WOMEN’S groups have expressed dismay after the government rejected calls to create a firewall between the police and the Home Office to protect migrant victims of abuse. 

The Domestic Abuse Commissioner has also condemned the decision, warning it plays into the hands of perpetrators who threaten victims with deportation if they report abuse to the police. 

The criticism comes in response to the publication of the Home Office’s long-awaited review into concerns around data sharing between police and immigration enforcement on Thursday. 

The review was launched after Southall Black Sisters and Liberty submitted a police super-complaint in 2018 detailing how the practice prevents migrant women reporting abuse for fear of being criminalised. 

It also showed that in many cases perpetrators of abuse were able to use fears of immigration enforcement as a form of coercive control. 

As a result, women's groups and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs recommended that the Home Office create a firewall between the police and immigration enforcement, to enable victims to safely report abuse. 

However the Home Office has rejected these calls. 

Responding to the decision, Gisella Valle from Latin American Women’s Rights Service and Pragna Patel from Southall Black Sisters said in a joint statement: “We are dismayed by the outcome of the Home Review. 

“By rejecting our proposal for a meaningful firewall between the police and immigration enforcement, the government has clearly signalled the view that immigration enforcement takes priority over the safety of victims.”

Ms Jacobs said: “I am extremely disappointed with today’s decision and very concerned that the measures put forward today will be inadequate when it comes to keeping migrant victims of domestic abuse safe from perpetrators and free from the risk of being deported for reporting their abuse.”