In relation to clauses 13 and 14: a. The Government should give consideration to amending the scope of the offences to ensure that they only apply to persons involved in the smuggling of persons for direct or indirect financial or material gain. (See Amendments 1 and 2, Annex). b. The mental threshold should be changed from “knows or suspects” to “intends” that, or is “reckless” as to whether, the relevant article is to be used in connection with the commission of the specified immigration offences. (See Amendments 3 and 4, Annex). c. The defence of “reasonable excuse” ought to explicitly provide that it must be interpreted compatibly with Article 31 of the Refugee Convention, Article 5 of the Smuggling Protocol, and section 26 of the Council of Europe Convention Against Trafficking. (See Amendments 5 and 6, Annex) 60 d. The offences in clauses 13 and 14 should be added to the existing defence in section 31 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. This would, in certain circumstances, provide a defence to refugees who come to the UK directly from a country where their life or freedom was threatened. (See Amendment 7, Annex). (Recommendation, Paragraph a)) (Recommendation, Paragraph 51)