Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what new opportunities they are considering for discussing migration in Europe, in particular (1) through the European Union or its institutions, (2) with European Union members, or (3) the Council of Europe.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to working with international partners on migration. We must intensify efforts to stop migrant smuggling across Europe, over Europe’s external borders, and in source and transit countries. This requires a collective European voice on the global stage, including in multilateral fora.
Migration is a focus of all our bilateral and multilateral engagement with our European partners. The UK is clear that reducing illegal migration requires a coordinated approach across Europe. For example, the Prime Minister and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni chaired a small-group meeting on migration and organised immigration crime at the European Political Community Summit in Granada in October 2023, agreeing an eight-point plan to address growing levels of illegal migration to mainland Europe. We will continue to build on this work throughout 2024.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to hold an international conference on migration in Europe as part of their immigration and asylum strategy; and if so, through what means.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to working with international partners on migration. We must intensify efforts to stop migrant smuggling across Europe, over Europe’s external borders, and in source and transit countries. This requires a collective European voice on the global stage, including in multilateral fora.
Migration is a focus of all our bilateral and multilateral engagement with our European partners. The UK is clear that reducing illegal migration requires a coordinated approach across Europe. For example, the Prime Minister and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni chaired a small-group meeting on migration and organised immigration crime at the European Political Community Summit in Granada in October 2023, agreeing an eight-point plan to address growing levels of illegal migration to mainland Europe. We will continue to build on this work throughout 2024.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for using the European Political Community as a forum for discussion and action on migration.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to working with international partners on migration. We must intensify efforts to stop migrant smuggling across Europe, over Europe’s external borders, and in source and transit countries. This requires a collective European voice on the global stage, including in multilateral fora.
Migration is a focus of all our bilateral and multilateral engagement with our European partners. The UK is clear that reducing illegal migration requires a coordinated approach across Europe. For example, the Prime Minister and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni chaired a small-group meeting on migration and organised immigration crime at the European Political Community Summit in Granada in October 2023, agreeing an eight-point plan to address growing levels of illegal migration to mainland Europe. We will continue to build on this work throughout 2024.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Afghan refugees have been admitted to the UK under the UNHCR Resettlement Schemes since August 2021; and how many further applications they expect to approve in the first quarter of 2023.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Earlier this summer, we began receiving referrals from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) of vulnerable refugees who have fled Afghanistan for resettlement to the UK under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) Pathway 2.
UNHCR has the global mandate to provide international protection and humanitarian assistance to refugees, and with whom we already work in resettling refugees under our flagship UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Mandate and Community Sponsorship Schemes. UNHCR will refer individuals in accordance with their standard resettlement submission criteria, which are based on an assessment of protection needs and vulnerabilities. Under both our current and previous resettlement schemes we have accepted and resettled a number of Afghan refugees in third countries. Historic and current operational data in relation to the UK’s resettlement schemes, including broken down by nationality, can be found at: Gov.UK
We are also pleased to have now welcomed the first families (four individuals) under ACRS Pathway 2. On 24th November the latest Immigration Statistics publication included data on Pathway 2 arrivals for the first time and this can be found using the same link. We anticipate receiving referrals from UNHCR for up to 2,000 refugees during the first year of this pathway, although this number will be kept under review. We will continue to receive UNHCR referrals to the scheme in coming years.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they have set the period of detention before an individual may apply for bail from immigration detention as seven days.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Paragraph 3(3) of Schedule 10 to The Immigration Act 2016 sets out the limitation on the First-tier Tribunal to grant immigration bail:
A person who is being detained under paragraph 16(1) of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971 must not be granted immigration bail by the First-tier Tribunal until after the end of the period of 8 days beginning with the date of the person's arrival in the United Kingdom.
This limitation only applies to people detained under paragraph 16(1) of Schedule 2 pending examination and pending a decision to give or refuse leave to enter. It does not extend to those detained under paragraph 16(1A) of the Schedule, which is for the purpose of removal.
The published detention policy makes it clear that detention must only be used when necessary, and for the shortest possible period. There is a presumption in favour of liberty for any person, and during this time, Secretary of State bail can be granted where appropriate in the individual case. Once a person is in detention, regular reviews are undertaken to ensure that their detention remains lawful, appropriate, and proportionate.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have carried out any research into alternative destinations to Rwanda as safe countries for migrants and asylum-seekers; and if so, with what conclusions.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We are unable to comment on discussions that have been held with other countries. We are however committed to working closely with international partners as we act on fixing our broken asylum system. This ground-breaking Partnership is a model that could be replicated elsewhere, and we are always willing to work with partners around the world to tackle this joint challenge.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what evidence they have that removal to Rwanda will be a deterrent to would-be economic migrants.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda is intended to break the business model of people smuggling gangs. Access to the UK’s asylum system should be based on need, not on the ability to pay people smugglers. By refusing those who arrive in the UK by unnecessary, illegal and dangerous methods to remain, the scheme breaks the people smugglers’ business model by not giving them the prospect of gaining entry to the UK to ‘sell’.
Recognising that the policy is still at an early stage, we are currently working on a monitoring and evaluation plan which will be a cornerstone in measuring the effectiveness of this innovative arrangement. We will be able to set out more details on this in due course.
This arrangement between the UK and Rwanda is part of a suite of measures aimed at breaking the business model of people smuggling gangs, and as with all policies its impact will be kept under review.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken, if any, towards designating the Sudanese Rapid Forces as a terrorist organisation.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Whilst the Government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review, we do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not under consideration for proscription.
We remain concerned at the behaviour of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, including internal repression and human rights violations across the country. We have raised our concerns, including with the RSF leadership.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether UK funds contributed to the Khartoum Process (EU/Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative) in Sudan directly supported the Rapid Support Forces, including former members of the Janjaweed militia, in their task of border management.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Khartoum Process facilitates a valuable Europe-Africa dialogue on managing migration, combatting organised immigration crime and addressing the effects of trafficking in the Horn and North Africa.
While the UK was a member state of the EU, it made contributions to the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF for Africa) and the EU’s Better Managed Migration (BMM) programming which provided funds to the Khartoum Process.
The UK's financial contributions to the Khartoum Process did not fund the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what contributions they have made to the Khartoum Process (EU/Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative) in North Africa in each year since 2014; and what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of that programme on curbing illegal migration and human trafficking.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Khartoum Process facilitates a valuable Europe-Africa dialogue on managing migration, combatting organised immigration crime and addressing the effects of trafficking in the Horn and North Africa.
While the UK was a member state of the EU, it made contributions to the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF for Africa) and the EU’s Better Managed Migration (BMM) programming which provided funds to the Khartoum Process.
The UK's financial contributions to the Khartoum Process did not fund the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces.