Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord West of Spithead, for seeing me with his officials since Committee stage, for at least two written replies and for bringing forward several government amendments in this group. I will speak also to the three amendments in my name in this group. As regards Amendment 24, I suggest that Clause 39(2)(c) is unclear and that subsection (11) is not sufficiently explicit. Amendment 24 is designed to assist the integration of genuine recognised refugees and those granted long-term humanitarian protection. Refugees should be helped to integrate. They should be mentioned in the Bill; that will provide practical help to those who have to practise and advise in these matters. Amendment 31 is designed to ensure that time spent by refugees in Britain, prior to a determination of their claims, counts as part of the qualifying period for citizenship. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees does not want to see delayed decisions and the time taken over appeals postponing the grant of citizenship. This is most relevant to the so-called backlog cases where years go by with no decision being reached. Amendment 37 is designed to assist the earliest possible integration into British society of refugees and protected persons. It also removes the requirement to take part in community activities. Refugees, by definition, have usually suffered and have lost their home countries. They have a specified and recognised status here and should not be expected to prove themselves like classes of migrants who are applying for citizenship. My Amendment 41 covers bona fide refugees who have been accepted as such, who may, through force of circumstances, have had to enter the United Kingdom by illegal means, provided that they have declared themselves to the authorities as soon as possible after entry. My amendment will be helpful to practitioners because it includes the relevant article of the convention in the Bill. I should add that there has been a very small misprint in the text of Amendment 41. After the words "UN Convention on Refugees" the brackets should contain the figures 1951. I beg to move.