Woman reports rape - and is arrested on immigration charges

[RhuBarbarella]

The bloody state of this.. And it's not just the Tories who encourage or go along with this hostile environment, Sadiq Khan appears to be fine with this.

www.politics.co.uk/news/2017/11/28/woman-reports-rape-to-police-and-is-arrested-on-immigration

"A woman who reported being kidnapped and raped over a six month period to the police was arrested as she sought care, Politics.co.uk can reveal.
The shocking case reveals how far Theresa May's 'hostile environment' towards immigrants has gone and raises serious questions about whether immigration enforcement practices are now discouraging the victims of crimes from reporting them to the police.
The woman, who was five months pregnant at the time of her arrest, attended a London police station in March to report that she had been kidnapped and raped in Germany between September 2016 and March 2017.
Officers took her to the Havens sexual assault centre, which provides care for women who have been sexually assaulted.
But while there, she was suddenly arrested and taken into custody at an east London police station. She was then interrogated over her immigration status.
"It is shocking and incredibly upsetting to hear of this situation, where a rape victim is treated as a criminal rather than getting the care and support she needs," Fizza Qureshi, director of the Migrants' Rights Network, told Politics.co.uk.
"If the police are treating victims of crime who happen to be undocumented migrants as perpetrators, it will deter other victims and witnesses from coming forward. There must be avenues of safe-reporting for all victims regardless of their immigration status."
The Havens centre reacted furiously to the arrest, lodging a formal complaint with the Metropolitan police and raising the issue directly with commissioner Cressida Dick during her visit to the organisation earlier this year.
The arrest is just the latest example of government departments and charity outreach services turning into immigration enforcement divisions under the orders of the Home Office.
In August, a sex worker who had been raped at knifepoint faced deportation after reporting the case to the police.
A Freedom of Information request by Politics.co.uk earlier this year revealed that the police were routinely referring victims and witnesses and crime to the Home Office for immigration enforcement.
Tip-offs from the police shot up from 634 in 2014 to 3,372 in 2015.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has defended the practice, saying the police are "duty bound" to report victims of crime to the Home Office if there are "reasonable grounds" to question their immigration status.
Last week, Khan held a victims' summit where he spoke of the need to improve the experience of victims in the criminal justice system. At the event he said:
"It is essential that they are able to access the right support to help them recover and find justice...Without the confidence of victims to come forward and report crimes, we don’t catch the perpetrators, justice isn’t done and there’s the risk there’ll be more victims of crime down the line."
The Metropolitan police has confirmed that the Child and Sexual Offences Unit has referred the allegations of rape and kidnap to the German authorities."

[scottishdiem]

"Do you expect the women to be allowed to circumvent our immigration rules?"

And there is one way to circumvent rape laws. Just rape an immigrant. Sanctioned by Martina888.

Nice.

[greendale17]

Martina888

Do you expect the women to be allowed to circumvent our immigration rules?

What a nasty person you are

[RhuBarbarella]

What kind of question is that? Do you think this is a fine way to deal with a victim of a serious crime? Would you really rather have the perpetrator of these crimes free on the streets than protect the women they rape and assault? Because no woman in her right mind is going to go to the police if it means arrest and deportation. And make no mistake, men who prey on vulnerable women know this.

[cdtaylornats]

Is there any reason to suppose the police wont investigate the rape?

Which previous crimes should be excused because a woman is raped?
She killed her husband but we should let her off because right after she was raped?

How pray tell does the potential rapist identify an illegal immigrant?

[Martina888]

cdtay : exactly, I agree there

1. Inspect the crime
   
2. If the victim is an illegal immigrant then they must be subject to immigration law just the same as if she weren't a victim
   

The law is the law

[Martina888]

Being the victim of a crime, whatever that crime may be, does not give you the right to break the law.

[SilverySurfer]

No of course no-one wants the perpetrator roaming the streets. The police will no doubt investigate the rape and charge the person responsible if found but I fail to understand why that would that change her status as an illegal immigrant.

[RunningOutOfCharge]

Raped in Germany

Reports it at the 5 month stage of her pregnancy whilst being in this country illegally?

[PencilsInSpace]

That poor woman. Some people have no clue.

[Martina888]

What is the clue? Please tell us

[LizzieSiddal]

I’m really cinfliced here.

It’s good that she went to the police, her attackers need to be arrested and charged. But why didn’t she do it in Germany? What could the uk police be expected to do?

[Frequency]

Raped in Germany

Reports it at the 5 month stage of her pregnancy whilst being in this country illegally?

Not quite.

A woman who reported being kidnapped and raped over a six month period to the police was arrested as she sought care

Perhaps, next time, read the article properly?

And she didn't murder her husband, did she? She was raped. She was the victim. At first glance, it would appear she was trafficked. It's possible she did not come willingly to Europe.

[RunningOutOfCharge]

* The woman, who was five months pregnant at the time of her arrest, attended a London police station in March to report that she had been kidnapped and raped in Germany between September 2016 and March 2017.*

From the op..... I don't blindly click on 'links'

Perhaps don't assume people do?

[Frequency]

What I posted was from the OP?

To put it more clearly, the woman was kidnapped in September 2016, whilst in Germany, held against her will for six months and raped repeatedly. At some point during this ordeal she became pregnant.

In March 2017 she escaped her captors. In March 2017, she reported the kidnapping and assault (that's the same month her ordeal ended, just to be super clear) to the Met Police.

It's possible she was brought against her will to the UK, escaped and reported her kidnapping the same day she escaped. Of course, it's also possible that she escaped in Germany and did not feel safe to report it until she left Germany.

What she didn't do was wait five months to report it, hoping for free NHS care and asylum.

[Liara]

This kind of thing is what makes modern slavery continue to be able to exist in our society.

And anyone who thinks that this is OK, or that enforcing immigration rules is more important than doing absolutely everything in our power to combat modern slavery needs their fucking head examined, tbh.

[Ttbb]

The story is lacking crucial details. I assume she was trafficked to the uk? Or did she come to the uk after escaping her captors? If so why? Where did she come from before she was in Germany? Or is she German? Under what kind of visa was she in Germany? Was she actually arrested? If so on what grounds? Was she charged or were the charges dropped? Where did this information come from?

The reporting is so bad that it is impossible to make out what has actually happened here without make a fair few assumptions.

[RunningOutOfCharge]

Yes Ttb there's got to be a lot more to it

[Qwebec]

What it means is that illegal immigrants won't report crimes. There are seriously worse crimes than being in a country with out permission: rape, slavery, drug dealing, murder are a few that come to mind. Those people are at a much higer potental than the average citizen to witness it and you want them to be able to report it. If not out of decency then in order to keep the general population safe.

[WhoWants2Know]

There are so many women who have been trafficked into this country. Stories like this mean they won’t ask for help.

[IvorHughJarrs]

Unfortunately, awful though this is, allowing reporting of a crime to exempt somebody from immigration law could be the tip of an iceberg. There's no reason at all to suspect this woman is lying but, if her immigration status was overlooked and bearing in mind how hard these things are to prove, what would stop an illegal migrant reporting a non-existent rape/trafficking, etc in an attempt to circumvent the rules?

[Eltonjohnssyrup]

I suspect that there may be a concern that if reporting rape becomes a 'back door' route for illegal migrants to stay in the country there would be an awful lot of dubious claims starting to happen...very bad for genuine victims and the services they use.

[Liara]

Nobody is suggesting that victims of crime get an automatic right to remain forever - just that when someone goes to report a crime, their immigration status is not investigated, and their information is not passed on to the immigration authorities for subsequent use - I don't know why that is so hard to imagine or why anyone should think that it will lead to the reporting of imaginary crimes.

[Martina888]

how about other crimes then?

[PiffleandWiffle]

Surely it'd make sense to send her to Germany where the rape will be dealt with?

Not getting the outrage TBH - being a victim of one crime doesn't absolve you from the responsibility of committing another (unrelated) crime.