Tomorrow, a debate on the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill will take place in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom (https://bit.ly/2NIpLUE). This will include consideration of several amendments that are particularly important for the protection of the rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in the United Kingdom, but also in Europe more broadly.
The proposal to retain the possibility of family reunification and relocation of unaccompanied refugee and migrant children to the UK after the end of the Brexit transition period is, in my view, of particular relevance. Across Europe, numerous unaccompanied children have been stuck in desperate situations, including in Greece and France. The possibilities of being received in the UK, including under the Dublin system and the Dubs scheme, have been an invaluable lifeline to many of them. Maintaining this lifeline also after the transition period ends will be of immense importance to these extremely vulnerable children, and a welcome sign of continuing solidarity and co-operation with other European countries in the areas of asylum and migration.
Another important proposal is to introduce a 28-day time limit for immigration detention. The fact that the UK does not have any time limit on such detention set out in law has been a long-standing concern, which my predecessors have addressed at various points over the last 12 years at least (https://bit.ly/2NGQHEA). Since immigration detention has severe consequences for the mental and physical health and well-being of individuals, it is encouraging that the UK is piloting projects to provide alternatives to detention, which will hopefully reduce the use of detention. However, other safeguards for those still subject to detention are simultaneously necessary. The introduction of a time limit would contribute to bringing UK practice in line with international frameworks, including the standards of the Committee on the Prevention of Torture, which has stated (https://bit.ly/2BoDFZA) that prolonged detention of persons under aliens legislation without a time limit and with unclear prospects for release, could easily be considered as amounting to inhuman treatment.