BASW intervenes on debate on Illegal Migration Bill

Since the Bill was introduced, BASW has been voicing serious concerns about the proposals to parliamentarians and insisting that these are being made clear to Ministers. Given the invaluable role of social workers in the age assessment process, it’s imperative that the profession’s voice and perspective is being represented and considered.

BASW maintains that this legislation would pave the way for far-fetched, unworkable and discriminatory practices that are in breach of human rights instead of creating other ways for people to claim asylum in the UK without having to risk their lives to get here.

On Monday 12 June, BASW’s interventions were aired during extensive parliamentary debate on the legislation in the House of Lords.

Baroness Lister relayed to the Minister, Lord Bellamy our reservations that the Bill makes it difficult for asylum seekers to refuse consent to medical interventions. Ms Lister commented:

“Critical too is the question of capacity for consent. Can the Minister say how capacity will be determined and what will happen to children who lack the capacity to consent to the use of scientific methods? The British Association of Social Workers makes the point:

“The question of whether the asylum seeker can consent to the medical intervention is completely separate from the question of whether they are a child”.

“Yet Clause 56, which gives the Home Secretary considerable discretion through regulations, in effect conflates the two. In doing so, it undermines the possibility of genuine consent and risks further trauma for children.”

Later in the debate, Baroness Brinton raised our argument that the Bill risks challenging the responsibility of social workers for making person-centred decisions when carrying out age-assessment. Social work is a human rights based profession that puts the needs of the individual first and it’s crucial that these values are not diluted during the age assessment process. Ms Brinton said:

“For me one of the key points was made by the British Association of Social Workers, which said that social workers are currently responsible for compiling age assessments, known as Merton assessments, but they are designed to ensure that the children’s needs are met—not for immigration purposes. That raises an issue that many doctors have also raised: that these professionals are registered, and in that registration have to abide by the ethics committee of their registration body, and therefore the individual that they are serving. The problem with the proposals in Clauses 55 and 56 is that they will become the agents of the Government and will not be there to best provide for the needs of the individual concerned.”

BASW has been unequivocal in our opposition to this problematic Bill since day one and will continue to work closely with parliamentarians to challenge it at every stage of the parliamentary process.

Instead, we need a fairer, quicker and more humane asylum process which reflects basic human rights.

You can read the full House of Lords debate here and watch it again here.