That the Parliament notes that the UK Government’s Nationality and Borders Bill proposes significant changes to UK asylum and immigration legislation, which will damage people living in communities across Scotland and the UK, now and in the future; recognises that the Bill contains two provisions that trigger the requirement for legislative consent and that a legislative consent memorandum recommending that the Parliament withholds its consent to those clauses was lodged on 1 February 2022; notes that the Welsh Parliament has refused consent; is concerned by the creation of a National Age Assessment Board with powers to scrutinise age assessments using "scientific techniques", which Scottish Government guidance advises against on child welfare and unreliability grounds; notes that these provisions will impose time limits and damaging measures affecting assessment of credibility in human trafficking applications; condemns these provisions, as well as proposals in the Bill for differential treatment of refugees based on how they arrived rather than their protection needs, measures that criminalise vulnerable people seeking protection, “push-back” provisions that will put lives at sea at risk and open the door for offshore asylum accommodation, and powers to revoke citizenship without notice, and agrees that the Bill will not achieve its aims or the change that is needed to ensure that the UK’s asylum and immigration systems are effective, efficient and deliver for people in need of humanitarian protection, according to international human rights obligations.
Supported by:
Ben Macpherson, Christina McKelvie, Angus Robertson, Shona Robison, Emma Roddick, Paul Sweeney
Result 94 for, 29 against, 0 abstained, 6 did not vote Vote Passed
Scottish National Party
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Scottish Labour
Scottish Green Party
Scottish Liberal Democrats
No Party Affiliation
Submitted by: Donald Cameron, Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date lodged: Monday, February 21, 2022
Current status: Taken in the chamber on Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Result 29 for, 92 against, 0 abstained, 8 did not vote Vote Defeated