Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, in supporting the general approach to all these amendments, perhaps I may draw attention to what the Joint Committee on Human Rights has written about this, so that it can be considered by the Minister and the Government. At paragraph 1.53 of our report, under the heading "Compatibility with Refugee Convention", we first refer to introductory matters, including the fact that Article 34 of the refugee convention, ""requires that States ‘expedite naturalisation proceedings’"." We pointed out that: ""The UNHCR has expressed its concern that the tighter requirements for naturalisation contained in the Bill make it more difficult in practice for refugees and those with humanitarian protection to qualify for naturalisation and may in fact operate to impair their integration … The Bill would require all refugees and those with humanitarian protection to pass a qualifying period of five years plus an additional probationary citizenship period of three years prior to qualification for naturalisation. The introduction of the probationary citizenship period would therefore increase the total period of time before refugees become eligible for citizenship to eight years. This could be reduced to six years if the person concerned can demonstrate that they have satisfied the active citizenship requirement, but that is also a requirement which refugees may find it difficult to fulfil because of their particular circumstances of having faced persecution or ill-treatment in the past"." At paragraph 1.55 the report states: ""We are concerned that the effect of certain of the earned citizenship requirements in the Bill is to make it more difficult for refugees and those with humanitarian protection to qualify for naturalisation as a British citizen, contrary to Article 34 of the Refugee Convention. We welcome the fact that the Government appears to have acknowledged that these concerns are legitimate and is considering bringing forward its own amendments. We intend to scrutinise any Government amendments with a view to ensuring that adequate exceptions are made for those qualifying for citizenship through the protection route"." I am now coming to the end. We continue: ""Article 31 of the Refugee Convention prohibits States from imposing penalties on refugees on account of their illegal entry or presence. The Bill makes it a requirement of naturalisation that an applicant must not, at any time in the qualifying period, have been in the UK in breach of immigration laws, which is widely defined. The UNHCR is concerned that penalisation for illegal entry may operate to prolong the period in which refugees or those with humanitarian protection will be able to apply for naturalisation. We agree with this concern … We recommend that the Bill be amended to ensure that penalisation for illegal entry does not affect the qualifying period for refugees and those with humanitarian protection"." I hope that that is all helpful. I am sorry to have to do this in this way, but the report came in so late. I very much hope that the opposition Front Bench, if it comes to power, will recognise the value of this committee, which has become something of a very important addition to both Houses. It is excellent that one can have this debate straight off, with this report being brought to the Minister’s attention and time still for it to be properly considered. The speech made by the noble Lord, Lord Hylton, and his amendments are part of what I have been trying to put forward.