Illegal Migration Bill

Lord Morrow Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 10th May 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Morrow (DUP)]

My Lords, there is a legitimate debate to be had about how the UK manages its borders, and like every other noble Lord here, I have opinions on that too. However, it should exclude those who are already subjected to abuse through the heinous crime of modern slavery.

A former Prime Minister said in the other place:

“It has always been important to separate modern slavery from immigration status”.—[Official Report, Commons, 26/4/23; col. 809.]


Regrettably, this Bill brings modern slavery into the heart of the immigration debate through Clauses 21 to 28, and it is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

The UK has had a proud record of seeking to protect victims, prevent modern slavery and prosecute traffickers—the three Ps, based on the UN Palermo Protocol. I am pleased to say that the Bill I introduced in 2013 in Northern Ireland, which passed in 2015, has played its part. It is therefore with great sadness and dismay that I contemplate the outcome of this Bill for victims across the United Kingdom and in Northern Ireland particularly. The Bill does not measure up to the three Ps: we are not protecting victims and we cannot prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes, without which we cannot prevent exploitation.

The modern slavery strategies of the devolved nations will go up in smoke, without any consultation, and the ability to care for victims under devolved legislation is undermined by the Bill. The Minister may say that these measures are necessary to prevent abuse. We heard that last year in the debate on Part 5 of the Nationality and Borders Act, which came into effect only at the end of January. We know that, since then, the number of victims who have received a reasonable grounds decision has plummeted. In the last quarter, where the Home Office’s new guidance applied for two out of the three months, only 49% of adults received a positive reasonable grounds decision, compared with 87% in 2022.

I expect the Minister might refer in summing up to the number of people who are referred into the NRM from immigration detention. The Minister, in response to a PQ tabled by the noble Lord, Lord McColl, argued that it was individuals arriving by small boats who are referred from detention who are abusing the system. No one self-refers into the NRM; it is first responders who refer, based on evidence of exploitation.

Of course, we do not want people abusing the system. However, the number of people who are referred from detention is small, relative both to the number of people who come across the channel and to the number referred into the NRM. The Home Office admits that the number of decision-makers has not kept up with referrals, leading to long delays in decision-making.

All this leads me to conclude that Clauses 21 to 28 are disproportionate and will negatively impact genuine victims. I hope that the Minister will update the House on how many referrals there have been from detention in the first quarter after the NBA reforms.

Finally, I come back to Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is of the view that the EU trafficking directive rights still apply to victims in Northern Ireland under the protocol. The Government have argued—wrongly, in my opinion—that they can deprive victims of support on public order grounds under the European convention against human trafficking. In Northern Ireland, victims have another recourse: Article 11 of the trafficking directive. I hope the Minister will address this issue as he sets out the Bill’s impact on victims in the devolved Administrations.