Revealed: 91% Increase in MP Tip-Offs to Immigration Enforcement n Two Years

The number of times MPs have reported migrants using the Home Office’s Immigration Enforcement hotline has almost doubled in less than two years, RightsInfo can reveal.

Government data obtained under freedom of information laws shows that MPs have made 134 reports to immigration enforcement so far this year, up from 101 in 2018 and 70 the previous year. This increase comes after 135 MPs signed a pledge last year promising not to inform on their constituents.

Grassroots charity Migrants Organise is leading a campaign called MPs not Border Guards which seeks to put an end to this practice, concerned that it deters vulnerable people from seeking help for fear of being detained. It argues that everyone should have the right to safely meet their MP without fear of being deported.

“The fact that this “Hostile Environment” policy is implemented by MPs in this way is discriminatory and dangerous,” said Zrinka Bralo, the group’s chief executive. “The Windrush scandal has provided tragic evidence of how unjust, cruel and dysfunctional the immigration system is. MPs should know better and must take a stand to protect their constituents and maintain the ethical standards expected of them as public representatives. The term “hostile environment” refers to a set of immigration policies introduced in 2012 to make life as unbearable as possible for undocumented migrants in the UK. Campaign groups have called for an end to these policies arguing they are denying migrants the ability to enjoy fundamental human rights.

Read more: Aaron Walawalkar, Rights Info, https://is.gd/Podf8N