Meeting of the Parliament 26 June 2025
The Scottish Greens will support the LCM at decision time.
However, I want to get the following comments, which relate to clause 38 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, on the record. As it stands, clause 38 of the bill will repeal certain provisions of the Illegal Migration Act 2023—specifically sections 24 and 28, which disapplied specific powers and duties of the Scottish ministers that are in the Human Traffic and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015. Neither of those sections has been fully brought into force. We support the repeal of those sections and would like to see the whole Illegal Migration Act 2023 repealed.
It is disappointing that the UK Government saw fit not to repeal section 29 of the 2023 act as well. It focuses on disqualifying protections for individuals who are identified as potential victims of modern slavery or trafficking if they are deemed, according to the act, to be
“a threat to public order or ... have claimed to be victims in bad faith”.
Some might say that that is fair, but a key provision of the 2023 act is the expansion of the definition of a “threat to public order” to include anyone who is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence and those who are liable for deportation under the Immigration Act 1971. That means that victims of trafficking could still be detained and face removal rather than receiving support, and it applies even if they were coerced or forced into entering the UK irregularly by their traffickers.