Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, is leading the plan. Photo: TOLGA AKMEN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Civil servants are trying to block plans to draw up league tables of migrant nationalities with the highest crime rates.
A proposal backed by 40 Conservative MPs as an amendment to the Bill criminal justice will require crime rates among migrants in each country. in England and Wales will be published annually.
Ministers will submit an annual report to Parliament detailing the citizenship, visa and asylum status of every offender convicted in the courts of England and Wales in the previous 12 months.< /p>< p>The move, first reported by The Telegraph and led by former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, will mirror the approach of some US states and Denmark, where league tables show crime rates among people from Kuwait, Tunisia, Lebanon and Somalia are much higher than in other states. Danish citizens.
It is clear that Home Affairs ministers support this plan in principle, as it will allow the government and law enforcement agencies to assess the extent of crime among specific migrant groups.
However, civil servants said Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, was likely to decide the amendment was not within the scope of the bill.
This means it would be seen as breaking legislation that is primarily aimed at tackling knife crime, drugs, anti-social behavior and other crimes.
There are also concerns in Whitehall that the bill turned into a «Christmas tree» with the possible addition of a host of amendments, including the decriminalization of abortion and the fight against county gangs.
Ministers are believed to be keen to get the data published regardless of the existence of legislation. “It can be done simply. You don’t need legislation,” the source said.
“It’s really mostly an operational issue. How do you collect data and check its reliability?
“There are all these considerations rather than legislative obligations in the future. The ministers liked this idea. We want to work out how to do it.”
The plan was backed by MPs from all wings of the Conservative Party, from former right-wing leader of the House of Commons Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg to Sir Robert Buckland, the former Justice Secretary, a One Nation Conservative.
Supporters of the league table plan believe it will help the government strengthen immigration policy in three ways.
Firstly, they said it would allow the Home Office to tighten its checks on visas from countries whose citizens are associated with higher crime rates. in the UK.
A similar approach can be applied to asylum applications. They also argue it will allow the Home Office to focus on deportation and return agreements in those countries.
“We cannot hope to fix our immigration system without understanding the problem. The national debate about legal and illegal migration is hampered by a lack of data on the financial, economic and social impacts of migration,” Mr Jenrick said.
“There is growing concern that the UK is importing crime, particularly violent crime, sexual assault and drug production. We need transparency so that the public knows what is happening so that policies can be formulated accordingly.”
Denmark has strong immigration policies.
Danish government data on migrant crime allows researchers to create league tables showing which countries with the highest levels of immigration. conviction rate compared to Danish citizens.
Citizens of Japan, the USA, Australia, Austria, Argentina and India have the lowest conviction rates — half that of the Danes, while more than 40 countries have higher conviction rates for violent crimes. < /p>
Denmark has one of the toughest immigration policies in Europe and is seeking to work with other EU countries to deport migrants to a third country outside the bloc where their applications will be processed shelters.
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