Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children have been admitted to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016; and how many applications are still outstanding.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Immigration Act states that we will transfer unaccompanied refugee children. Our criteria under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 are intended to ensure that we are focusing on the most vulnerable children. In France, we will be considering those aged 12 and under of any nationality, children referred to us by the French authorities as being at a high risk of sexual exploitation of any nationality, and those nationalities most likely to qualify for refugee status in the UK, aged 15 and below.
All unaccompanied asylum seeking children with close family in the UK will continue to be considered for transfer under the criteria set out in the Dublin Regulation, regardless of age or nationality. Between 1 January and 1 October 2016, over 140 unaccompanied asylum seeking children were accepted for transfer under the Dublin Regulation, compared to around 20 children in the whole of 2015. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, regularly publishes Member State figures for Dublin transfers.
Furthermore, since 10 October, we have transferred over 300 unaccompanied minors to the UK from France. This includes over 80 girls, many of whom were identified as being at a high risk of sexual exploitation; and more than 200 unaccompanied asylum seeking children with close family links to the UK under the Dublin Regulation. The Home Secretary told Parliament on 24 October that several hundred more children and young people will be brought to the UK in the coming days and weeks.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children have been admitted to the UK under the Dublin III Regulation; and how many applications remain outstanding.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Immigration Act states that we will transfer unaccompanied refugee children. Our criteria under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 are intended to ensure that we are focusing on the most vulnerable children. In France, we will be considering those aged 12 and under of any nationality, children referred to us by the French authorities as being at a high risk of sexual exploitation of any nationality, and those nationalities most likely to qualify for refugee status in the UK, aged 15 and below.
All unaccompanied asylum seeking children with close family in the UK will continue to be considered for transfer under the criteria set out in the Dublin Regulation, regardless of age or nationality. Between 1 January and 1 October 2016, over 140 unaccompanied asylum seeking children were accepted for transfer under the Dublin Regulation, compared to around 20 children in the whole of 2015. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, regularly publishes Member State figures for Dublin transfers.
Furthermore, since 10 October, we have transferred over 300 unaccompanied minors to the UK from France. This includes over 80 girls, many of whom were identified as being at a high risk of sexual exploitation; and more than 200 unaccompanied asylum seeking children with close family links to the UK under the Dublin Regulation. The Home Secretary told Parliament on 24 October that several hundred more children and young people will be brought to the UK in the coming days and weeks.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they have applied to the assessment of unaccompanied refugee children from the Calais camp.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Immigration Act states that we will transfer unaccompanied refugee children. Our criteria under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 are intended to ensure that we are focusing on the most vulnerable children. In France, we will be considering those aged 12 and under of any nationality, children referred to us by the French authorities as being at a high risk of sexual exploitation of any nationality, and those nationalities most likely to qualify for refugee status in the UK, aged 15 and below.
All unaccompanied asylum seeking children with close family in the UK will continue to be considered for transfer under the criteria set out in the Dublin Regulation, regardless of age or nationality. Between 1 January and 1 October 2016, over 140 unaccompanied asylum seeking children were accepted for transfer under the Dublin Regulation, compared to around 20 children in the whole of 2015. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, regularly publishes Member State figures for Dublin transfers.
Furthermore, since 10 October, we have transferred over 300 unaccompanied minors to the UK from France. This includes over 80 girls, many of whom were identified as being at a high risk of sexual exploitation; and more than 200 unaccompanied asylum seeking children with close family links to the UK under the Dublin Regulation. The Home Secretary told Parliament on 24 October that several hundred more children and young people will be brought to the UK in the coming days and weeks.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what dedicated and expert resources they have in each department to support bereaved families and survivors in the event of a terrorist attack.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government, law enforcement, and the security and intelligence agencies work tirelessly to prevent terrorist attacks wherever possible. Resources are in place for the provision of general and specialist support for those affected by terrorist attacks either in the UK or abroad, including bereaved families and survivors.
A range of medical, psychological, liaison, and compensation support arrangements can be provided suited to the specific circumstances.
Our approach is set out below.
Support for victims of terrorism overseas
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provides support during any crisis overseas, including a terrorist attack, ensuring that the government responds effectively to deliver rapid and professional assistance to British nationals affected. The crisis centre in London can bring together teams of more than a hundred people from across government to coordinate a response and can call on trained staff to both bolster the team in London and be deployed to the country affected. This includes consular support to survivors and to families of victims, working with police family liaison officers and overseas authorities to provide support, assistance and information.
Immediately after the 2015 terrorist attack in Sousse, the Prime Minister established an ad hoc Ministerial Committee to coordinate support from across government to all British Nationals that were affected. The Committee has oversight of arrangements for the memorial service (which took place on 12 April), a physical memorial, compensation and a programme to provide support for those experiencing mental health difficulties.
Support for victims of terrorism in the United Kingdom
In the event that an attack were to take place in the UK, bereaved families and survivors are entitled to support and services under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime; this is published by the Ministry of Justice and can be accessed online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476900/code-of-practice-for-victims-of-crime.PDF. This includes access to medical support and any specialist support such as psychological support. Families and victims are able to access these directly without a referral.
The Victim Information Service provides advice for victims of terrorism. This can be accessed online at www.victimsinformationservice.org.uk/im-victim-terrorist-attack/ or by phone on 0808 168 9293.
Government funding is also provided for the national Homicide Service and a number of smaller organisations to support those living in England and Wales bereaved by murder or manslaughter, whether committed here or abroad which includes those bereaved by terrorism.
Compensation
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority administers both the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and Victim of Overseas Terrorism Compensation Scheme, which provide compensation to victims of terrorist attacks in the UK and of designated terrorist attacks overseas.
Northern Ireland-related terrorism
Responsibility for dealing with Northern Ireland-related terrorism rests with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and, for that reason, this answer does not cover Northern Ireland-related terrorist attacks in Northern Ireland. The response does however, cover any Northern Ireland-related terrorism in Great Britain.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many take charge requests the UK has received from each EU country per year since Dublin III came into force; how many of those were successful; how many involved minors; and how many of those requests involving minors were successful.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
Data on cases progressed under the Dublin III Regulation is recorded on the main immigration database. However, this data is not held in a way that allows it to be reported on automatically and is therefore not currently available.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what have been the most common three grounds for refusing a take charge request since Dublin III came into force.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Dublin III Regulation came into force on 1 January 2014. The 3 most common reasons for the refusal of take charge requests by the UK have been Articles 6.5 and 8 (both of which relate to the legal presence of a qualified relative of the minor in another Member State) and Article12.4 (which requires the Member State to take charge following the expiry of certain residence and entry visas).
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been spent from the public purse on defending the case <i>The Queen on the application ZAT, IAJ, KAM, AAM, MAT, MAJ and LAM v Secretary of State for the Home Department</i>, and how much they estimate will be spent on their appeal.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Secretary of State’s legal costs currently stand at £53,747.82. It is not possible to estimate how much will be spent on the appeal at this juncture.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people have been deported by the UK to each EU country under the terms of Dublin III per year since that Regulation came into force.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Dublin III Regulation came into force on 1 January 2014. The table below indicates the number of removals per EU country in that time.
Dublin Convention III returns to EU countries (2010 to 2015)
The number of removals under Dublin Convention III regulation for 2010-2015 as indicated by our records are shown in the table below.
Destination of Return | 2014 | 2015 |
Austria | 20 | 35 |
Belgium | 35 | 35 |
Bulgaria | * | 15 |
Croatia | 5 | * |
Cyprus | * | * |
Czech Republic | * | * |
Denmark | * | 10 |
Estonia | 0 | 0 |
Finland | * | * |
France | 20 | 40 |
Germany | 20 | 45 |
Greece | 0 | 0 |
Hungary | 10 | 30 |
Ireland | 40 | 40 |
Italy | 80 | 150 |
Latvia | 0 | 0 |
Lithuania | * | * |
Luxembourg | 0 | 0 |
Malta | 5 | * |
Netherlands | 10 | 15 |
Norway | 10 | 10 |
Poland | * | * |
Portugal | 0 | * |
Romania | * | * |
Slovakia | * | 5 |
Slovenia | * | 0 |
Spain | 5 | 5 |
Sweden | 10 | 15 |
Switzerland | 15 | 5 |
Totals 285 455
NOTE “*” represents figures below 3.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what special steps have been taken to give better effect to Dublin III's family reunion provisions in Italy and Greece, and what further steps they plan to take.
Answered by Lord Bates
As announced on 28 January the Government will provide further resources to the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), to help in border “hotspots” in Greece and Italy to identify and register children at risk on first arrival in the EU. We will continue to meet our obligations under the Dublin Regulation and have UK experts currently deployed in the Greek and Italian Dublin units to assist with the process and transfer of anyone eligible under family unity provisions contained in the Regulation. We continue to liaise closely with EASO to identify and provide resource where it is needed.