The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 23rd May 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked His Majesty’s Government whether there have been any changes to asylum screening interviews since 7 March.
Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con, Home Office): There have been no changes to the asylum screening interview template since 7 March.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about the proposed Illegal Migration Bill”The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 17th May 2023:
The Lord Bishop Durham asked 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.
Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con, Home Office): We will publish a child’s rights impact assessment in respect of the Illegal Migration Bill in due course.
The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 16th May 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked 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.
Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con, Home Office): 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).
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about status of migrants under the proposed Illegal Migration Bill”On 10th May 2023, the House of Lords debated the Illegal Migration Bill in its first reading. The Bishop of Durham spoke in the debate, pointing out risks to child safeguarding and potential breaches of the refugee convention if the bill was enacted as written:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: I declare my interests as a member of the RAMP project and a trustee of Reset.
When looking to engage with a Bill, Members decide whether to focus on the detail or address the underlying principles behind the proposed legislation. This Bill leaves me with no choice but to start with the latter, as it asks fundamental questions about who we are as a nation. In order to supposedly reduce channel crossings, are we really prepared to consent to “extinguishing”, as the UNHCR puts it, the right to claim asylum and withholding support for victims of trafficking, and indefinitely detaining thousands of asylum seekers, including children and pregnant women? We have been left to consider the Bill’s provisions without an impact assessment, but these consequences will potentially lead to an unjustified intolerable level of harm which does not reflect who we are as a nation.
Continue reading “Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Durham highlights threats to safeguarding and potential breaching of the refugee convention”The Bishop of Durham asked a question on support for local building societies on 27th April 2023, during a debate on bank closures:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: In my local town of Bishop Auckland, Newcastle Building Society and Darlington Building Society have moved on to the high street as banks have moved off it. Will the Minister commend building societies for their commitment to local communities and to making things accessible to them, and will she encourage further work on that?
Baroness Penn (Con, Treasury): I absolutely commend building societies and all businesses that have a commitment to local communities and are thinking about how they can make their services as accessible as possible. There are many different routes to ensuring accessibility. We should focus on the outcome for the customer and embrace the different routes that this can be delivered by.
The Bishop of Durham asked a question on support for churches in Sudan and their parishioners on 26th April 2023, following outbreaks of violence in the country:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, the Minister may be aware that two dioceses in this country, Salisbury and Leeds, have strong links with Sudan and South Sudan. The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leeds has regular contact, particularly with the Primate in Sudan. The people in those two dioceses absolutely understand the total focus on bringing British citizens out but they are also concerned for the Sudanese on the ground, particularly those in the churches; the Church there is quite fragile and relies quite a lot on the support that comes from western diplomats, and so forth. They are asking what they can do to support their Sudanese friends in churches and in other communities who are not going to be rescued. There may not be an immediate answer, but perhaps the Minister would consider what advice might be given to people who want to support the Sudanese in the coming weeks and months.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about conflict in Sudan”On 26th April 2023, the House of Lords debated the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill in the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 17th April 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support (1) freedom of speech, and (2) freedom of the press, in Burundi.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about current conditions in Burundi”The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 17th April 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked 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.
Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con): 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.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about asylum decisions by the UK government”The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 30th March 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty’s Government how many of the 22 individuals granted resettlement through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway 2 in 2022 are currently residing in the UK.
Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con): We are pleased to have now welcomed the first arrivals to the UK under ACRS Pathway 2, and we will continue to welcome many more people as we receive further UNHCR referrals.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about Afghan refugee resettlement”
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