it is critical that everyone with immigration status can immediately access eVisas. Otherwise, it is certain that in 2025 tens of thousands of people on 3C leave will be wrongly suspended from work, deprived of disability benefits and denied other basic services.” 

Source: Many unable to access eVisas to prove right to be in UK, Home Office admits | Home Office | The Guardian