Reino Unido

When asked to provide more context about who was particularly unlikely to enjoy their right to education in 2024, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

England:

• People from minority racial or ethnic backgrounds face educational disparities
• People seeking asylum can be relocated at any time, interrupting the education of their children
• People with a low social or economic status, due to high educational costs
• Children with special educational needs and disabilities
• People detained in prisons or mental health hospitals may lack access to educational materials
• People living in temporary accommodations

Northern Ireland:

• Children from families seeking asylum or refugee families
• Students from working class backgrounds, especially students from the Protestant community
• Children with special educational needs

Scotland:

• Young people
• Students with disabilities
• Students with neurodivergent conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Children from Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities and other traditionally non-settled communities
• People living in remote, rural, and island areas

Wales:

• Children of people seeking asylum and other migrants are denied free school meals, making them less likely to attend school
• People who believe they may be targeted by the Prevent programme sometimes choose not to send their children to school
• Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children
• Children with low social or economic status
• Children in minority communities
• Children with additional learning needs or disabilities

When asked to provide more context about who was particularly unlikely to enjoy their right to food in 2024, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

England:

• Food insecurity is widespread, especially for single-parent households
• People seeking asylum do not receive adequate supplies of food, as well as inadequate access to culturally appropriate food, such as halal food, or food that meets specific needs, such as pregnant women with gestational diabetes
• People with a low social or economic status are disproportionately affected by increased food costs, particularly for foods that cater to religious or health requirements
• People in major cities or in rural areas suffer from inadequate access to supermarkets

Northern Ireland:

• Many people, due to the high costs of living
• Refugees and people seeking asylum, particularly those placed in temporary accommodations
• Single mothers and families with many children
• Single men and women who were raised in the care system
• People receiving social security benefits
• People in low-wage jobs, particularly women
• Families that have children with disabilities
• People living in working-class areas and those with low social or economic status

Scotland:

• Asylum-seekers, due to being housed in hotels without cooking facilities by the Home Office, or receiving "full board accommodation" food packages with insufficient and highly processed food, or receiving £49.18 per week to cover all living expenses, which makes a healthy diet unaffordable
• People with low social or economic backgrounds status, due to the high cost of living and government austerity measures
• Children in large families, due to the two-child cap on benefits imposed by the UK government leading to high risk of hunger
• Single mothers
• People with disabilities are often at risk due to low income, difficulty accessing disability benefits, and lack of meal preparation assistance
• People living in rural areas, low-income areas, and island communities, due to affordability and supply issues

Wales:

• Austerity measures drive people into poverty, affecting their ability to access food
• People are affected by high food prices, low wages, and lack of government oversight on food production and associated costs
• Increased food and energy costs, as well as cuts to government welfare programmes, are impacting people with low incomes
• People with low social or economic status and those unable to work, such as refugees, cannot afford food and must rely on food banks
• Children of migrants and people seeking asylum are denied free school meals

When asked to provide more context about who was particularly unlikely to enjoy their right to health in 2024, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

England:

• People living in post-industrialised and rural areas have poor access to healthcare
• Many people, particularly in under-resourced areas, cannot access dental care due to a shortage of dentists
• Many people cannot access adequate healthcare, particularly mental healthcare, due to a lack of social services
• People seeking asylum can be forcibly moved at any time, causing them to have to re-register with new doctors, people in initial accommodations do not have enough support to ensure access to primary healthcare, and people who are refused asylum cannot access secondary healthcare
• People from Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities
• People from the transgender community
• Abortion is available but it is not decriminalised
• Maternal mortality rates vary widely on the grounds of race and ethnicity

Northern Ireland:

• Many people wait years to receive treatment from the National Health Service
• Women's health issues are not given sufficient importance
• Mental healthcare support is lacking in availability, accessibility, and transparency
• Young transgender people have a near complete lack of access to gender-affirming care, especially those with low social or economic status
• It is extremely difficult for families to get access to justice when there are failures in health services

Scotland:

• Members of the LGBTQIA+ community, especially transgender people
• Children under the age of 18 are barred from gender affirming care
• People with mental health conditions
• People living in remote, rural, and island areas

Wales:

• All people are suffering from disinvestment in public services, especially healthcare
• All people are suffering from poor quality healthcare, excessive wait times, abuse in some care settings, and the lack of oversight of staff behaviour towards patients
• Women from racial minority or ethnic backgrounds have higher mortality rates during pregnancy and childbirth
• National Health Service facilities have prominent posters indicating that access to services is dependent on a patient's immigration status; even though emergency treatment is supposed to be freely available in Wales, migrants may not choose to visit health facilities because of these posters

When asked to provide more context about who was particularly unlikely to enjoy their right to housing in 2024, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

England:

• People who do not own the homes they live in
• People from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds and people with a low social or economic status, due to a lack of social housing or poor conditions such as black mould
• Asylum seekers are often placed in inadequate housing, and they do not have the same protections as other people in social housing
• Immigrants, due to landlords using nationality checks when renting out property
• People experiencing homelessness are only provided housing support if they are deemed a high priority by the state, leaving many excluded
• Social housing and asylum housing are contracted out to private companies, often leading to inadequate housing and rights protections
• Women fleeing domestic abuse do not have adequate access to shelters

Northern Ireland:

• Many people are struggling to afford their mortgages due to increased interest rates
• Many people are struggling to buy homes
• Many are struggling to compete with digital and remote workers who have migrated to Northern Ireland from Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland, especially since wages in Northern Ireland are among the lowest in the United Kingdom
• Lack of available housing, coupled with housing segregation between Catholics and Protestants, lead to many people living in inadequate conditions
• Many people are on a waiting list for social housing which currently stands at around 50,000 households, including 19,000 children, and Catholic families are more likely to be on the waiting list
• People are routinely placed in temporary accommodations that may be hours away from their communities, schools, and workplaces
• People from working-class backgrounds, refugees, people seeking asylum, and migrants are particularly disadvantaged by the housing system due to various requirements such as minimum income limits to qualify and needing a guarantor that is a homeowner
• People with disabilities are often in unsafe and unsanitary housing conditions due to a lack of accessible housing

Scotland:

• People from racial or ethnic minority backgrounds or migrant communities
• People with intersecting marginalisations, especially those with low social or economic status
• Members of the LGBTQIA+ community, especially transgender people and asylum-seekers
• Families with multiple children and households with large families and/or intergenerational living
• People living in overcrowded conditions
• People from Showman, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities

Wales:

• All people are suffering from disinvestment in public services, especially housing
• Withdrawal of support that was established during the COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in more people becoming homeless
• Wales does not require proof of immigration status as a legal requirement for renting, but many landlords and nearly all letting agents require proof of immigration status, meaning people without status cannot access accommodations
• Many landlords and most letting agents will not rent accommodations to people dependent upon Housing Benefit, and the available funds provided by Housing Benefit does not fully cover rent in many areas, meaning there are few decent units available to people with low social or economic status
• There is a lack of culturally appropriate housing sites for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to arbitrary or political arrest and detention by government agents in 2024, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

England:

• Black and Asian men
• Protesters, particularly those associated with climate change protests or pro-Palestine protests
• Muslim protesters
• People seeking asylum are at risk of being detained without proper reason or explanation
• Journalists, especially in the city of Durham

Northern Ireland:

• People who protest against Israeli treatment of Gazans and Palestinians, particularly students
• People who protested against Hilary Clinton's visit to Queen's University
• Refugees and people from migrant communities
• Dissident republicans

Scotland:

• Arbitrary immigration-related arrests have drastically increased
• Protesters, especially those protesting the Israel-Palestine war and the climate crisis
• Sex workers are arbitrarily arrested despite sex work being legal, especially members of the LGBTQIA+ community and other marginalised groups
• People with learning disabilities and people with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Wales:

• People of colour
• Police officers are more likely to approach people of colour
• Young Black people risk being detained under the Mental Health Act
• People with mental illnesses and mental health patients
• Peaceful protesters, including those performing silent prayers near abortion facilities

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to arbitrary or political arrest and detention by government agents in 2024, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

Scotland:

• People without a legal identity and those who have had their asylum claims rejected are moved to immigration removal centres, and there is no transparency or communication about their whereabouts

Wales:

• People seeking asylum
• People suspected of migration-related offences

Expert respondents in England and Northern Ireland did not provide any specific information about who is especially vulnerable to violations of this right.

Expert respondents in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland did not provide any specific information about who is especially vulnerable to violations of this right.

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to extrajudicial killing by government agents in 2024, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

England:

• Black people, due to disproportionate and fatal uses of force by police officers
• People detained in prisons and high-security hospitals
• People in mental health hospitals suffering from specific health conditions

Northern Ireland:

• Refugees and people from migrant communities
• Dissident republicans

Expert respondents in Scotland and Wales did not provide any specific information about who is especially vulnerable to violations of this right.

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to restrictions on their rights to assembly and association by the government or its agents in 2024, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

England:

• People at climate change protests
• Pro-Kurdish groups
• Anti-fascist protesters and activists
• Peace activists
• People associated with pro-Palestine protests or movements, or any movement that identifies and opposes the genocide in Gaza
• People seeking asylum, especially if they are involved in pro-Palestine protests
• People who express support for transgender rights
• People who highlight systemic racism

Northern Ireland:

• Refugees and people from migrant communities
• People who attend anti-immigration protests to counter-protest in favour of immigration
• Women's groups, refugee groups, and members of the transgender community face threats and harassment by paramilitary groups and local communities
• Dissident republicans and loyalist paramilitary groups

Scotland:

• Climate protesters
• Members of trade unions, due to anti-trade union policies from the UK government, which makes unionising workplaces more difficult
• There are restrictions to certain forms of assembly under newly implemented laws, such as the Abortion (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act 2024 and the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021

Wales:

• All people, due to legislative restrictions on the right to protest and express their opinions
• Marches and protests focused on the Middle East are heavily restricted
• Peaceful protests are prevented or heavily restricted by the police, who are controlled by the UK government rather than the Welsh government
• Prisoners, due to overcrowding leading to restrictions on freedom of association

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to restrictions on their rights to opinion and expression by government agents in 2024, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

England:

• People at climate change protests
• Pro-Kurdish groups
• People associated with pro-Palestine protests or movements, or any movement that identifies and opposes the genocide in Gaza
• People seeking asylum, especially if they are involved in pro-Palestine protests
• People who express support for transgender rights
• People who highlight systemic racism

Northern Ireland:

• People seeking asylum, refugees and people from migrant communities
• LGBTQIA+ people, especially members of the transgender community
• Women and girls, especially those who speak out in support of the transgender community

Scotland:

• There are restrictions to certain forms of speech under newly implemented laws, such as Abortion (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act 2024 and the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021

Wales:

• All people, due to legislative restrictions on the right to protest and express their opinions
• People with conservative religious beliefs or members of minority religious groups, especially Muslims, have their right to freedom of expression violated due to the Prevent programme
• People with certain opinions about the Middle East conflict are restricted
• People with disabilities and women are often marginalised in political debates

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to restrictions on their political participation by the government or its agents in 2024, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

England:

• People with disabilities and people with a low social or economic status are disproportionately affected by voter ID requirements

Northern Ireland:

• People seeking asylum, refugees and people from migrant communities
• Members of the transgender community
• People directly affected by economic, social, and cultural rights issues
• Families experiencing homelessness
• Members of Irish language groups

Scotland:

• People without citizenship or permanency status can vote in local council and Scottish Parliamentary elections but not in national UK-level elections of the United Kingdom
• People who are homeless or those with from lower socioeconomic status, due to voter registration requirements such as not being able to register on election day and automatic enrolment
• Detainees in prisons are not able to vote

Wales:

• All people, due to legislative restrictions on the right to protest and express their opinions
• People are affected by voter identification card requirements
• The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024 reforms the Welsh Parliament and will go into effect in the May 2026 Senedd election; voters must vote for a party list rather than individual candidates, making it difficult for candidates unaffiliated with political parties to run for election, and preventing voters from choosing or distinguishing between candidates within a party