New Clause 9 - Information: embarking passengers
Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill
2:45 pm
Cheryl Gillan (Shadow Minister, (Assisted By Shadow Law Officers); Chesham and Amersham, Conservative)
No, not Jeffrey Archer.
I wish to ask the Minister a few practical questions about these new clauses. Who will be involved in carrying out the detention? Will they be immigration officers, customs officers, police or Home Office personnel? Who will be responsible for physically carrying out the stopping and searching of these individuals? Also, what will the position be if private contractors are brought in and there is a dedicated border force of any nature?
The Minister acknowledged that short-term detention facilities will now be overseen by Her Majesty’s chief inspector of prisons, which I welcome. However, I would like to know where those centres are going to be located. Will the arrangements be separate from the existing arrangements in our ports and airports, because of the nature of the individuals who are expected to be held in these cases? Also, why is the length of time only 12 hours? If there is any contention over information, will 12 hours be long enough? How was that period arrived at?
What happens if the individual is detained and therefore misses their flight, and their air ticket does not allow the money paid for it to be commuted to another ticket? Who will then pay for that individual to leave the country, and what happens if that individual does not have the wherewithal or cannot afford to buy either another air ticket or a passage on a boat? Who else will be informed about that person’s detention? Will a relevant embassy or high commission be informed? Will the detained individual have a right to legal advice and representation? If the individual misses a flight and the airline personnel know that that individual has been detained by the authorities pending further inquiries, could that not pose a danger to the individual?