The Home Office has claimed today that it holds no usable data on violence against women and girls committed by asylum seekers or illegal migrants. Head in sand…
Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities Joy Morrissey asked what assessment had been made of the prevalence of VAWG among crimes committed by people in the UK without legal immigration status. Home Office minister Sarah Jones offered no figures at all and said “asylum seekers are clearly advised of the expectations the Home Office and accommodation providers have for them to behave responsibly while they are accommodated in Home Office properties and not to engage in any form of criminal or anti-social activity.” Curious wording…
Asked whether the age profile of female victims of crimes allegedly committed by asylum seekers differs from that of victims of comparable offences by the wider population, the department said flatly that it “has not made an assessment” before adding the non-sequitur that “All criminal offences are investigated by the police and prosecuted independently where appropriate.” Ask the police – we don’t know!
Asked to estimate how many women and girls have been victims of violence or sexual offences allegedly committed by small boat arrivals in each of the last five years, Jones said the Home Office “does not centrally hold data that would enable an estimate to be made of the number of women and girls who have been victims of sexual offences allegedly committed by people who entered the UK illegally by small boat.” Blind…
Asked what immigration status data is collected on alleged perpetrators, the answer was that “Immigration Enforcement records immigration status information for individuals referred to it by the police for operational purposes“. That “does not represent all alleged perpetrators of violence against women and girls and is not routinely collated by VAWG offence type or the age of the victim“. And there are “currently no plans to publish the data in this format.” Remember – Labour has pledged to halve violence against women and girls within a decade…
Asked by Lobby hacks about his past comments on Trump (“any UK politician who gave Trump the time of day should be ashamed right now”) Burnham was blithe:
“Politicians say things throughout their career, but now the important thing is to focus on the moment you are in.”
Were it so easy…