Seema Kennedy, the British-Iranian solicitor, has made headlines as she was appointed the new Immigration Minister, replacing Caroline Nokes.
The House of Common’s Human Rights Committee has been in dispute with the Home Office regarding the length of time spent in detention by UK immigrants. The Home Office have been consistently urged by various parties to implement policies to minimise such periods of immigration detention. It appears that Kennedy supports the committee in such calls and that it is her intention to make an impact on overall immigration policy by decreasing the use of prolonged periods of immigration detention.
The reasons behind arguments to limit the period of detainees’ detention include observations that lengthy detention can have a detrimental effect on a detainee’s mental health, and would therefore infringe their human rights. The suggested limits to periods of detention could encourage the Home Office to speed up the process by which cases are considered and could help cut down on detention costs.
The Home Office’s decision to reject the call from MPs for a 28-day time limit in immigration detention cases has caused a stir amongst the committee, with Harriet Harman, the committee chairwoman, stating that: “Home Office immigration detention is arbitrary, unfair and breaches human rights. Repeated detention and release, which characterises the system, shows that it must be reformed”.
There is therefore no doubt that the committee will keep a close eye on whether Kennedy can help overturn the Home Office’s decision and propose a solution which would establish a set time limit for those in UK immigration detention.
Read more: Gherson Immigration, https://is.gd/Givayx
