Medical Justice is deeply concerned by the passing of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 and opposes the legislation in its entirety. The Act effectively amounts to a ban on claiming asylum in the UK by most asylum seekers. Amongst many other worrying provisions, the Act greatly increases the Home Secretary’s powers of detention, expands who can be detained, including in relation to children, and curtails judicial scrutiny and effective avenues for challenging a person’s detention.
During the Act’s passage through Parliament, Medical Justice supported MPs and Peers with their efforts to oppose the legislation and highlight its damaging effects. Our activities included organising in-person meetings, providing written briefings, working with Peers to table amendments, writing to Ministers, and media work. We worked collaboratively with other organisations who share our concerns.
You can access all written materials on the Act produced by Medical Justice, either individually or jointly with other organisations, below.
Commons Committee stage (27-28 March 2023)
Joint briefing on detention of pregnant women (23 March 2023) – Medical Justice, Birth Companions, British Medical Association, Maternity Action, Royal College of Midwives, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and Women for Refugee Women
Briefing on detention provisions of the Illegal Migration Bill (24 March 2023) – Medical Justice
Lords’ stages – general
Sector-wide strategy meeting for Lords’ stages (18 April 2023) – organised by Medical Justice and Garden Court Chambers. Four peers attended, along with their special advisors and over 40 representatives from 27 NGOs. Lessons were shared from previous Bills and a proposed strategy was agreed in relation to amendments, further meetings and wider coordination.
Lords Second Reading (10 May 2023)
Joint briefing on medical consequences of the Illegal Migration Bill (20 April 2023) – Medical Justice, Doctors of the World, Freedom from Torture, Helen Bamber Foundation, Maternity Action and Médecins Sans Frontières
Online briefing meeting for peers on Illegal Migration Bill – Notes (3 May 2023) – the meeting was organised by Medical Justice and chaired by Baroness Chakrabarti (Labour). Fifteen cross-party peers attended, along with their special advisors and over 45 representatives from 35 NGOs. The discussion covered all aspects of the Bill: experts by experience provided their views on the legislation, and additional presentations were provided by Medical Justice, JUSTICE, Refugee Council, ECPAT UK, Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium, Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX), Immigration Law Practitioners Association, Garden Court Chambers, Refugee Action, and Women for Refugee Women. Notes from the meeting (link above) were shared with peers to assist in their preparation for the Bill.
Joint briefing on Illegal Migration Bill (5 May 2023)– Medical Justice, Anti-Slavery International, Anti-Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU), Bail for Immigration Detainees, Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), Detention Action, Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX), Helen Bamber Foundation, Human Rights Watch, Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA), JustRight Scotland, Liberty, Northern Ireland Human Rights Consortium, No Accommodation Network (NACCOM), the PILS Project, Praxis, Public Law Project, Rainbow Migration, Refugee Action, Refugee Council, Scottish Refugee Council, Welsh Civil Society Forum, and Women for Refugee Women
Open letter to the Home Secretary on medical consequences of the Illegal Migration Bill (10 May 2023) – Medical Justice, British Medical Association, Doctors of the World UK, Faculty of Public Health, Freedom From Torture, Helen Bamber Foundation, International Child Health Group, Maternity Action, Médecins Sans Frontières UK, Medical Justice, Royal College of Nursing, Unison, Unite
Joint civil society solidarity statement on the Illegal Migration Bill (10 May 2023) – Medical Justice and 180 other organisations
Joint briefing on child detention (10 May 2023) – Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium (RMCC), including Medical Justice
Joint letter to the Times on detention of pregnant women (11 May 2023) – Medical Justice, Birth Companions, British Medical Association, Maternity Action, Royal College of Midwives, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Women for Refugee Women
Joint briefing on detention provisions in the Illegal Migration Bill (19 May 2023) – Medical Justice, Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), Detention Action, and Women for Refugee Women
Lords Committee Stage (24 May, 5, 7, 12, and 14 June 2023)
Written briefings for each of the amendments below, tabled by peers at Medical Justice’s suggestion:
- Amendment 62 – limiting detention only to those facilities already authorised for detention (IRCs, STHFs, PDAs, prisons etc) and creating a duty to consult local residents before opening new facilities – tabled by Lord German (Liberal Democrat) and the Lord Bishop of Durham
- Amendment 68 – creating a statutory ban on the use of force against children and pregnant women to effect detention and removal – tabled by Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour), Baroness Gohir (crossbencher), the Lord Bishop of Gloucester, and Baroness Chakrabarti (Labour)
- Amendment 78 – creating an exemption from the detention ouster clause for people with medical report evidencing their vulnerability – tabled by the Lord Bishop of Durham, Baroness Lister, and Baroness Neuberger (crossbencher)
Amendment 139B – placing the Home Secretary under a duty to implement HMIP recommendations made in relation to immigration detention, and to do so within 6 months – tabled by the Lord Bishop of Durham, Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat) and Baroness Lister
- Amendment 142 – preventing the implementation of any substantive parts of the Bill until the Chair of the Brook House Inquiry has published her report and the government has explained how it will put into practice her recommendations – tabled by Lord German
Joint briefing on the Illegal Migration Bill and its impact on children (25 May 2023) – Medical Justice, British Association of Social Workers, British Medical Association, Refugee Council, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Joint briefing on child detention (30 May 2023) – Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium, including Medical Justice
Lords Report Stage (28 June, 3, and 5 July 2023)
Joint briefing on child detention (27 June 2023) – Medical Justice, Article 39, Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), Barnardo’s, Children England, Citizens UK, Children’s Rights Alliance for England, the Children’s Society, Coram, Detention Action, ECPAT UK, Helen Bamber Foundation, National Children’s Bureau, National Youth Advocacy Service, Plan International, Refugee Council, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Safe Passage, Save The Children, Together With Refugees
Joint briefing on Clause 1 / Amendment 5 to the Illegal Migration Bill (28 June 2023) – Medical Justice and over 50 other organisations
Joint briefing on immigration bail, judicial review and habeas corpus (28 June 2023) – Medical Justice, Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), Detention Action, ILPA, Liberty, Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), Public Law Project
For Commons consideration of Lords amendments (11 July 2023)
Joint briefing on immigration bail, judicial review and habeas corpus (10 July 2023) – Medical Justice, BID, Detention Action, ILPA
Joint briefing on Clause 1 of the Illegal Migration Bill (10 July) – Medical Justice and over 65 other organisations
Open letter to the Prime Minister on the detention of children (11 July 2023) – Medical Justice and over 150 other organisations
Anti-trafficking sector joint briefing on Clause 1 of the Illegal Migration Bill and compliance with international obligations (11 July 2023) – Medical Justice and over 30 other organisations
Royal Assent
Joint civil society statement on the passage of the Illegal Migration Act – Medical Justice and over 285 other organisations (18 July 2023)
