I stand today on behalf of the hundreds of constituents who have sent me emails and letters and on behalf of the children at St Dunstan’s Catholic Primary School, which is a school of sanctuary.
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This Bill marks a new low for this Government in their continued attempts to treat asylum seekers with cruelty and contempt. As the TUC has made clear, if the Bill passes, it will effectively amount to an asylum ban. It is an attempt by this Government to turn their back on the most vulnerable people who are fleeing war and persecution around the world, and if passed, it will tarnish the reputation of the UK for decades to come.
Under clause 11, the Home Secretary will be given powers to detain children, whether accompanied or not, based on her own conclusions, for however long she deems necessary. What right does the Home Secretary have to judge the most vulnerable groups’ situations and why they have arrived in this country illegally? Why does she get the right to make decisions, while diminishing court jurisdiction and going against laws of welfare and safeguarding? That is exactly what this deplorable Bill will accomplish, promoting not only failure but danger.
It is clear that the Bill will only worsen an already intolerable situation. This Government should not need reminding that asylum seekers crossing over to the UK illegally are often victims of human traffickers who profit from the exploitation of asylum seekers and are responsible for the deaths of countless innocent people crossing the channel. What exactly does the Bill do to help bring those human traffickers to justice? Nothing. In fact, far worse than nothing—the Bill disqualifies victims of human trafficking and modern slavery from the protections and services offered by the Council of Europe convention on action against trafficking in human beings. Instead, victims will be threatened with deportation.
It is obvious that in such circumstances, victims will simply not come forward, and human traffickers will get away with the continued exploitation of vulnerable people. By removing these protections and essentially criminalising victims of human trafficking, the Bill will push more and more asylum seekers into the informal economy, where employers will take advantage of their lack of legal status and no recourse to labour market inspectorates. Again, those who profit from human misery and exploitation will go untouched by the Bill, while their victims are made to suffer.
The Bill breaches international law, promotes human rights abuses, has serious implications for the safety of the most vulnerable groups in society, including children, and places an unacceptable amount of power in the hands of someone who has demonstrated that they are incapable of making appropriate decisions. It is for those reasons that I am resolutely opposed to the Bill, as are my constituents in Birmingham, Hall Green and the children at St Dunstan’s Catholic Primary School. It will do lasting damage to the conscience and international reputation of our country. The Bill must be stopped before it does irreversible damage to hundreds of thousands of people who are seeking nothing more than an opportunity to live free from harm.