The First Minister was today
challenged to instruct the Lord Advocate to pursue Home Office
Immigration Officers for breach of the peace if any further asylum
removals take place involving children, following a landmark ruling in
the House of Lords yesterday.
Christine Grahame, the SNP’s
social justice spokeswoman, raised the issue during First Minister’s
Question Time, saying: “The landmark ruling [Huang Vs Secretary of
State for the Home Department] made yesterday in the House of Lords
allows Scottish Ministers to act and intervene to stop the draconian
removal of children, many of whom have lived peacefully in Scotland for
years.
“The senior legal advice I have
obtained following this ruling would allow for Chief Constables, under
guidance from the Lord Advocate, to arrest and charge Home Office
immigration officials for breach of the peace for the forced removal of
children, a practice which is in breach of their human rights as well
as their rights under Scots law.”
Grahame said that ministers
could no longer hide behind the claim that immigration is purely
reserved to Westminster. “They have a duty and obligation, both moral
and legal, to act in the interests of children who are dragged from
their beds in the middle of the night by immigration officials dressed
in black body armour.
“There is now also a clear locus
for social work to be involved and take children into care where Home
Office officials attempt to remove and deport them, causing them untold
psychological distress.”
Yesterday Education Minister
Hugh Henry, in a letter to Holyrood committee conveners, said he would
urge the Home Office to adopt a "sensible and pragmatic" approach to
failed asylum seeker cases involving children.
Henry said: "This 'legacy
review' here in Scotland will involve a reassessment by Home Office
staff of around 1,100 cases to determine whether those seeking asylum
are able to stay. Many
of the children involved were born here or are well integrated into and
contribute positively within local schools and communities.”
No one has commented on this article.
Related news items:
|
