*/
‘I hope the film may be of some help to the agencies who do their utmost to support the refugees who have survived, most especially to their children.’ Dir: Vanessa Redgrave
On 3 October the Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC) hosted a thought-provoking and inspiring film screening of Vanessa Redgrave’s Sea Sorrow .
The film is a moving documentary that places the current refugee crisis in its historical context. It is ‘a requiem for the thousands of refugees who have died through lack of support and protection’. The title of the film is taken from The Tempest where Prospero describes being placed in an unseaworthy boat and cast off with his infant daughter. And so we all sat still and heard the last of our own sea sorrow.
The film begins with Eleanor Roosevelt congratulating the UN for adopting the Declaration on Human Rights in 1948. She describes it as the Magna Carta for the world. The film reminds us that the UN Refugee Convention followed in 1951 and Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1989.
Vanessa Redgrave and Lord Alfred Dubs recall their experience in the Second World War – one as a child evacuated from London and whose family took in refugees from Hungary, the other on the Kindertransport. Other interviewees reflect on the life-long trauma caused by making the journey to Europe, leaving possessions, culture and family behind.
The film takes us to the present day Mediterranean Sea where a migrant boat is sinking as rescuers try to help terrified people, and to the ‘Jungle’ migrant camp in Calais where people are waiting in confusion for an unknown conclusion to their harrowing journeys.
Following the film, a panel of Vanessa Redgrave, Lord Dubs and Stephen Cragg QC, chaired by Kirsty Brimelow QC, discussed the practical responses that might be taken to the migrant crisis. Most concern was expressed for the children in the Jungle who have relatives in the UK, but cannot get here. Lord Dubs’ amendment to the Immigration Bill requires the UK to take unaccompanied refugee children, yet this is still significantly underutilised. Litigation before the High Court has been successful on a case-by-case basis, but time has run out. By the time you read this article, the Jungle will have been cleared and these children dispersed across France, with a serious risk of being trafficked.
The event highlighted that the UK is in breach of its obligations under the UNCRC, if not other conventions, towards the children who were camped at Calais and now will be almost impossible to find. Many at the event pledged to assist with observations of the camp closure. It was expected to be violent and indiscriminate.
BHRC observation visits to Calais
Stephen Cragg QC went to Calais with Gráinne Mellon for the BHRC in July. Our report, Camps at Calais and Grande-Synthe (France): Policing and Access to Justice, records the use of police brutality in the camps and lack of access to justice.
Kirsty Brimelow QC and Jelia Sane travelled to Calais in October and entered the camp in order to observe the evacuation, with a specific focus upon child rights and child protection. They were the only lawyers carrying out this work as lawyers were not allowed into the camp. French lawyers were challenging this decision in the court in Lille. Photographs were tweeted at @Kirsty_brimelow. A further report will follow.
Brimelow commented: ‘The conditions in the camp were terrible with the dismantling before accommodating children leading to children sleeping outside in the cold or in a makeshift unheated school.
‘The lucky ones were accommodated in shipping containers. Fires, billowing thick black smoke, raged ever closer to these containers. The Bar Human Rights Committee continues to rely upon barristers’ support – as practitioners and financially – from its members. It urges you to join and show that humanity should be without borders.’
Reviewer Jodie Blackstock is Director of Criminal Justice at JUSTICE and BHRC Treasurer
The film is a moving documentary that places the current refugee crisis in its historical context. It is ‘a requiem for the thousands of refugees who have died through lack of support and protection’. The title of the film is taken from The Tempest where Prospero describes being placed in an unseaworthy boat and cast off with his infant daughter. And so we all sat still and heard the last of our own sea sorrow.
The film begins with Eleanor Roosevelt congratulating the UN for adopting the Declaration on Human Rights in 1948. She describes it as the Magna Carta for the world. The film reminds us that the UN Refugee Convention followed in 1951 and Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1989.
Vanessa Redgrave and Lord Alfred Dubs recall their experience in the Second World War – one as a child evacuated from London and whose family took in refugees from Hungary, the other on the Kindertransport. Other interviewees reflect on the life-long trauma caused by making the journey to Europe, leaving possessions, culture and family behind.
The film takes us to the present day Mediterranean Sea where a migrant boat is sinking as rescuers try to help terrified people, and to the ‘Jungle’ migrant camp in Calais where people are waiting in confusion for an unknown conclusion to their harrowing journeys.
Following the film, a panel of Vanessa Redgrave, Lord Dubs and Stephen Cragg QC, chaired by Kirsty Brimelow QC, discussed the practical responses that might be taken to the migrant crisis. Most concern was expressed for the children in the Jungle who have relatives in the UK, but cannot get here. Lord Dubs’ amendment to the Immigration Bill requires the UK to take unaccompanied refugee children, yet this is still significantly underutilised. Litigation before the High Court has been successful on a case-by-case basis, but time has run out. By the time you read this article, the Jungle will have been cleared and these children dispersed across France, with a serious risk of being trafficked.
The event highlighted that the UK is in breach of its obligations under the UNCRC, if not other conventions, towards the children who were camped at Calais and now will be almost impossible to find. Many at the event pledged to assist with observations of the camp closure. It was expected to be violent and indiscriminate.
BHRC observation visits to Calais
Stephen Cragg QC went to Calais with Gráinne Mellon for the BHRC in July. Our report, Camps at Calais and Grande-Synthe (France): Policing and Access to Justice, records the use of police brutality in the camps and lack of access to justice.
Kirsty Brimelow QC and Jelia Sane travelled to Calais in October and entered the camp in order to observe the evacuation, with a specific focus upon child rights and child protection. They were the only lawyers carrying out this work as lawyers were not allowed into the camp. French lawyers were challenging this decision in the court in Lille. Photographs were tweeted at @Kirsty_brimelow. A further report will follow.
Brimelow commented: ‘The conditions in the camp were terrible with the dismantling before accommodating children leading to children sleeping outside in the cold or in a makeshift unheated school.
‘The lucky ones were accommodated in shipping containers. Fires, billowing thick black smoke, raged ever closer to these containers. The Bar Human Rights Committee continues to rely upon barristers’ support – as practitioners and financially – from its members. It urges you to join and show that humanity should be without borders.’
Reviewer Jodie Blackstock is Director of Criminal Justice at JUSTICE and BHRC Treasurer
‘I hope the film may be of some help to the agencies who do their utmost to support the refugees who have survived, most especially to their children.’ Dir: Vanessa Redgrave
On 3 October the Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC) hosted a thought-provoking and inspiring film screening of Vanessa Redgrave’s Sea Sorrow.
Update from the Chair of the Bar
By David Green
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, examines the forensic science underpinning hair drug testing, its evidential scope and limitations, and why it remains the gold standard for evidencing patterns of drug use in family proceedings
Unlocking your aged debt to fund your tax in one easy step. By Philip N Bristow
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, discusses the upcoming changes to pensions and Inheritance Tax and the potential impact on your financial future
Save the Children UK is the latest charity to benefit from a £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
The Chief Legal Officer to the Metropolitan Police, barrister Brett Welch, tells Anthony Inglese CB about his mission and the work to turn the Met around
Barrister apprenticeships – shortly to provide the fourth pathway to the Bar – are an ideal opportunity to support local talent and ‘grow your own’, say Tim Coulson and Dr Jane Dennehy
Born from a grievance, their research project grew into a book and is now challenging the status quo. Emma Price and Emma-Louise Fenelon reveal the key findings – and the critical next steps
Grok around and find out – or not? Mariya Peykova investigates the nudification scandal, what the law has to say about sexually explicit deepfakes, and whether stronger regulation is needed
Oliver Lewis spotlights an overlooked yet rapidly evolving area of law – coercive and controlling behaviour within care contexts
