On 12th July 2023, the House of Lords debated Commons amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill. Votes were held on these amendments, in which Bishops took part:
Votes: Illegal Migration Bill
Tag: unaccompanied children
Bishop of Chichester asks about missing asylum-seeking children
On 10th July 2023, the Bishop of Chichester asked a question on the plans for accommodation of asylum seeking children who are found after going missing from Home Office accommodation, and whether the government could confirm that such children would be returned to local authority care rather than the care of the Home Office:
The Lord Bishop of Chichester: My Lords, our duty of care in the welfare of children is provided for in a number of ways: the Children Act is one, as is the routine of Ofsted inspections of schools and children’s care homes. Can the Minister confirm that, if an asylum-seeking unaccompanied child is found after going missing from Home Office accommodation, they will not be returned to hotel accommodation but instead will be returned to local authority care, where all their rights under the Children Act can be met and the quality of their accommodation will be subject to Ofsted regulation and inspection?
Continue reading “Bishop of Chichester asks about missing asylum-seeking children”Votes: Illegal Migration Bill
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:
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 Due to a technicality, Amendments 156 and 157 were not formally withdrawn, but they will be withdrawn, so it is Amendment 156A which is under consideration.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”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 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”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:
Bishop of Durham asks about protection for children arriving in the UK
The Bishop of Durham asked a question about protection for children and unaccompanied minors arriving in the UK on 8th March 2023, following the government’s announcement of the planned Illegal Migration Bill:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I return to the Statement, rather than the Bill, which we will spend hours debating in due course. There was a lot in this Statement that worried me, but what worried me even more was that there was no reference whatever to children, unaccompanied children and their protection in this whole process. Can the Minister comment on why nothing was said about that in the Statement?
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about protection for children arriving in the UK”Bishop of Durham asks about advocates for unaccompanied asylum seeking children
The Bishop of Durham asked a question on appointing advocates for unaccompanied asylum seeking children on 23rd January 2023, following a debate on safeguarding these children in hotels and other government-provided accommodation:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I thank the Minister for the care with which he is responding today; it is appreciated. Can he say how well qualified the social workers and others are to support unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, because there are particular issues around them? Would it not be better if we had a system of placing an advocate for each child, who could help them through the system, as soon as they arrive?
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about advocates for unaccompanied asylum seeking children”
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