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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

My Lords, I said that these clauses were primarily designed to affect the position of the Afghan refugees; I did not say that they were exclusively designed to do so, as the noble Lord claimed. I accept that the circumstances of the Afghans are totally different from those of the other people whom he cited, such as Mr B, the South African. However, I should like the noble Lord to reflect on the purpose of keeping even Mr B in indefinite suspended animation. He is not allowed to work, so he is not contributing anything to the economy. He is simply wasting away his life in this country because it is considered unsafe to return him. Although I had not heard about this before tonight, I question whether the Government are right in thinking that it would be unsafe to return him to South Africa—a democratic country ruled by people who respect human rights—in spite of the offences that he committed under the apartheid regime. Many other people committed equally horrible offences in the days of the white racist Government and are now living freely and peacefully in South Africa. In that case, I do not accept that it would necessarily be unsafe for us to return Mr B. However, as I said, if necessary, people can be kept on six months’ leave to remain at a time until either it becomes safe to return them or they can be given indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom. That has always been the position in the law in the past, and it was only when these Afghanis arrived in the United Kingdom that the Government suddenly changed their mind and said that a special immigration status had to be created to satisfy the knee-jerk reaction of Mr Jack Straw at that time. The noble Lord kindly went into some detail on the reasons why the special adjudicators panel reached the decision that it did but, as I pointed out to him and as he ignored in running through the argument, its reasoning was arrived at prior to the judgment of the Court of Appeal, to which my noble friend has rightly just drawn attention. The Court of Appeal quashed the convictions on the ground that the defence of duress had not been properly directed by the trial judge. That fact was not before the panel of adjudicators when it said that Article 1F applied. It could have reached a completely different decision had it had that information, and there was no review of the decision by the adjudicators panel. The Court of Appeal having made its decision, these people were then granted asylum, and it was to prevent the effect of that decision that the Government introduced these clauses. The existing immigration law is adequate and we have never had a provision of this kind in our law in the past. The noble Lord’s decision confines a group of people who are victims of an oppressive regime to an indefinite limbo where neither they nor their wives or children can resume a normal life. As I should have liked to demonstrate if there had been time, it is totally incorrect to say that there is nothing to prevent these families applying for asylum in their own right and being granted it if they qualify. An indefinite delay in considering the applications did not just occur in the cases that I quoted on the previous occasion; the 10th person, to whom my noble friend drew attention, was acquitted by the trial and is still awaiting a decision on his application. Mrs S has had to apply for a judicial review of the eight-year delay in responding to her application and is still awaiting a hearing on that JR application. She has four children, three of them born in this country. This is not the way to treat the victims of a vicious regime and, if it had not been so late, I should definitely have asked for the opinion of the House to be tested. As it is, I shall seek an opportunity to return to this matter at a later date but, in the meanwhile, and with great reluctance, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 130 [““Foreign criminal””]: [Amendment No. 114G not moved.] Clause 131 [Effect of designation]: [Amendment No. 114H not moved.] Clause 132 [Conditions]: [Amendment No. 114J not moved.] Clause 133 [Support]: [Amendment No. 114K not moved.] Clause 134 [Support: supplemental]: [Amendment No. 114L not moved.] Clause 135 [End of designation]: [Amendment No. 114M not moved.] Clause 136 [Interpretation: general]: [Amendment No. 114N not moved.] Clause 137 [Amendment of section 127 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994]: [Amendment No. 115 not moved.]