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The Government is Failing London’s Homeless Children

Ruth and her then 6-year-old daughter abruptly became homeless when their landlord evicted them from their London flat in 2012 to convert the property into a large house. Unable to find anything affordable within commuting distance of her job and her…
Courtyard of a blue and brick housing block
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Building Momentum to Hold Companies to Account

  In 2020, you should be watching for a growing trend of national legislatures requiring companies to live up to their responsibilities to workers, communities, and the environment. Millions of adults and children around the world suffer…
Children pan for gold
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Balkan Summit Must be More Than Hot Air

The London summit this week could kick-start the revival of the stalled reform process in the region – but won’t if human rights and the rule of law stay off the agenda

  Western Balkan and European Union leaders meet in London this week for a summit that could be a chance to revive stalled reforms and focus attention on critical issues. Unfortunately, there is every chance it will turn out to be full of hot…
Migrants are seen in front of a dorm destroyed during Bosnian 1992-1995 war, in Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina May 11, 2018.
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Looking Ahead From Calais

Before it was demolished at the end of October, the sprawling migrant camp in Calais had become a symbol of Europe’s shame, a visible reminder of the European Union’s failure to find a humane, fair, and coordinated approach to migration. But…
Former camp residents wave as they depart in buses for migrant centers elsewhere in France. 24 October 2016.
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France Has Failed Children In Calais

Having spent most of the last two weeks in Calais, I can say that while the operation to clear the French migrant camp known as "The Jungle" may ultimately benefit adults, it has failed unaccompanied children. On Wednesday, police evacuated all…
Huddled under blankets, a group of Afghan boys spend the night on the street after French authorities abruptly ended registration and relocation for unaccompanied children who had been staying in the Calais migrant camp, October 26, 2016.
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What Is Happening To The Children Of The Calais 'Jungle'?

Children are at risk if authorities continue to rush dismantlement of the notorious refugee camp.

A short drive from the orderly streets of the Calais town center, past a series of warehouses and fuel stations, is one of the most startling scenes in modern Europe: the squalid, sprawling, overcrowded migrant camp often called the “Jungle.” …
Outside of the converted containers where unaccompanied children were being sheltered as demolitions began, hundreds more had not yet been registered by midweek.
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Is David Cameron Serious About Curbing Child Marriage?

It was less glamorous than the Angelina Jolie-backed Foreign Office initiative to combat sexual violence in conflict, but the last British government was also active internationally on child marriage. This included a “Girl Summit” hosted last summer in…
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Undermining Attorney – Client Privilege Weakens Rule of Law

The systems of surveillance that Edward Snowden revealed in both the UK and US depend on law for their justification, and are facing legal challenges in both countries’ legislatures. This might give the impression that, whatever the merits of these…
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Assessing Europe’s Response to the Paris Attacks

One month after the worst terrorist attack in Europe since Anders Breivik’s murder of 77 people in Norway, the contours of the response are becoming clear. Three areas stand out – new counterterrorism laws and policies; the related, though distinct,…
News

Whatever Happened to Winning Hearts and Minds?

Listening to the debate in Europe on the threat from the extremist group Islamic State (IS) and returning fighters feels like Groundhog Day. Its black-and-white presentation, the existential nature of the alleged threat, the notion that governments should…
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‘Kids want to work’ is a poor justification for laws that legalize work by 10-year-olds

Bolivia’s new law sets a bad example, even though child labor has declined by 30 percent since 2000.

A controversial new law in Bolivia makes it the first country in the world to legalize work by 10-year-olds. One justification offered by officials sounded awfully familiar: “Kids want to work.” We’ve spent the last year investigating child labor in the…
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UK: Do Not Make Us Choose Between Our Safety and Our Privacy

It’s been a year now since Edward Snowden’s revelations about the massive US and UK spying operations sent much of the world into a tailspin. The US has taken some modest steps toward reform. But the initial steps taken across the Atlantic only serve to…
News

Truth Still Eludes on UK Involvement in Rendition and Torture

There have been repeated claims of UK complicity in the alleged torture of individuals detained abroad. The government’s latest move in the saga does not suggest a desire to get to the bottom of them. In July 2010, the British prime minister, David…
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If all options are open, why not prosecute Abu Qatada in the UK?

UK plan to deport Abu Qatada to Jordan

Listening to Theresa May’s statement to Parliament today, it seems the British government is leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to deport Abu Qatada to Jordan to face terrorism charges. A new treaty with Jordan aims to address the risk that Abu…
News

Abu Qatada: No More Paper Promises

If Theresa May is serious about protecting Abu Qatada, she must press for real change in Jordan

Torture occupies a special place in international law – it is banned at all times and in all places, no exceptions. Most countries, including the UK and Jordan, have signed up to the UN Convention Against Torture, which means they agree not only to the…

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