LORDS VICTORY

Lords Victory on Detention Amendments
Tell Your MP now to support Amendments
The Amendments
We were all terribly disappointed last June when, despite an impassioned debate,
the House of Commons rejected the amendments to the Immigration & Social
Security Bill put forward by David Davis which would have placed a time limit on
detention. Lib Dem Peers Sally Hamwee and Sarah Ludford picked up the fight when
the Bill went into the Lords and tabled a number of amendments regarding detention
individuals cannot be
detained longer than 28 days unless the Secretary of State is satisfied that there is a
. Another
, detention
. These
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/58-
01/121/5801121-R-I.pdf
f EEA and Swiss nationals in the UK after the Brexit transition
period it is expected that they will also be applied to asylum seekers.
Lords Victory
Sally and Sarah did a fantastic job of getting cross party support for these
amendments. When first putting forward the amendments Sally spoke very
passionately and was supported by a range of peers who made powerful speeches
referring to the humanitarian, medical and practical grounds that support the
.
It was, therefore, not a surprise that around midnight on 5 October the Lords voted
184 to 156 to accept the key amendment putting a time limit of 28 days on detention
with robust judicial oversight. The other detention amendments were seen as being
consequential to that amendment (House of Lords speak meaning that they would
be supported if the Time Limit amendment was). Despite the late hour Sally, and
others, made the case for reform very passionately. Roger Roberts said
“I ask the Government to take another look. Let it be a humanitarian look and let us
go on to be rather proud not of what we have done in hostility but of what we have
done in caring and hospitality.”
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2020-10-
05a.487.1&s=speaker%3A13477#g495.0
people
is
clearly inhumane. They are not criminals, just human beings seeking sanctuary.
“That is why the Liberal Democrats are determined to amend the Conservative
government’s legislation and limit the time an asylum seeker can be detained to a
maximum of 28 days.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-brexit-immigrationlords-
priti-patel-refugees-b743060.html
Why This Matters
Having a time limit to immigration detention is necessary because currently people
can be detained indefinitely and, also re-detained again when, for instance, they
report to the Home Office. Many of these individuals will not have been convicted of
they are only seeking sanctuary. Unless individuals can get
the rule of law is effectively
abandoned. In the year ending March 2020 26% (some 6000) of those leaving the
UK were detained for over 28 days; 475 had been detained for more than six
months. In the second quarter of 2020 (at the height of co-vid) there were 28
detainees who had been detained for 12-18 months.
Indefinite detention can have a major detrimental impact on individuals who are
already vulnerable. The uncertainty of not having a release date is very damaging to
the mental health of detainees as highlighted in recent research done by the British
Never Truly Free; the humanitarian impact of the UK immigration
file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/Never-Truly-Free-March-
2018%20(5).pdf). Many detainees say that they would have preferred to have had a
prison sentence as at least then they would then know when they would be released
and don’t have to live with constant uncertainty that, even when released, they may
be detained again. People with underlying physical health conditions may not get the
treatment they need when in detention.
Some Tories have argued that unlimited detention is necessary to protect the

dangerous” to be released. It is correct that a number of people being detained are
foreign nationals who have been convicted of crimes and are then deported. But they have already served a custodial sentence the length of which is based on a risk
assessment, and, if a British citizen, could have been released on licence subject to
supervision measures. There is a whole series of arguments about why deportation
may not be the right action but it also needs to be recognised that some of the most
vulnerable people in detention are foreign nationals with serious mental illnesses
which may be linked to their offending history.
Write to Your MP Now
These amendments now go back to the House of Commons who have the final say
probably in the week of 19 October. Please write to your MP (particularly if they
did not support these amendments last time) and ask them to do the right thing and

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