2 May 2019<\/p>\n
Following new allegations, Jean Lambert MEP has written to the Home Secretary calling for an urgent, independent and far-reaching inquiry into Home Office conduct. \u200bAs you will be aware, barely a day passes without new reports of administrative blunders, data breaches, unlawful decisions or human rights violations from your ministerial department \u2013 the Home Office. Would you not agree that it is now time for a genuine enquiry as to how the department is run? Jean Lambert CC:\u00a0 Yvette Cooper MP, Chair of the Home Affairs Committee<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n [1] https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2019\/apr\/28\/home-office-chaos-and-incompetence-leads-to-unlawful-detentions-claim-whistleblowers<\/a><\/p>\n [2] https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk-44093868<\/a><\/p>\n [3] https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2018\/nov\/23\/home-office-tried-to-deport-300-skilled-migrants-under-terrorism-law<\/a><\/p>\n [4] https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/news\/uk\/eu-citizens-unable-to-use-settlement-scheme-as-new-system-overwhelmed-on-first-day-a4105186.html<\/a><\/p>\n
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\nEarlier this week, whistleblowers raised some serious claims about chaos, incompetence and managerial misconduct within the government department [1].
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\nThis is just the latest negative report, following a string of Home Office errors over the past 12 months. These include illegally deporting EU rough sleepers [2], losing vital personal immigration papers [3], wrongly trying to deport skilled migrants [4], glitches within the new Settled Status scheme for EU nationals, accusing overseas students of cheating in English language tests [5], and the continuing, shambolic treatment of Windrush victims [6].
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\nThe letter has been copied to Yvette Cooper, Chair of the Home Affairs Committee.
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\nJean Lambert, London’s Green MEP and the Green Party’s migration spokesperson<\/strong> <\/span>says: \u201cIn recent years, the Home Office has been at the centre of a catalogue of disasters – tearing families apart and turning lives upside down. While its representatives try to brush these off as a series of unfortunate mistakes, the new allegations of managerial bullying of caseworkers and incentives to reject asylum applications suggest this is more than incompetence – it\u2019s deep-rooted, deliberate and unethical malpractice.<\/em>
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\nI\u2019m calling for an urgent, independent and far-reaching inquiry into the Home Office\u2019s activities and conduct. When Sajid Javid was appointed as Home Secretary, exactly one year ago, he promised to create a \u2018fair and humane\u2019 immigration system. If he was remotely sincere in this promise, he would immediately agree to conduct a probe into the department to make sure it is acting legally, ethically and in line with international human rights standards.\u201d<\/em>
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\nRead the letter in full below, or in PDF format here<\/a><\/strong>.
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\nDear Home Secretary,<\/p>\n
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\nIn April 2019 alone, the Home Office was forced to apologise after accidentally sharing 500 private email addresses during the launch of a Windrush compensation scheme \u2013 days later making the same mistake with the email addresses of 240 EU nationals. It also now faces legal action and a formal investigation by the National Audit Office after wrongly accusing some 34,000 students of cheating in a government-approved English test, causing more than 1,000 to be detained or deported.
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\nThese are symptomatic of a much more extensive catalogue of disasters over the past 12 months: illegally deporting EU rough sleepers, losing or even deliberately destroying personal documentation, wrongly trying to deport hundreds of skilled workers, and \u2013 of course \u2013 a spate of examples of malpractice relating to the Windrush generation, which has already borne the brunt of Home Office incompetence. This list goes on.
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\nEvery time one of these stories hits the headlines, I get a sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu. Occasionally a Home Office spokesperson stoically apologises for the mistake, or the department swiftly and silently backtracks \u2013 as in the case of a 35-year-old Iraqi-Kurd, Najat Ibrahim Ismail, who was set to be cruelly deported this week against the best interests of his children.
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\nHowever, I was particularly alarmed this week to read new reports of \u201coverworked, under-skilled, bullied and highly stressed caseworkers\u201d within your Dublin Cessation Team (DCT) which determines which EU Member State is responsible for an asylum claim \u2013 a system which I have sought to make more fair, humane and transparent during my time as an MEP.
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\nThe toxic working environment in DCT has is clearly having an adverse effect on its day-to-day activities. It is slowing down decision-making which leaves asylum applicants in limbo for years, with many detained illegally in immigration removal centres. Meanwhile, personal performance targets which give caseworkers 555 minutes to refuse an asylum application but just 222 minutes to grant one, are completely nonsensical and incentivise rejection. Such policies are tearing families apart and turning lives upside down.
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\nThese latest claims by whistleblowers raise new, serious questions about the Home Office\u2019s ability to make fair, lawful decisions in line with international human rights standards and its treaty obligations.
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\nThe issue is particularly pressing given that, should Brexit go ahead, the Government plans to subject millions of EU nationals to the chronically malfunctioning system currently in place for non-EU nationals.
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\nThis week marks one year since your appointment as Home Secretary. It has been a full 12 months since you promised to create a \u201cfair and humane\u201d immigration system. This has clearly not been delivered. The Home Office continues to propagate a \u201chostile environment\u201d – not just for migrants and asylum seekers, but for its own staff members.
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\nIt\u2019s time to face facts \u2013 the Home Office is no longer fit-for-purpose. That\u2019s why I am calling for an urgent, independent and far-reaching inquiry into the department\u2019s actions and conduct.
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\nIf you hope to live up to your bold promises, shake off the Home Office\u2019s toxic reputation and rebuild confidence in your institution, I trust that you will kick-start this process in the coming weeks.
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\nYours sincerely,<\/p>\n
\n\u200bLondon’s Green Party MEP<\/p>\n