Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am afraid that I am another of your Lordships who is concerned that this Bill is increasing, without adequate justification, the complexity of a system which is already of questionable effectiveness. Of course, these areas of law are by their very nature complex and must reflect a wide range of interests, not least the security of the UK citizen. However, I do not believe that we can continue to add legislation in this area—in this case, legislation that is narrow, restrictive and most of it seemingly of little urgency—without a concurrent attempt to consolidate and integrate the mass of legislation that we already have and that has been referred to. With the partial draft immigration and citizenship Bill, there was some hope of creating a comprehensive legal framework for these issues. I am thankful that some of the more contentious provisions from that draft have been dropped and one must hope that that remains so. But the Government now propose the current Bill as one half of a two-step approach. I hope that the next Bill, which, unfortunately, will not be introduced until the end of this parliamentary Session, will do more to consolidate all existing legislation into one immigration simplification Bill. But, alas, we will not even know that until we see that Bill. In the mean time, this Bill presents a wide range of issues and concerns. I intend to concentrate my remarks on two issues—namely, citizenship and the protection of women and children. The judicial review has been well aired and there will be a lot of discussion at the next stage. On citizenship, in Part 2, I join other noble Lords in welcoming Clause 41, which removes the sex discrimination that prevented mothers passing on citizenship in the same way as fathers could to children born abroad prior to 1961. I also welcome the opportunity that Clauses 40 and 42 introduce for children born to British Armed Forces personnel, regardless of their parents’ nationality, to register as British citizens. As the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, which does so much excellent work in this area, makes clear, this should apply to children born both before and after the clauses come into force. I hope that the Minister will be able to reassure me on that. However, like other noble Lords, I am concerned about Clauses 37 to 39 and 45, which amend rules on naturalisation and enact proposals from the UK Border Agency consultation, The Path to Citizenship. This is surely a case where the increasing complexity of our immigration and nationality laws undermines their efficacy. The addition of a probationary citizenship period, which can be lengthened or shortened according to behaviour, makes the naturalisation process even longer, costlier and more confusing for migrants. Furthermore, stipulating that British citizenship can be earned through good behaviour and voluntary activities during the additional probationary period makes me increasingly uneasy. I share the concerns mentioned by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Lincoln. We are being far from welcoming to those who join us and more often than not prove to be of immense value to this country, as noble Lords have already demonstrated. Requiring potential citizens to do more for our country than actual citizens, while many are receiving less in terms of benefits and services, is more likely to undermine social cohesion and impede, rather than foster, integration. More generally, this Bill seems to leave a lot—far too much—to secondary legislation or at least to some clarification or interpretation by the Government. Does someone’s prospect for citizenship change because he or she loses a job during the probationary period? How can we be sure that the system for determining good behaviour during the probationary period will not become too subjective? Another serious concern is how these changes to citizenship requirements will specifically affect refugees. According to the 1951 Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights, refugees have a right to seek asylum in our country and should be given permanent residence as soon as possible so they can rebuild their lives. Most refugees have, as we all know, left horrifying conditions in their home countries, only to arrive in the UK to have their hopes for successful and, at the very least, safe futures put on hold for what seems like an indefinite period. The UN Refugee Agency suggests that in the case of refugees the full period of qualification before being eligible for naturalisation should not exceed five years. With this Bill’s addition of probationary citizenship to the qualifying period, refugees could now face six years before they become eligible if they engage in ““community activity”” and up to eight years if they do not. What is worse is that starting the qualifying period for citizenship only after asylum has been granted will leave many refugees waiting for much longer than six or eight years. It should go without saying that refugees should not be, as of now, prevented from working to support themselves during the entirety of this period. Surely, given the Government’s commitment to the 1951 Refugee Convention, to then require refugees to ““earn”” the right to stay in the UK by engaging in voluntary activity is contradictory and discriminatory. Many are ill or have suffered persecution that leaves them unable to engage in these activities, while others are single parents who simply will not have the time. As the Refugee Council suggests, refugees should be granted permanent residence or citizenship as soon as possible without engaging in voluntary activity and without the probationary citizenship period. A recent report by the Refugee Council shows that three-quarters of refugee women have been the victims of rape in their home countries and, shamefully, back here in the UK. Rape is used against these women as a weapon of war in conflict situations, so it is surely deplorable that they continue to be vulnerable in this country, where we have a duty to protect them. Many women whose asylum applications have been denied either turn to prostitution to provide for themselves or, at the very least, are forced to live in unsafe conditions where they are equally vulnerable to exploitation. Closely related to that, the Bill lacks specific protection for children that should by now be guaranteed. While we all welcome the Government’s inclusion of Clause 51, which imposes a duty on the UK Border Agency to safeguard the welfare of children in its work, much more can and should be done. The Government must ensure that that includes immigration officials working within and outside the UK and that these officials are adequately trained and of suitable character to handle sensitive cases involving children. Again, I hope that the Minister will be able to confirm that this will happen. Most significantly, as the ILPA has said, we should take this opportunity to address a problem that previous legislation has proven inadequate to capture: the trafficking of babies and small children. In 2004, many noble Lords were concerned that the wording of the Asylum and Immigration Act was not sufficient to protect these most vulnerable children, those who are too young to be fully aware of their situation. Last May we saw in a court case involving benefit fraud that this legislation is inadequate to prosecute the traffickers of young children. With this Bill surely we have a clear responsibility to address the gap. The Minister has not yet convinced me that what this Bill contains will be sufficient to protect children. It is not even comprehensive enough to cover several vital additional issues such as ending the continued detention of children and their families, the vulnerability of children whose age is in dispute, resulting in their being detained and inadequately considered in the asylum-seeking process, and those children facing destitution. But perhaps noble Lords will be able to persuade the Government to make these and other necessary changes during the latter stages of the Bill. I certainly hope so.