Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people they forecast will be detained under the powers contained in Clause 12 of the Illegal Migration Bill in (1) 2024, (2) 2025, and (3) 2026.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The purpose of the Illegal Migration Bill is to prevent and deter unlawful migration, and in particular migration by unsafe and illegal routes.
Those who arrive illegally will be liable to detention and will be swiftly removed to their home country or to a safe third country. The powers to detain are contained in clause 10 of the Bill.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what they plan will happen to a person whose protection or human rights claim is deemed inadmissible under Clause 4(2) of the Illegal Migration Bill but who cannot be removed from the UK.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The purpose of the Illegal Migration Bill is to prevent and deter unlawful migration, and in particular migration by unsafe and illegal routes, by requiring the Home Secretary to return illegal migrants to their home country or remove them to a safe third country.
Under clauses 2 and 5 of the Bill, the Home Secretary is under a duty to make arrangements for the removal of a person who meets the conditions in clause 2 as soon as is reasonably practicable.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of families with children that will be (1) detained, and (2) removed, under the Illegal Migration Bill in 2024.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
As set out in clause 1(1), the purpose of the Bill is to prevent and deter unlawful migration, and in particular migration by unsafe and illegal routes, by requiring the Home Secretary to return illegal migrants to their home country or remove them to a safe third country.
An economic impact assessment will be published for the Bill in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether a Child Rights Impact Assessment has been carried out for the Illegal Migration Bill to assess the impact it will have on children; if so, what was the outcome of the assessment; and if it has not yet been completed, when it will take place.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
We will publish a child’s rights impact assessment in respect of the Illegal Migration Bill in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when a child is under the care and accommodation of the Home Office, due to the Home Secretary’s duty to detain and remove under clause 2 of the Illegal Migration Bill, what international or domestic legislation the Home Office is required to meet.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The duty to make arrangements for the removal of an illegal migrant who meets the conditions in clause 2 of the Illegal Migration Bill does not apply to unaccompanied children, although clause 3(2) of the Bill confers a power to remove them in the circumstances set out in clause 3(3).
Clause 15 of the Bill further provides the Home Office with the power to provide or arrange accommodation and support for unaccompanied children. This power relates to non-detained accommodation.
The intention is to only provide accommodation and support to these children on a temporary basis before being transferred to a local authority.
We expect local authorities to continue to meet their statutory obligations to children from the date of arrival and for the Home Office to only step in sparingly and temporarily. The best place for these young people is and will remain within a local authority care placement.
The Home Office is not currently in the position of corporate parent to any unaccompanied child. There is nothing in the Bill which changes this position and it will continue to be for the local authority where an unaccompanied child is located to consider its duties under the Children Act 1989.
Detention powers in the Bill, including in relation to children, are set out in clause 10.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Illegal Migration Bill providing that individuals who are declared inadmissible are not able to secure bail until a 28-day period has elapsed, how they plan to operate Short Term Holding Units in the event that the Bill becomes an Act.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The purpose of rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001 is to ensure that people in detention who are particularly vulnerable are brought to the attention of those with direct responsibility for authorising, maintaining and reviewing detention. Rule 35 is a reporting mechanism, and where a report is completed, it does not automatically mean that the person should be released.
The Bill creates new detention powers which will allow the Home Secretary to detain a person pending a decision as to whether the new duty to remove applies, and thereafter to detain pending their removal.
For the first 28 days of detention, those who are detained under the new detention powers within the Illegal Migration Bill will be prevented from challenging their detention during this period by way of judicial review. An individual will be able to apply to the Home Secretary for bail during this period, although that decision may not be challenged by way of judicial review during the first 28 days. An individual may make an application to the High Court for a writ of habeas corpus (or the equivalent in Scotland) to seek release at any time.
Where people are detained for the purpose of removal, they will usually be detained in Immigration Removal Centres. Short-term Holding Facilities are usually used to detain individuals on arrival to the UK, for the purpose of initial examination, which would include an assessment of whether the new duty to remove applies.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following a section 35 report being issued for a child and detention still being maintained for 28 days under the provisions of the Illegal Migration Bill, whether the child will be able to Judicial Review the decision.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The purpose of rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001 is to ensure that people in detention who are particularly vulnerable are brought to the attention of those with direct responsibility for authorising, maintaining and reviewing detention. Rule 35 is a reporting mechanism, and where a report is completed, it does not automatically mean that the person should be released.
The Bill creates new detention powers which will allow the Home Secretary to detain a person pending a decision as to whether the new duty to remove applies, and thereafter to detain pending their removal.
For the first 28 days of detention, those who are detained under the new detention powers within the Illegal Migration Bill will be prevented from challenging their detention during this period by way of judicial review. An individual will be able to apply to the Home Secretary for bail during this period, although that decision may not be challenged by way of judicial review during the first 28 days. An individual may make an application to the High Court for a writ of habeas corpus (or the equivalent in Scotland) to seek release at any time.
Where people are detained for the purpose of removal, they will usually be detained in Immigration Removal Centres. Short-term Holding Facilities are usually used to detain individuals on arrival to the UK, for the purpose of initial examination, which would include an assessment of whether the new duty to remove applies.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the publication by the US Department of State 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Rwanda which deemed conditions at detention centres in Rwanda as "harsh and life-threatening", what steps they are taking to ensure that any migrant sent to Rwanda is (1) housed in adequate accommodation, and (2) has their human rights protected.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Under the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP), relocated individuals will not be detained. They will be housed in appropriate accommodation and provided with support in accordance with the standards and assurances set out in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Notes Verbale.
An independent Monitoring Committee will monitor the entire relocation process and compliance with assurances in the MoU, including the processing of asylum claims and provision of accommodation and support in Rwanda.
Our own comprehensive assessment as set out in the relevant country policy and information notes (CPINs) assesses that Rwanda is a safe and secure country. Our CPINs are kept under constant review and are published on the Gov.UK website.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals have been granted temporary protection since the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 came into force; and what proportion of such individuals were under the age of 18.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ on GOV.uk. Data on initial decisions on asylum applications, by age, can be found in table Asy_D02 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’ on GOV.uk. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relate to the year ending December 2022. Data for the year ending March 2023 will be published on 25 May 2023.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ on GOV.uk.
Between 28 June 2022 and 31 December 2022, 56 people received grants of temporary refugee permission, of which 5 people (9%) were under the age of 18.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which safe countries individuals have been returned to when they have been removed due to an inadmissibility decision on their asylum application.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
We are clear that those who fear persecution should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach and not put their lives at risk by making unnecessary and dangerous journeys to the UK. Controlled resettlement via safe and legal routes is the best way to protect such people and disrupt the organised crime groups that exploit migrants and refugees.
Inadmissibility is a longstanding process, intended to support the first safe country principle and is an established part of international asylum procedures. Those who choose to travel from a safe third country and then claim asylum in the UK may find their asylum claim treated as inadmissible to the asylum process. That means that the UK will not consider the substance of the person’s claim and will seek their return to a safe third country.
Since 1 January 2021 returns have been made to Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Information on the return of those who claims are deemed inadmissible is routinely published and can be found online at: How many people do we grant protection to? - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).