Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, I begin by welcoming some of the provisions in the Bill—my noble friend referred to them in his opening remarks. In particular, I welcome the measures to tackle criminal activities and thereby to protect the public, the improved procedures in some of the practices that currently exist, the anti-discrimination measures and the important commitment in Clause 51 to the safeguarding of children. I also pick up the point made by the right reverend Prelate, the Bishop of Lincoln, who sought to instil a more positive atmosphere into the consideration of these issues by saying that we should have a presumption of hospitality, given the undoubted benefits that immigration has brought to our country over a long period. The Government have a long-standing commitment to what it has described at various times as a fairer, faster and firmer approach to dealing with these issues. In theory, it would be difficult to quarrel with that. However, we know in practice that the challenge of delivering such a system is not easy and has proved difficult over the years. I shall comment on some aspects of that approach. First, I support a more streamlined approach, but only if the procedure is reliable. The available information needs to be accurate. Occasionally that is not the case. I remember, when I was in the other place, an instance where officials dealing with a particular case were not as well informed as they should have been about the situation in the country from which the asylum seeker came, and, in particular, about the situation facing particular minorities in that country. Accordingly, they were not sympathetic to the asylum seeker’s case. It took a long time to ensure that the correct facts were properly appreciated and understood. I was always worried in that circumstance that if the system had been quicker we would not have managed to establish the facts in time before that asylum seeker was in danger of being returned. Secondly, I came across an example where the medical evidence in relation to an asylum seeker, which was relevant to the person's case, dealing with the after-effects of torture, was not accurately recorded and where, indeed, his records were in danger of being confused with those of another individual. The point I seek to make is that, to streamline the system, information must be accurate and officials need to have the highest quality training and be able to be informed about the conditions in the countries from which would-be citizens of this country are coming. The noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, talked movingly about the situation that faces many failed asylum seekers. I was very struck by the information that I assume has been sent to us all of us by the London Detainee Support Group. It makes the point that certain countries—Sweden and Australia were mentioned—seem to have a better system in place for dealing with such asylum seekers. Have these examples been looked at? Are there examples of good practice that we can take on board and incorporate in the measures that we are planning to introduce? Not surprisingly, the plight of asylum seekers from Zimbabwe has been mentioned. At Question Time today, a number of noble Lords referred to the situation in Zimbabwe. Given the uncertainty in that country, I should like to be assured that there is no question of forced returns to Zimbabwe until the situation becomes a great deal clearer and the long-term future is clearer. Noble Lords have referred to the provision about the desirability of volunteering by people hoping to become citizens and the fact that that would be one way of demonstrating active citizenship. Obviously, we are all aware of the great contribution that volunteering makes, and the real satisfaction that it gives to volunteers. However, I was struck by some of the comments made in the Refugee Council’s submission that for some people, who might be very good citizens of our country, volunteering would be difficult—for example, single parents, people suffering from an illness or those who are subject to other circumstances. That needs to be taken into account. I encourage the Government to work with the voluntary sector on these issues. Many voluntary groups around the country have great experience of working with immigrants and asylum seekers and bring great experience as a result. Government and local government working in partnership with such organisations would be very valuable indeed. I should particularly like to refer to the section in the Bill regarding the safeguarding of children and to bring to the attention of the House what I believe is a pioneering initiative in the north-east of England—a partnership between the different communities and the NSPCC, aimed at raising the profile of child-safeguarding issues across all communities in our part of the country. That has led to a general approach to raising the profile and to some specific initiatives; for example, two primary schools in Newcastle that have a number of newly arrived families and where some 42 languages are spoken have been contacted by the BME and the NSPCC partnership. Events have been held in which a large number of parents have become involved, at which issues of child safeguarding have been dealt with as have those relating to citizenship. The point was made that whether people are here for two months, two years, or for life, they can make a very real contribution to society and the future of our country. I conclude by again highlighting what other speakers have said about the contribution that immigration has made to our country. I fully believe that the Government are aware of the benefits of immigration but I encourage them to make the arguments as loudly as possible to counter some of the prejudice which, all too sadly, still exists.