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Woman reports rape - and is arrested on immigration charges

36 replies

RhuBarbarella · 28/11/2017 10:37

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."

OP posts:
RebelRogue · 05/12/2017 17:01

She was arrested because she reported the rape. No one even knew she was in the country until then,illegally or not. It all came to light due to the complaint. That's what it's fucked up about this.
Do you really want victims of crime to keep quiet because of fear for deportation?

Or if you are the victim of a crime the witnesses refusing to come over because they're illegal?

saladdays66 · 05/12/2017 17:07

Agree with this, Piffle - Being a victim of one crime doesn't absolve you from the responsibility of committing another (unrelated) crime.

But there are too many unanswered questions here.Was she being held in Germany against her will? How did she escape? How did she get from Germany to here? Why is she here? Why only report the rape here?

RhuBarbarella · 07/12/2017 07:18

‘It beggars belief’ – A Polish man evicted at knifepoint from his home along with his wife has been held in immigration detention for more than two months after they reported the crime. Miroslaw Zieba, 48, and his wife Mariola Zieba, 37, said they went to the police after their landlord and two other men attacked them in their flat. Miroslaw Zieba is an EU national who was legally working in the UK. He has criminal convictions in Poland dating back to the 1990s for which he has already served prison time, and which cannot be used to deport him. He remains in the Colnbrook removal centre at Heathrow. Solicitor Fahad Ansari said Theresa May’s “hostile environment” for foreign nationals left them at risk of becoming easy prey for criminals because of the fear of being deported if they contacted police.

OP posts:
CritEqual · 10/12/2017 19:11

There shouldn't be concern as most migrants are overwhelmingly male. In fact I think it's a feminist issue that we shouldn't be seeing demographic shifts too far in favour of males.

A physical crime against a person like murder, assault and rape is far more a serious offense than illegal immigration. I'd take dozens of extra illegal immigrants over one single rapist, every time!

cdtaylornats · 10/12/2017 22:16

CritEqual - how do you stop all female illegal immigrants from claiming rape?

What stops someone, arrested and about to be deported suddenly deciding last nights consensual sex was rape.

Does being raped trump an international arrest warrant?

Theresnonamesleft · 10/12/2017 22:28

Did you not read that Miroslaw Zieba was arrested for having possession of a knife?
The HO have always tried to deport violent offenders. He has been convicted of violent offences in Poland.

CritEqual · 11/12/2017 04:30

We don't need to deport a single solitary female illegal immigrant as their numbers make up a small proportion of the immigration numbers anyway. I wouldn't even bother with worrying about it until immigration numbers are broadly 50/50 between the genders.

CritEqual · 11/12/2017 04:32

In fact I'd go one further and announce a public amnesty for each and every illegal female immigrant and automatic residency. As we are talking about extremely vulnerable women and girls, often trafficking victims etc.

Fffion · 11/12/2017 04:51

If she has been trafficked, which is what most people will infer from this dreadfully written article, then it is no surprise that she has been referred to the Home Office.

Theresnonamesleft · 11/12/2017 07:03

Reading other sources about the woman she was issued with a IS96. This allowed her temporary leave to remain. Without this document she wouldn’t have been able to access medical care easily nor housing because she lacked documentation.

When she reported she told police that she came in illegally. As a single pregnant female surely they had a duty of care towards her and had to inform thE HO. Police cannot issue documents. However, it is also claimed an anonymous tip-off was made about her status, so it could have been anyone.

I am not saying this was handled in a good way. However she couldn’t just be left without papers.

As for granting all females amnesty males facing deportation would surely have a strong case proving discrimination.

Topher2488 · 12/12/2017 18:37

This is unacceptable. All it does is make people reluctant to come forward. It's difficult enough to prosecute and convict in rape cases without shit like this discouraging victims even more.

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