Key Facts

• Lucy Moreton is the professional officer for the ISU representing borders, immigration and customs staff.
• Zoe Gardner is the policy and advocacy manager at JCWI, one of the oldest organisations representing migrants and refugees in the UK.
• The witnesses assert that the Bill will not achieve its aims due to a lack of resources and evidence from similar policies elsewhere.
• The Home Office has used legislation aimed at smuggling gangs to prosecute asylum seekers.
• In August, the Crown Prosecution Service clarified that entering the UK through irregular means for asylum claims is not a crime.
• 98% of people on small boats intend to make an asylum claim.
• People in the asylum system face a six-month limbo period before their claims are assessed.
• Recognised refugees would receive only temporary protection status instead of refugee protection status.
• Temporary protection status needs to be renewed potentially every 30 months.
• JCWI client example: gay man from Iran granted temporary protection for six months with reassessment every six months.
• Refugees may be denied family reunification rights under the new proposals.
• The Home Office faces an additional bureaucratic burden in managing repeated assessments and lifting no recourse to public funds conditions.
• The number of asylum cases and backlog is increasing faster than new applications.
• Migrants often have misinformation about the asylum system in the UK compared to France.
• One provision suggests serving individuals with a notice to provide all known information initially, or face limited weight given to late submissions.
• Lucy Moreton states that people fleeing danger often lack immediate funds for safe passage.
• The Australian model of offshore processing has failed as a deterrent according to available evidence.
• Offshore processing in Australia cost €6 billion with no success in deterring asylum seekers.
• Over two thirds of people in Calais are from countries with high recognition rates as refugees in the UK.
• 86% of refugees and displaced people worldwide remain in developing countries neighbouring their home country.
• France received three times as many asylum applications as the UK last year.
• The Home Office's impact assessment suggests that increased security and deterrence could encourage refugees to use riskier means to enter the UK.
• Assistant Chief Constable Dave Kirby from Derbyshire Police gave evidence on the Nationality and Borders Bill.
• The witness discussed the potential abuse of the clause 45 defence by both genuine victims and individuals exploiting them.
• International co-operation with countries like Albania and Lithuania is mentioned in higher level investigations.
• Assistant Chief Constable Dave Kirby is concerned about individuals falsely claiming victim status.
• Recent cases show Albanian gangs exploiting the national referral mechanism for benefits and to avoid prosecution.
• Covert investigations have proven false claims of slavery victimhood.
• Gangs' ability to bring foreign nationals into the UK through dangerous crossings is crucial for their criminal operations.
• West Balkan, particularly Albanian, criminality has increased significantly since 2017 due to stricter law enforcement in Albania.
• Victims of trafficking often face coercion and threats from their captors, preventing them from claiming victim status early on.
• Councillor Roger Gough is the leader of Kent County Council and chairs the South-East Strategic Partnership for Migration.
• Councillor Rachael Robathan leads Westminster City Council.
• Westminster hosts 638 Afghan refugees in one hotel and another 589 dispersed across five hotels, with over a third being children.
• 10% of the current Afghan refugee placements in Westminster are unaccompanied minors.
• Kent County has faced significant pressure from unaccompanied asylum-seeking children arriving through the Channel crossings.
• The Napier Barracks near Folkestone have been used for asylum seekers, causing local pressures and controversies.
• Historically, resources in terms of money have been an issue but changed recently with increased Home Office grants.
• Westminster has more than its allocated number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, currently hosting 638 Afghan refugees in one hotel on the Edgware Road.
• The south-east is under-represented in adult asylum seekers compared to regions like the west midlands or north-west.
• Westminster's latest count of rough sleepers was 171.
• Over half of the rough sleepers in Westminster have no recourse to public funds.
• The speaker endorses measures to promote safe and orderly routes for migration, including electronic travel authorisation and sanctions against criminal activity.
• Age assessments involve two experienced social workers conducting interviews and extensive paperwork.
• Doubts raised by Border Force about a person's age can lead to disputes over their status as an adult or child.
• At one point, around half of the young people arriving had doubts raised about their age by the Home Office.
• Age assessments involve significant time and resources for local authorities.
• Safeguarding issues arise when individuals are incorrectly placed into either child or adult settings.
• Local authority responsibilities towards UASC extend until the individual reaches 25 years old.
• Tony Smith has over 40 years of experience in UK Border Force.
• He worked as a director general until his retirement in 2013.
• The speaker notes that channel crossings have been an issue for only the last two to three years.
• The UK and France previously had juxtaposed controls from 2001.
• There are significant challenges with illegal migration post-Brexit.
• French officials have shown some willingness for joint enforcement measures.
• Article 98 of the UN convention on the law of the sea allows for regional arrangements between countries.
• The UK is about fifth in Europe in terms of asylum intake.
• UNHCR has been urging western countries to take more refugees from camps around the world.
• The UK currently takes about 5,000 refugees annually through resettlement programmes.
• English is considered a desirable language for many asylum seekers.
• Communities in the UK offer significant support to asylum seekers.
• 70% of illegal economic migrants crossing the English Channel are males aged between 18 and 35.
• Rob Jones is an operational director at the National Crime Agency with a focus on serious organised crime threats, including organised immigration crime.
• Smuggling gangs began exploiting small boats for clandestine entry into the UK in 2018 due to benign weather conditions and suppressed traffic through traditional border crossings during lockdowns.
• The National Crime Agency works closely with French, Belgian, and German authorities to disrupt smuggling operations closer to home.
• The government has a national system for recognising victims of modern slavery.
• Many individuals who come through small boats are in debt bondage or under family leverage.
• Organised immigration crime is less prevalent on the small boat route compared to trafficking.
• There is an aspiration to push back smuggling operations inland from beaches, involving intelligence-led proactive responses.
• Criminal gangs use false ID cards and clandestine entry methods to return foreign national offenders to the UK.
• Organised crime groups see immigration as a lucrative business opportunity generating significant revenue.
• Social media companies are not cooperating fully in removing content that promotes dangerous crossings.
• The legislation aims to clarify the distinction between illegal entry and arrival.
• There is a risk that measures could encourage people to take even more dangerous routes, according to the Home Office’s impact assessment.
• Organised crime tactics in high-risk clandestine entry to the UK are increasing.