It is no coincidence that the Immigration Advisory Service has closed this week fast on the heels of the closure last year of its sister organisation, Refugee and Migrant Justice (Report, 12 July). The UK has now lost its two largest providers of legal aid representation to migrants and asylum seekers, and tens of thousands of the most vulnerable in our society will now be at the mercy of the UK Border Agency's arbitrary and often unlawful actions.
The IAS and RMJ led the way in holding the UKBA accountable to the law. The IAS recently won an injunction in the high court to prevent the removal of Iraqi asylum seekers following the uncovering of powerful evidence that recent returnees had been beaten up and detained by Iraqi officials on arrival at Baghdad airport. Other important cases in the pipeline aimed to prevent Burmese asylum seekers being returned to into the arms of the vicious Burmese junta, and young Afghans to destitution and danger on the streets of Kabul.
The Legal Services Commission has used a smokescreen of financial irregularities at the IAS to close the whole organisation, leaving those most in need of legal aid without representation, and sacking low-paid staff. Ironically, Jonathan Djanogly, the minister for legal aid, paid back £25,000 in expenses during the MPs expenses fiasco. He has since been promoted and the legal aid cuts he wants to introduce will deny some 600,000 people a year access to the courts to protect themselves against the unlawful actions of landlords, employers and the UKBA. It's a big society for those that can afford it, but others will increasingly face unlawful removals, unlawful detention, the forced break-up of their families, and the real risk of being tortured or killed upon return to their countries. The government is starting its attack on the most weak and needy. We must defend legal aid before it is too late.
Gareth Peirce, Birnberg Peirce Solicitors
Louise Christian, Christian Khan Solicitors
Julian Bild, IAS London (in administration)
Tori Sicher, IAS London (in administration)
Sheona York, IAS London (in administration)
Satvinder Singh, Chahal IAS (in administration)
Maqbool Khan, IAS London (in administration)
Mohammed Nadeem, IAS (in administration)
Andrew McVea, IAS Manchester (in administration)
Jonathan Greer, IAS (in administration)
Jackie Mason, IAS Manchester (in administration)
Cathy Wilson, IAS Manchester (in administration)
Catherine Houlcroft, IAS Manchester (in administration)
Rachel Evans, IAS Manchester (in administration)
Abby Solomon, IAS Manchester (in administration)
Adenrele Adejumobi, IAS Manchester (in administration)
Dipendra Fakira, IAS Manchester (in administration)
Faye Orford, IAS Manchester (in administration)
Mike Thompson, IAS Manchester (in administration)
Rory Hearty, Birnberg Peirce & Partners
Daniel Furner, Birnberg Peirce & Partners
Matt Foot Birnberg, Peirce & Partners
Sumiya Hemsi, Birnberg Peirce & Partners
Smita Bajaria, Immigration Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year 2011
Kalvir Kaur, Immigration Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year 2008
Paul Ward, James & Co, Solicitors
Christine Benson, Wilson LLP
Michael Tarnoky, Director, Lambeth Law Centre
Bazen Inquai, Lambeth Law Centre
Mikhil Karnik ,Central Chambers Manchester
Sean Mcloughlin, Director, TRP Solicitors
Margaret Finch, Director, TRP Solicitors
David Pountney, Bury Law Centre
Louise Hooper, Garden Court Chambers
Patrick Lewis, Garden Court Chambers
Sadat Sayeed ,Garden Court Chambers
Jo Wilding, Garden Court Chambers
Raza Halim, Garden Court Chambers
Valerie Easty, Garden Court Chambers
Elli Free, legal manager, Bail for Immigration Detainees
Celia Clarke, director, Bail for Immigration Detainees
Jerome Phelps, director, Detention Action
Elizabeth Storey (ex-RMJ)
Rachel Henson (ex-RMJ)
Makesh Joshi (ex-RMJ)
Shazia Khan, Kenworthy's Barristers Chambers
John Nicholson, Kenworthy's Barristers Chamber
Mark Schwenk, Kenworthy's Barristers Chambers
George Brown, Kenworthy's Barristers Chambers
Imane Chetouani
Terence Stokes, Lasa
Kevin Smyth, Kesar & Co.Solicitors
Sonal Ghelani, The Migrants' Law Project Islington Law Centre
Paula Barnes
Harriet Short, Mitre House Chambers
Lisa Matthews
Anne Singh
Timothy Lawrence, Southwark Law Centre
Gary Christie, Scottish Refugee Council, head of policy and communications
Clare Harris, media and communications officer, Scottish Refugee Council
Donna Covey, Refugee Council chief executive
Ed Maw, Refugee Council, web coordinator, advocacy & influencing team
Jonathan Ellis, Refugee Council, director of advocacy and influencing
Davina Fernandes, Procol & Candor Solicitors
Daoud Zaaroura, CEO North of England Refugee Service
Mario Marin-Cotrini, Migrants Resource Centre
Kahiye Alim, Stepstones Visas Ltd
Kathryn Hodder
Keith Lannaman
Stuart Elliot
Nizi Khurana
Lisa Davies, consultant forensic psychologist
Chaudhry M Yaqub, Yaqub & Co Solicitors
Anna Steiner, College of Law Legal Advice Centre
Emma Douglas, College of Law Legal Advice Centre
Teresa Starr
Natasha Gya Williams
Chris Eades
Clare Hurst, Newcastle Law Centre
Paul Keeley, James & Co Solicitors
Vicky Guedalla
Robyn Ashworth-Steen
Phil Wilcox
Rakiba Khatun, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum
Isaac Shaffer, Sutovic & Hartigan Solicitors
Andy Jones, former Unite Rep at RMJ
Nicky Dean, Slater Heelis Solicitors
James Preston (ex-IAS)
Mark Shepherd (ex-IAS)
Nicola Braganza
Frances Meyler (ex-RMJ)
Geoffrey Jones (Ex-RMJ)
Anita Vasisht, Wilson LLP
The news that poor British citizens will be barred from having their spouses or partners join them in the UK (Report, 14 July) reveals that the government is still in thrall to the rightwing press, even if it isn't Murdoch's. These proposals are purely political – for the sake of appeasing readers of the Daily Mail and Telegraph, which have relentlessly campaigned for years against migrants' rights to family life. Immigration minister Damian Green's comment that "if you can't support your foreign spouse or partner, you cannot expect the taxpayer to do it for you", is pure mischief: since the 1980s anyone bringing any family members to join them in the UK has been required to prove that adequate support and accommodation will be available "without recourse to public funds". And refusing settlement rights to isolated elderly relatives smacks of cruelty.
Those relatives who are admitted to the UK have already gone through stringent tests. Any further tightening of the rules would probably breach human rights law – but with the simultaneous demise of legal aid in immigration cases and of the UK's largest charity providing legal help to migrants, those illegally refused will be unable to vindicate their rights.
Frances Webber
Vice-chair, Institute of Race Relations
