Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

Clause 49: Extension of sections 1 to 4 of the UK Borders Act 2007 to Scotland Debate on whether Clause 49 should stand part of the Bill. I do not oppose the principle of Clause 49, although the word "thinks" occurs in the drafting, which might well be replaced by "reasonably suspects" or "is satisfied". However, I am greatly concerned about detention in England and in Scotland. Therefore, I tried to table a modest probing amendment as a new clause before or after Clause 51. The Public Bill Office told me that that had already been tabled by my noble friend Lord Ramsbotham. I therefore asked to add my name but, later, the amendment was disallowed and did not appear in the first Marshalled List. This was hard to understand, since other amendments containing new clauses were accepted. My noble friend’s amendment would have stated that, ""detention shall be for the shortest possible time"—" and only— ""where there are no alternative ways to ensure compliance"." Such words would enshrine the language of Chapter 38 of the Home Office operational enforcement manual. Will the Government produce their own amendment along these lines or, better still, set statutory time limits for detention prior to deportation or more generally? Such limits exist in several European Union states, often specifying six months or less. Can the Minister tell the Committee what use is being made of bail, tagging and reporting as alternatives to detention? Why were the automatic bail hearings, provided in 1999, abolished by the 2002 Act? The numbers involved are not large, yet the cost to taxpayers is high. It has cost £96 million this year and will cost £107 million next year. I am sure that your Lordships will agree that it is wrong in principle that people should be held indefinitely, often without legal advice and usually without any judicial hearing at all. In January the London Detainee Support Group published a useful report called Detained Lives. It shows that up to 3,000 people are detained under immigration powers at any one time. It studied 188 cases of individuals who were held for one year or longer in prison-like conditions. The report is particularly good on the human consequences of indefinite detention. A significant number of detainees develop mental health problems or attempt suicide or self-harm. Riots and destruction of property are other bad consequences. I will now quote two particular cases. The first is that of Mr Ahmed Abu Bakar Hassan, aged 24. He comes from the Massaleit ethnic group in Darfur. In Sudan he was a political activist, opposing the persecution of his people. He was forced to flee the country and arrived in Britain in October 2004. His asylum was refused. When he was told to leave his government-funded accommodation, he slept rough in parks for a while. He eventually claimed asylum again in another name, not knowing that it was a crime to do so, and hoping that he would be given somewhere to live. He served four months in prison and was then detained. He has agreed to return to Sudan, but the Sudanese embassy has refused to admit him. He has been detained for 28 months since finishing his sentence in October 2006. The second case is that of Mr Ali Saifi. He is aged 27 and lived in Birmingham when he arrived in this country in 2002. He received no benefits or support from the Government, since he was never advised that he may be entitled to asylum support. As an asylum seeker, he did not have the right to work. However, he worked informally on building sites for a while, but lost his job because he did not have any papers. He moved to London and ended up on the street. He stole food from a market to eat and was arrested and convicted of theft. Early in his sentence he applied for early deportation, signing to forgo his right of appeal. However, the Home Office—not, perhaps, for the first time—had lost his passport and the Algerian embassy refused to give him a travel document. He has been detained for 22 months since April 2007. The men in the two cases quoted were de facto stateless, but according to the Home Office there were only 25 stateless people held at a recent date. Statelessness is therefore not the main cause of detention. I conclude by asking if the Government are studying the report that I mentioned, and whether they will respond to its recommendations at least by Written Statement. Will they take full account of the criticisms by the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights? In April 2008 he urged the Government drastically to limit administrative detention of migrants, and to introduce a maximum time limit. Will the Government also examine methods used in Sweden and Australia to achieve high rates of voluntary return for unsuccessful asylum applicants? The issue of detention has come up regularly over the last 20 years, and its improvement is long overdue. I look forward to the Government’s response.