The Home Office says it has taken on board concerns raised by a practitioner group about the safety of immigration lawyers.

Last month Jonathan Griffin, chief executive of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, wrote to the prime minister and home secretary about the ‘growing climate of hostility’ towards members. Rather than being respected for their vital work in upholding the rule of law and representing some of the most vulnerable members of society, practitioners representing migrants were themselves being targeted,’Griffin said, citing the treatment of Leigh Day solicitor Jacqueline McKenzie as an example.

In a letter published on ILPA’s website, David Raderecht, the Home Office’s head of direct communications unit, replied that the legal profession ‘plays a vital role in ensuring the proper functioning of our justice system and the professional excellence of our legal services is something of which we should all be proud’.

The Home Office ‘remain committed to providing protection to asylum seekers and would never demonise people coming to this country in pursuit of a better life’, Raderecht said – but was unable to comment on media coverage.

Raderecht assured Griffin that the comments in his letter notehad been noted. ‘The Home Office recognises just how emotive the topic of asylum and immigration is and we regularly review the language that is being used and consider all feedback and comments in this respect,’ he added.

 

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