Housing: Crackdown On ‘Illegal’ Immigrants Leading to Discrimination Against Ethnic Minority Britons
Categories: Articles:Asylum & Refugees |
Published: 15/02/2017 |
Views: 1362
Foreigners and British citizens without passports, particularly those from ethnic minorities, are being discriminated against in the private rental housing market as a result of the Right to Rent scheme designed to crack down on irregular immigration, according to a new report by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI).
The Right to Rent scheme requires landlords and agents to check the immigration status of all prospective tenants and refuse a tenancy to irregular migrants. If they fail to fully comply with the scheme they face a fine of up to £3,000 or a prison sentence of up to five years. The scheme creates structural incentives for landlords to discriminate unlawfully against foreigners and ethnic minorities, says the report. Currently in force in England and poised for imminent roll-out in the devolved regions, the scheme "does not contain adequate safeguards against discrimination, adequate mechanisms to monitor discrimination, or any form of redress for victims of discrimination". JCWI has called on the government to abandon it and to immediately halt any plans for roll-out. Read more at Scottish Legal News
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