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The UK immigration status of domestic abuse victims should not be shared by police, according to a groundbreaking investigation. A report into the first ever ‘super complaint’ submitted by Liberty and Southall Black Sisters and published by three police oversight bodies, details the police practice of sharing victims’ immigration data with the Home Office.
According to the investigation, the police practice of sharing the UK immigration status of domestic abuse victims causes ‘significant harm’ to public interest. The report found that migrant victims of domestic violence in the UK are less likely to report crimes because they fear their information being shared with the Home Office.
In turn, this leaves them vulnerable to further abuse. The report called for a ‘complete firewall’ to prevent police from sharing data with the Home Office, despite concerns that this could also be damaging to the public interest.
Government rejects data-sharing block
On previous occasions, the government has rejected any attempt to block data-sharing between the police and the UK Visas and Immigration department of the Home Office. However, the report said that in respect of domestic abuse victims where there’s no clear evidence of any UK immigration offence, police should cease sharing data.
Lawyer at Liberty, Lara ten Caten, said: “Right now, data-sharing between the police and Home Office leaves many afraid to report crimes in case they or their loved ones have their data shared with immigration enforcement. Demand for change has been growing for some time. This report makes it impossible for the government and police to ignore any longer.”
“We are calling for police and the government to go further than the recommendations in this report by committing to a data firewall to safeguard all victims and witnesses of crime – not just domestic abuse victims,” ten Caten added.
The investigation, carried out by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, the College of Policing and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), said it was unclear if all data-sharing between the police and the Home Office on victims of crime with insecure immigration status was for immigration enforcement purposes.
However, the report did state that in some cases, data-sharing did occur for this purpose. In fact, in some instances, the report discovered that police had prioritised immigration enforcement ahead of protecting victims of crime.
Meanwhile, the report also highlighted that there was no evidence to suggest that data-sharing between the police and the Home Office supported the protection of domestic abuse victims.
Officers only concerned by UK immigration status
The three police oversight bodies suggested that where officers purely had concerns about the UK immigration status of a victim, but there was no evidence to support their concerns, they should immediately cease sharing information with UK immigration enforcement.
The oversight bodies said this should include victims of ‘honour-based abuse and female genital mutilation.’ The Home Office recently revealed that in 2019-20, UK police forces recorded 2,024 honour-based abuse crimes in the first official statistics on the issue.
Rather than reporting people to UK immigration authorities, the report suggested that police officers should refer victims to a third party that can provide advice.
Michael Lockwood, the IOPC director general, said: “Victims must have confidence that, regardless of their immigration status, their allegations will be robustly investigated and given a high priority.”
“Domestic abuse is a horrific crime and it is deeply concerning that we found vulnerable people were afraid to report crimes for fear of information being shared with immigration enforcement,” Mr Lockwood added.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for immigration crime and chief constable for Devon and Cornwall police, Shaun Sawyer, said: “The police priority is to protect victims and investigate crime, and we are extremely careful about doing anything to deter victims from reporting to us.”
Immigration data-sharing helps the vulnerable
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Home Office said: “Our priority is to protect the public and victims of crime, regardless of their immigration status.”
There are many examples of when data-sharing between the police and Immigration Enforcement has helped vulnerable people, such as victims of domestic abuse, access support services and secure their immigration status. We are closely reviewing this report’s recommendations and will respond in due course,” the spokesperson added.
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