Latest news with #NationalityandBordersAct
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Two-tier justice quango ‘letting hundreds of illegal migrants dodge deportation'
Hundreds of convicted illegal migrants will avoid deportation because of lax Sentencing Council guidelines, Robert Jenrick has warned. Research by the shadow justice secretary suggests that draft guidance by the Council would allow migrants convicted of immigration offences to escape with sentences below the threshold for automatic deportation. This is because the Council's 'starting points' for sentences are below the cut-off point of 12 months in jail after which convicted migrants automatically face deportation. Mr Jenrick claimed the guidelines would 'blow a hole' in border controls by making it more difficult for the Home Office to deport criminals convicted of immigration offences. Crimes could range from illegally entering the UK to deception and possession of false ID documents. The disclosures come in the wake of a row over the Council's new sentencing rules that give special treatment to criminals from ethnic, religious and gender minorities. Courts have been told they should 'normally consider' ordering a pre-sentence report on an offender if they come from 'an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community', or are transgender. The Tories, who first raised the change in guidance, have criticised it as 'two-tier justice' as there are no requirements for similar reports on offenders of any other ethnicity. Mr Jenrick said: 'The guidelines the Sentencing Council have drafted will blow a hole in border enforcement. Yet again they are acting in a way that disregards parliament's will. 'That's why I brought forward a Bill to restore ministerial oversight to the Council, but shamefully Labour opposed it. The Justice Secretary has chosen to be powerless to stop madness like this and the two-tier sentencing rules.' The research also found the range of punishment for the most serious immigration offences were set by the Council below the maximum jail terms proposed by the Government. The Council recommended a custody range of 10 to 16 years for people smuggling when the Nationality and Borders Act set the maximum for facilitating entry to the UK as life imprisonment. A convicted offender could also get a reduced sentence on the basis that it was a first immigration offence even though it was likely that the vast majority would likely never have been in the country before. Mr Jenrick's analysis found that for illegal entry, the starting point was as low as six months in jail where there was low harm and low culpability. Even for the highest harm and culpability, the range was from one year six months in jail to three years in custody, even though the maximum sentence was four years in prison. For possession of false ID documents, the Council's suggested starting point for the highest harm was nine months in jail, and a community order for lower level harm. The statutory maximum for the offence is two years in jail. The latest Home Office figures show that 390 migrants were sentenced for the four offences analysed in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available. It is the first guidance issued by the Sentencing Council on immigration offences and refers judges to the judiciary's Equal Treatment Bench Book. This book warns judges that 'negative perceptions of migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum are fuelled by parts of the press and some political debate.' The Ministry of Justice and Sentencing Council have been contacted for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Two-tier justice quango ‘letting hundreds of illegal migrants dodge deportation'
Hundreds of convicted illegal migrants will avoid deportation because of lax Sentencing Council guidelines, Robert Jenrick has warned. Research by the shadow justice secretary suggests that draft guidance by the council would allow migrants convicted of immigration offences to escape with sentences below the threshold for automatic deportation. This is because the council's 'starting points' for sentences are below the cut-off point of 12 months in prison, after which convicted migrants automatically face deportation. Mr Jenrick claimed the guidelines would 'blow a hole' in border controls by making it more difficult for the Home Office to deport criminals convicted of immigration offences. Crimes could range from illegally entering the UK to deception and possession of false ID documents. The disclosures come in the wake of a row over the council's new sentencing rules that give special treatment to criminals from ethnic, religious and gender minorities. Courts have been told they should 'normally consider' ordering a pre-sentence report on an offender if they come from 'an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community', or are transgender. The Tories, who first raised the change in guidance, have criticised it as 'two-tier justice' as there are no requirements for similar reports on offenders of any other ethnicity. Mr Jenrick said: 'The guidelines the Sentencing Council have drafted will blow a hole in border enforcement. Yet again, they are acting in a way that disregards Parliament's will. 'That's why I brought forward a Bill to restore ministerial oversight to the council, but shamefully Labour opposed it. The Justice Secretary has chosen to be powerless to stop madness like this and the two-tier sentencing rules.' The research also found the range of punishment for the most serious immigration offences was set by the council below the maximum jail terms proposed by the Government. The Council recommended a custody range of 10 to 16 years for people smuggling when the Nationality and Borders Act set the maximum for facilitating entry to the UK as life imprisonment. Reduced sentences A convicted offender could also get a reduced sentence on the basis that it was a first immigration offence, even though it was likely that the vast majority would likely never have been in the country before. Mr Jenrick's analysis found that for illegal entry, the starting point was as low as six months in jail where there was low harm and low culpability. Even for the highest harm and culpability, the range was from one year and six months in jail to three years in custody, even though the maximum sentence was four years in prison. For possession of false ID documents, the council's suggested starting point for the highest harm was nine months in jail, and a community order for lower-level harm. The statutory maximum for the offence is two years in jail. The latest Home Office figures show that 390 migrants were sentenced for the four offences analysed in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available. It is the first guidance issued by the Sentencing Council on immigration offences and refers judges to the judiciary's Equal Treatment Bench Book. This book warns judges that 'negative perceptions of migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum are fuelled by parts of the press and some political debate.' A sentencing council spokesman said that it aimed to maintain current levels of sentencing when drawing up guidelines. 'The guidelines as a whole are designed to cover the full range of offending from the least to the most serious, while leaving headroom for the very most extreme offences. Judges and magistrates can sentence outside guidelines if they feel it is in the interests of justice to do so,' said the spokesman.
Saudi Gazette
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Nearly 42,000 UK asylum seekers waiting on appeal
LONDON — Almost 42,000 asylum seekers are waiting for an appeal hearing after the Home Office rejected their initial claims, according to analysis of official figures. The Refugee Council said the number is a five-fold increase in two years and the government risks simply moving the asylum crisis from one part of the system to another, with almost 40,000 migrants still housed in hotels. The Home Office said it had doubled the number of asylum seekers receiving an initial decision on their claim and allocated funding for more sitting court days. A spokesperson said the government remains determined to end the use of asylum hotels over time and cut the "unacceptably high" costs of accommodation. The Refugee Council said more asylum seekers' claims are being refused due to legislation introduced by the previous Conservative government, which made it harder to prove genuine refugee status. After the government enacted the Nationality and Borders Act, only four in 10 Afghans were given permission to stay in the second half of last year. Previously, almost all Afghans asking for sanctuary were granted of those rejected are thought likely to be appealing the decision. Currently, Afghans make up the highest nationality accommodated in hotels and those arriving by small boats in the last two chief executive of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, has called for better and fairer decision making."Right first-time decision making will ensure refugees are given safety to go on to contribute to communities across the country and those who don't have a right to stay in the UK are removed with dignity and respect," he charity points out that those in the appeals backlog still require accommodation and warns that, without improvements, the potential cost of hotels could be £1.5bn this year.A government spokesperson said: "The asylum system we inherited was not fit for purpose, which is why we are taking urgent action to restart asylum processing and clear the backlog of cases, which will save the taxpayer an estimated £4 billion over the next two years."It is allocating funding for "thousands more sitting days in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber to streamline asylum claims and improve productivity," the statement from the Ministry of Justice show that at the end of 2024 there were 41,987 asylum appeals in the court's backlog, up from 7,173 at the start of Refugee Council's analysis suggests the total number of asylum application appeals lodged last year was a 71% increase on 2023. — BBC
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nearly 42,000 UK asylum seekers waiting on appeal
Almost 42,000 asylum seekers are waiting for an appeal hearing after the Home Office rejected their initial claims, according to analysis of official figures. The Refugee Council said the number is a five-fold increase in two years and the government risks simply moving the asylum crisis from one part of the system to another, with almost 40,000 migrants still housed in hotels. The Home Office said it had doubled the number of asylum seekers receiving an initial decision on their claim and allocated funding for more sitting court days. A spokesperson said the government remains determined to end the use of asylum hotels over time and cut the "unacceptably high" costs of accommodation. The Refugee Council said more asylum seekers' claims are being refused due to legislation introduced by the previous Conservative government, which made it harder to prove genuine refugee status. After the government enacted the Nationality and Borders Act, only four in 10 Afghans were given permission to stay in the second half of last year. Previously, almost all Afghans asking for sanctuary were granted asylum. Many of those rejected are thought likely to be appealing the decision. Currently, Afghans make up the highest nationality accommodated in hotels and those arriving by small boats in the last two years. The chief executive of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, has called for better and fairer decision making. "Right first-time decision making will ensure refugees are given safety to go on to contribute to communities across the country and those who don't have a right to stay in the UK are removed with dignity and respect," he said. The charity points out that those in the appeals backlog still require accommodation and warns that, without improvements, the potential cost of hotels could be £1.5bn this year. A government spokesperson said: "The asylum system we inherited was not fit for purpose, which is why we are taking urgent action to restart asylum processing and clear the backlog of cases, which will save the taxpayer an estimated £4 billion over the next two years." It is allocating funding for "thousands more sitting days in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber to streamline asylum claims and improve productivity," the statement added. Statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that at the end of 2024 there were 41,987 asylum appeals in the court's backlog, up from 7,173 at the start of 2023. The Refugee Council's analysis suggests the total number of asylum application appeals lodged last year was a 71% increase on 2023.
BBC News
17-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Nearly 42,000 UK asylum seekers waiting on appeal
Almost 42,000 asylum seekers are waiting for an appeal hearing after the Home Office rejected their initial claims, according to analysis of official Refugee Council said the number is a five-fold increase in two years and the government risks simply moving the asylum crisis from one part of the system to another, with almost 40,000 migrants still housed in Home Office said it had doubled the number of asylum seekers receiving an initial decision on their claim and allocated funding for more sitting court days.A spokesperson said the government remains determined to end the use of asylum hotels over time and cut the "unacceptably high" costs of accommodation. The Refugee Council said more asylum seekers' claims are being refused due to legislation introduced by the previous Conservative government, which made it harder to prove genuine refugee the government enacted the Nationality and Borders Act, only four in 10 Afghans were given permission to stay in the second half of last year. Previously, almost all Afghans asking for sanctuary were granted of those rejected are thought likely to be appealing the decision. Currently, Afghans make up the highest nationality accommodated in hotels and those arriving by small boats in the last two chief executive of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, has called for better and fairer decision making. "Right first-time decision making will ensure refugees are given safety to go on to contribute to communities across the country and those who don't have a right to stay in the UK are removed with dignity and respect," he charity points out that those in the appeals backlog still require accommodation and warns that, without improvements, the potential cost of hotels could be £1.5bn this year.A government spokesperson said: "The asylum system we inherited was not fit for purpose, which is why we are taking urgent action to restart asylum processing and clear the backlog of cases, which will save the taxpayer an estimated £4 billion over the next two years."It is allocating funding for "thousands more sitting days in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber to streamline asylum claims and improve productivity," the statement from the Ministry of Justice show that at the end of 2024 there were 41,987 asylum appeals in the court's backlog, up from 7,173 at the start of 2023. The Refugee Council's analysis suggests the total number of asylum application appeals lodged last year was a 71% increase on 2023.
