MSPs called for a vote against the Nationality and Borders Act
Scottish Minister for Social Law Shona Robison has called on MSPs to reject the UK Government ‘s Citizenship and Borders Act.
The Scottish Government’s statutory consent memorandum of 1 February recommended that consent clauses on the assessment of the age of asylum seekers and trafficking in human beings be refused.
Speaking before the debate in the Scottish Parliament tomorrow (Tuesday 22 February), Robison said:
“The Scottish Government condemns the regressive Citizenship and Borders Act, which is fundamentally contrary to the UK’s international obligations under the Refugee Convention. The bill will significantly change the UK Asylum and Immigration Act and have a negative impact on people, communities and the provision of services.
“This bill could have given the UK Government the opportunity to create a humane and fair system for immigration and asylum. That opportunity has been lost.
“Britain’s asylum and immigration systems are in dire need of reform, but these changes will not bring about the necessary change. Instead, the bill will jeopardize people’s human rights for years to come.
“If the UK government simply states that asylum is a reserved matter, the complexity of the proposed reforms will not be taken into account. It also ignores the legitimate role of decentralized peoples in the functioning of the UK refugee protection system and its impact on our services and communities.
“I am asking maritime experts to join the bill, and in particular against the two provisions that affect decentralized areas. We need to send a message that Parliament is opposed to the obvious damage caused by this bill.
Background
Presentation Scottish Government Debate on Citizenship and Borders Act (UK legislation) is available on the Scottish Parliament website.
The Legislative Memorandum of Understanding was filed on February 1, 2022.
Age assessment
49 of the law Citizenship and Border Law enact laws to provide care and support in a decentralized area in accordance with children’s legislation. The bill would establish a national age assessment board with the authority and resources to oversee age assessment determinations.
This includes products made by Scottish local authorities for decentralized purposes. If the municipalities send the age assessment to the board, the result of the board assessment is binding on them in terms of decentralized activities.
The bill would also allow the board to use scientific techniques as part of age assessment. This is something that Scottish Government guidelines have consistently banned for reasons related to the well-being and unreliability of children.
Trafficking in human beings
Clause 58 would restrict Scottish ministers as to how the future competent authority in Scotland would decide who is a victim of trafficking.
It requires the late submission of information in support of modern-day slavery or trafficking in human beings in order to be considered prejudicial to a person’s credibility. Late submission is identified by whether someone submits evidence in accordance with the date set by the Department of the Interior in the bulletin. This effectively creates a “trauma deadline” that does not take into account the challenges of exposing traffickers.
Source: Scottish Government