Earlier this week Richard was granted a Westminster Hall Debate on Immigration and was able to put a series of questions to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Immigration Compliance and Courts, Chris Phipps MP.
The debate focused on Statutory Instrument (SI) No 184, 2021, “The Immigration (Guidance on Detention of Vulnerable Persons) Regulations 2021" which brings into effect amendments to the guidance on Adults at Risk in Immigration Detention so that detention considerations for potential victims of modern slavery and trafficking will be made using criteria consistent with those that apply to other categories of vulnerable people. There have been concerns from several groups that these changes will worsen the situation facing victims of trafficking or modern day slavery and fly in the face of the government’s commitments under the Modern Slavery Act.
Richard said:
As a long-standing campaigner against immigration detention policies, I specifically focussed on concerns that Statutory Instrument 184, which comes into effect on May 25th, will make it more likely that people, and particularly women, who have been trafficked or are victims of modern day slavery, will end up being detained in immigration detention centres like Yarl's Wood.
The full debate can be watched here.
