Still a scandal

The coalition agreement last year contained a positive step forward for the treatment of children with uncertain immigration status. It contained a pledge to end the detention of children, some of whom as young as five, who after all have committed no crime and pose no threat to society. This pledge was soon followed up by the new home secretary indicating she would take a look at the no recourse to public funds rule, that had the effect of keeping women trapped in abusive relationships as refuges and hostels became unable to take them. These measures gave some of us hope that the UK’s disgraceful record on respecting the human rights of migrants might be about to improve.

Alas it has turned out not to be the case. The pledge to end child detention has not yet been implemented, and it looks as if it may not yet do so. Furthermore, services aimed at helping migrants have suffered just as much as others, with organisations such as the Welsh Refugee council facing huge cuts. To some extent this was always expected, as spending money on services used by people from other countries has never been the most popular way taxes have been spent. Nonetheless they were essential in ensuring people receive fair hearings , advice and signposting to other services. They also represent a blow for campaigners who have been quietly battling away against the results of tabloid hysteria for at least a decade.

In Wales, as far as we can tell from the limited statistics, there have been fewer arrivals than elsewhere in the UK. Migrant workers have largely been concentrated in areas where economic opportunities presented themselves, and the poorer performance of the Welsh economy has thus ensured fewer arrivals. Nonetheless areas such as Wrexham and Carmarthenshire have seen significant arrivals, largely to do with the efforts of employment agencies and large local employers.

Unsurprisingly this meant Wales saw some of the side effects of the draconian no recourse to public funds legislation alongside exploitative employment conditions. Last year Shelter Cymru published research highlighting the particularly bad results of no recourse to public funds. Perhaps the most concerning was the discovery of a pregnant women having to sleep rough, as no hostel could take her in (hostels being funded by housing benefit), with social services facing the obligation to take her child into care once it was born. (Apparently it is dangerous for small children to be sleeping rough, but not for unborn children to do so). Other organisations during the research also gave anecdotal evidence of no recourse to public funds splitting families up in a similar fashion.

The refusal of the current coalition government to adopt a principled stand and carry out its obligations is a black mark on its efforts to be seen as a liberal government. But given the hysteria of immigration debates over the past 15 years, it isn’t unsurprising. One would hope that in a few decades time, our treatment of immigrants at the turn of the century will be viewed in much the same way as many Americans regard their treatment of minorities prior to the 1960s. We could make a start now by holding the coalition to its promises.