UK Borders Bill

The right reverend Prelate said that he hoped the amendment would receive support from the Government. If it does, it will be the first time any amendment has done so during the 12 hours or so that we have been sitting in Grand Committee, so I am not quite as optimistic as he is. The right reverend Prelate and the noble Lord, Lord Judd, have already covered much of the ground in the report Still Human Still Here, which makes a valuable contribution to the discussion of destitution. I pay tribute to the Refugee Council and the many charities, including the churches of all denominations up and down the country, that are supporting destitute failed asylum seekers who they consider have good reasons for not co-operating with the BIA in their removal. At the time that the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill was before noble Lords in February 2006, it looked as though greater emphasis was going to be put on voluntary returns with the aid of the resettlement grants provided by the IOM. However, that programme seems to have plateaued. In my experience, the grants alone are not enough, but have to be reinforced by counselling to assure the returnees that they will be safe in their country of origin, building on the experience of others who have gone back already. That would be a more effective policy, at least for those who come from the countries on the white list, to which another 10 countries were added this week. That seemed to have some resonance with the Government in their response to the JCHR’s 17th report, referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Judd, where they appear to place greater emphasis on the priority to be attached to increasing voluntary returns. For those who get to the end of the road and for one reason or another cannot be removed, the right reverend Prelate’s amendment provides that basic financial and housing support should still be afforded to them until it becomes impossible to remove them. To deprive them of all means of support, and even to deny them emergency healthcare, is an abhorrent policy. Parliament should take this opportunity to say that we will not tolerate this use of extreme weapons of coercion against vulnerable and helpless people. We shall have a lot more to say on this subject when we come to the next amendment, but in the mean time we support the right reverend Prelate and the noble Lord in their attempts to mitigate the effects of the Government’s cruel and inhuman policy.