Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said there would be ‘robust safeguards in place to prevent wrongful account closures’, but Amnesty UK warned people ‘with good claims and even rights’ to be in the UK could be prevented from banking
Banking checks on accounts opened by people suspected to be living in the UK illegally have been restarted by the Home Office, as officials relaunch a controversial hostile environment policy that was suspended following the Windrush scandal.
The current accounts will be closed in a new data-sharing agreement with the financial sector. The initiative is part of a package of measures designed to deter illegal migration and illegal working, by making it harder for people without confirmed immigration status to be paid.
