On 5th July 2023, the House of Lords debated the Illegal Migration Bill in the third day of the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Votes: Illegal Migration Bill
Tag: Illegal Migration Bill 2023
Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Durham moves amendments reinstating right of appeal against age assessments
On 5th July 2023, during a report-stage debate on the Illegal Migration Bill, the Bishop of Durham tabled amendments which would reinstate the right of appeal against age assessments in respect of putative children who would otherwise be subject to removal under the bill:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendments 156A and 161. Due to a technicality, Amendments 156 and 157 were not formally withdrawn, but they will be withdrawn, so it is Amendment 156A which is under consideration. I note my interests as a trustee of Reset and with the RAMP project, as laid out in the register.
I thank the usual channels for changing business on Monday so that this item was first today rather than last on Monday. We noted previously that, both during the Nationality and Borders Bill and during this Bill, age assessments have been talked about at 2 am and just after midnight. I am truly grateful to the usual channels for hearing my plea about not being last on the agenda again.
Continue reading “Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Durham moves amendments reinstating right of appeal against age assessments”Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Durham moves amendment to ensure safeguarding of migrant children in local authority care
On 3rd July 2023, during a debate on the Illegal Migration Bill, the Bishop of Durham tabled amendment 89, which would “limit the Secretary of State’s power to transfer a child out of local authority care and into accommodation provided by the Secretary of State, by providing that they may only do so where to do so is necessary to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child.”
The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I declare my interests as laid out in the register. I will speak to Amendment 89, and I am grateful to my noble friends from differing Benches—the noble Lords, Lord Coaker and Lord German, and the noble Baroness, Lady Helic—for their support. It is a damning indictment that an amendment of this nature is even required, as it proposes such a basic safeguard to ensure the well-being of unaccompanied children. It requires that, if a child is to be transferred from local authority child protection systems, a justification should be provided as to why it is in their best interests to be looked after by the Home Office rather than the local authority.
Continue reading “Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Durham moves amendment to ensure safeguarding of migrant children in local authority care”Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Gloucester backs amendments regarding detention of pregnant women
On 3rd July 2023, the House of Lords debated the Illegal Migration Bill in the second day of the report stage. The Bishop of Gloucester spoke in support of amendments to the bill tabled by Baroness Lister of Burtersett which would seek to prevent the current 72 hour limit on detention of pregnant women from being removed:
The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, who expertly outlined why the amendment is needed.
Continue reading “Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Gloucester backs amendments regarding detention of pregnant women”Votes: Illegal Migration Bill
On 3rd July 2023, the House of Lords debated the Illegal Migration Bill in the second day of the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Manchester supports amendment preventing removal of LGBT+ people to countries where they might face persecution
The Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of amendment 37 to the Illegal Migration Bill, tabled by Lord Etherton, on 28th June 2023. The amendment would prevent the removal of LGBT people to third countries where they might be persecuted:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, we cannot countenance a situation in which people who sought asylum here because of a well-founded fear of persecution in their country of origin are then removed to a third country where they may face a similar, or even greater, level of risk. For that reason, I join others in supporting Amendment 37.
It was my privilege earlier this year to be invited to attend a reception on the Parliamentary Estate, where I met a group of LGBTQI+ women who had sought and gained asylum in this country. Their stories were harrowing. By contrast, their efforts to rebuild their lives here in Britain were inspirational.
Continue reading “Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Manchester supports amendment preventing removal of LGBT+ people to countries where they might face persecution”Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford speaks to amendment in support of amendment to safeguard unaccompanied children
On 28th June 2023, during a debate on amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill, the Bishop of Chelmsford spoke in support of amendment 14, tabled by Lord Dubs and supported by the Bishop of Durham, that would ensure that asylum and human rights claims by unaccompanied children are not subject to the bill’s inadmissibility regime:
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, I support both amendments in this group, but I am particularly pleased to be able to speak in support of Amendment 14, to which my right reverend friend the Bishop of Durham is a co-signatory, although he is unable to be present today.
The Bill will prevent potentially thousands of children ever claiming refugee protection in the UK, however serious their protection needs may be and, disturbingly, regardless of the fact that they may not have had any say in the decision to travel here irregularly. Let us be absolutely clear: this means that vulnerable unaccompanied children who have fled unimaginable horrors will arrive to find that they will be detained and then potentially accommodated by the Home Office outside the established care system. All of this is not in order for their asylum cases to be heard and assessed but simply to deter others.
Continue reading “Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford speaks to amendment in support of amendment to safeguard unaccompanied children”Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Manchester speaks in favour of protections for victims of trafficking
During a debate on amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill on 28th June 2023, the Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of amendment 12, tabled by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, which would stipulate that “potential and recognised victims of trafficking will not be detained or removed before they get the opportunity to submit an application to the NRM and have it duly considered.”
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, traffickers exercise control over their victims by convincing them that they will not receive help from the authorities if they seek it. The Bill will simply add credence to that claim.
I fully sympathise with the desire to deter people from using our modern slavery laws as a means to make a spurious claim for protection, but where is the evidence? The Government cannot point at any evidence of widespread abuse of our modern slavery system, yet they propose to remove basic protections for some of the most vulnerable people in our country. It is a basic principle of law—I can find it for you in the Book of Genesis if you want—that, in our desire to convict the guilty, we should not end up punishing the innocent. Amendment 12 is the very least we need in order to protect that vital principle.
Continue reading “Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Manchester speaks in favour of protections for victims of trafficking”Votes: Illegal Migration Bill
On 28th June 2023, the House of Lords debated the Illegal Migration Bill in the first day of the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford supports amendment guaranteeing UK’s international obligations
On 28th June 2023, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill in the first day of the report stage. The Bishop of Chelmsford spoke in support of amendment 5, tabled by Baroness Chakrabarti, which would replace clause 1 of the bill with a new clause ensuring compliance with the UK’s international obligations under human rights, refugee, child protection, and anti-trafficking conventions:
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, I support Amendment 5 also tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti. In Committee a comprehensive debate took place, during which different cases were made by distinguished lawyers across the House about the place of international law as it relates to our domestic lawmaking. Notwithstanding the different interpretations, I wish to reflect on the moral imperative for us to take seriously the commitments we have made in past decades. Those commitments have value in themselves, but they have also come to define the country that we are and aspire to be. They are part of why we are trusted by much of the international community and held in high regard.
Treaties such as the refugee convention and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child set out clearly the rights of people who, due to their particular circumstances, may not be able to speak up for themselves. In many cases, this country has led the way in drafting the treaties named in the amendment. We should be proud of our involvement in advocating for the rights of every single human being. Anything that affirms our conviction that we are all created in the image of God, worthy of value, dignity and safety, should be commended.
Continue reading “Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford supports amendment guaranteeing UK’s international obligations”
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