Theresa May’s hostile environment towards immigrants was exposed in full today after it was reported a pregnant woman was arrested after she sought care from the authorities.
The woman, who was five months pregnant at the time of her arrest, attended a London police station in March to report being kidnapped and raped over a six month period .
According to Politics.co.uk officers took her to the Havens sexual assault centre, which provides care for women who have been sexually assaulted, where 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 arrest is the latest in a string of examples where government departments and charity outreach services have turned into immigration enforcement divisions under the orders of the Home Office.
According to a Freedom of Information request tip-offs from the police to the Home Office shot up from 634 in 2014 to 3,372 in 2015.
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