Extract from Commons UQ
on Rape as a Weapon of War in Ukraine
(Kingston upon Hull North)
(Lab): The Minister has talked about another consequence of
war being human trafficking, particularly for sexual
exploitation. Can she say a bit more about what we are doing as a
country to aid international investigations into human
trafficking? Secondly, will she speak to her colleagues in the
Home Office about the role of the National Crime
Agency particularly in relation to Ukrainian women
who might be advertised for rape on pimps’ websites that are on a
lot of social media platforms?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign,
Commonwealth and Development Affairs (): These are really
important issues, and I completely agree with the right hon. Lady
about how important it is to highlight them, especially the issue
of safeguarding. That is why I had a discussion about
safeguarding with the Charity Commission earlier this week.
Significant work is also happening through Interpol to look at
the situation on the ground. It is important to remind people
that they are at risk of sexual exploitation and of modern-day
slavery, which can involve sex workers. As I said earlier, we are
aware of reports of civilians being forcibly removed, which is
another violation of international humanitarian law. That is why
we continue to support efforts to investigate the violation of
human rights and international humanitarian law.
To read all the exchanges, CLICK HERE
Extract from UQ on
Homes for Ukraine Scheme
(Kingston upon Hull North)
(Lab): What action has the Department taken following the
letter to the Secretary of State last week from 16 refugee and
anti-trafficking charities setting out their concerns about the
Homes for Ukraine scheme potentially being a Tinder for sex
traffickers? We have seen men advertising for Ukrainian wives,
and children posting on Facebook. Does the National Crime
Agency have a view about the scheme and is it
looking at sites such as Vivastreet, which advertises trafficked
women—I am particularly worried about Ukrainian trafficked
women—for sex? Will the Minister say what exactly the Department
is doing?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities (): The Government are
alive to all the concerns that the right hon. Lady mentions. We
are collectively putting in effort to ensure that we close off
areas where there are problems. Fundamentally, we are making sure
that safety checks are completed at the point that the
application is submitted and subsequently that the enhanced
Disclosure and Barring Service checks are carried out. Finally, a
representative from the council will see the sponsor and the
guest to determine whether there are any safeguarding concerns.
There are multiple gates through which people will pass in order
to maximise the application of safety at all stages.
To read all the exchanges, CLICK HERE
Written statement on
Work of the Home Office
The Secretary of State for the Home Department (): Today I am updating
Parliament on Home Office delivery since my statement of 16
December 2021. The Department is committed to delivering better
outcomes for the public and will continue to work to deliver a
safer, fairer and more prosperous United Kingdom.
The Home Office's humanitarian response to Russia's invasion of
Ukraine and our delivery of robust economic crime measures
I am working with the Ukrainian Government and international
partners to hold Putin to account and support the brave people of
Ukraine.
The Government launched two humanitarian schemes to provide a
safe route for Ukrainians who want to come to the UK, quickly
standing up the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine
Scheme. We streamlined the process to allow Ukrainians with valid
passports to apply purely online and continue to work with
partners to ensure that Ukrainians arriving here can access the
right support.
The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act provides
greater powers to sanction oligarchs and businesses associated
with the Russian Government. The Government have brought forth an
additional 428 sanction designations since Royal Assent on 15
March. The legislation also introduces a new register of overseas
entities, requiring those behind foreign companies which own UK
property to reveal their identities, and strengthens the
unexplained wealth orders regime.
The oligarch taskforce is helping build cases against its list of
oligarchs. Internationally, we are clamping down on sanctions
evasion across jurisdictions through the Russian elites, proxies
and oligarchs international taskforce. The National Crime
Agency’s Combating Kleptocracy Unit is providing
operational capability to target corrupt elites as well as the
professional enablers of these corrupt elites and support
criminal cross-HMG sanctions delivery and enforcement.
Reducing crime
We are focused on delivering our beating crime plan, making
Britain safer with less crime, fewer victims and safer
streets.
As of 31 December 2021, we have recruited over 11,000 police
officers, against our target of 20,000 by March 2023.
Our work on serious violence has provided services to those
communities most affected. We launched round four of the safer
streets fund which directs funding to projects tackling
acquisitive crime, anti-social behaviour and violence against
women and girls. We are making progress on our work to tackle
violence against women and girls; we have published our violence
against women and girls strategy, published the first ever
stand-alone domestic abuse plan and launched the “Enough”
communications campaign which highlights the action people can
take to safely challenge violence against women and girls.
The Angiolini inquiry, set up to better understand how a serving
police officer was able to abduct, rape and murder Sarah Everard
and ensure that lessons for policing are identified and learned,
started work in January 2022. The independent inquiry to
investigate the death of Dawn Sturgess was formally established
on 17 March 2022.
Reducing the risk from terrorism to the UK and UK interests
overseas, securing a safe and prosperous UK
In February, the threat to the UK from terrorism was reduced to
substantial from severe. Whilst positive, the security landscape
remains complex, volatile and unpredictable as the attack outside
Liverpool women's hospital and the killing of sadly reminds us. The Home
Office continues in its efforts, working with operational
partners, to build improvements into the UK’s counter-terrorism
response.
Enabling the legitimate movement of people and goods to support
economic prosperity
Since launching the points-based immigration system, we have
continued to attract worldwide talent and skills whilst
encouraging business to invest in British people. Latest
statistics show the number of visas issued across work and study
routes is now exceeding pre-pandemic levels, 677,000 in 2021.
We will in the coming period implement the plan for growth
measures, including the launch of the new global business
mobility routes, high potential individual route and scale-up
route, which support inward trade and investment and provide UK
businesses access to a more flexible pool of highly-skilled
workers.
Alongside new routes, we expanded capability for a fully digital
application process in December 2021, improving our ability to
re-use and re-check biometrics, allowing more people to benefit
from a fully digital journey.
We have supported the care sector to boost their workforce by
expanding eligibility for the health and social care visa to
include health care assistants.
I announced a joint National Crime
Agency and leading social media companies action plan to
foster greater collaboration against crime groups that use online
platforms to advertise illegal migration services; relevant
illegal online content is already being removed.
Tackling illegal migration, removing those with no right to be
here, and protecting the vulnerable
The Home Office is working to deliver a fair but firm system to
ensure that we can better support those in genuine need of
asylum, deter illegal migration, break the business model of
criminal smuggling networks and remove from the UK those with no
right to be here.
Last year, I launched and consulted on my new plan for
immigration and introduced the Nationality and Borders Bill,
which is advancing through Parliament on its path to Royal
Assent.
The Bill will reset the legislative framework to meet objectives
including the reduction of small boat crossings and deterring
illegal entry into the UK. It incorporates tougher criminal
offences for those attempting to enter the UK illegally by
introducing a suite of asylum reforms and expedited processes to
allow rapid removal of those with no right to be here.
We have worked with France to dismantle 21 small boat organised
criminal groups and secured over 500 arrests. Our joint activity
with France prevented more than 23,000 crossings in 2021. Over
4,500 crossings have already been prevented in 2022, nearly three
times the number to this point in 2021.
I signed landmark agreements with Serbia and Albania to return
those nationals who have no legal right to be in the UK.
Our new and bespoke Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS)
opened on 6 January. This is one of the most ambitious
resettlement schemes in British history. The first people to be
resettled under the scheme included some of the c. 15,000 people
who arrived in the UK under Operation Pitting, the largest
humanitarian aid operation since the second world war, which
prioritised those at particular risk, including women’s rights
activists, prosecutors, and journalists.
Windrush
Our commitment to righting the wrongs done to the Windrush
generation has not faltered. The “Windrush Lessons Learned
Review—Progress Update” was published today. There is still more
to do, but I am proud of our achievements and will ensure we can
make the Home Office an even better place, serving the public
with compassion, respect, collaboration and courage at the heart
of everything it does.
