Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Harrington of Watford and Paul Blomfield

Monday 12th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

9. What progress the Government have made on their response to the refugee crisis.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Refugees (Richard Harrington)]

As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced on 7 September, the Government will expand existing resettlement schemes to resettle up to 20,000 Syrians in need of protection. In the past few weeks, we have established a cross-departmental operations centre for Syrian refugees, based in the Home Office, and we look forward to welcoming refugees in a well-organised way in the months and years to come.

[Paul Blomfield]

I thank the Minister for that reply, but one further practical step that the Government could take would be to expand the family reunion criteria, which, as he will know, are currently restricted to spouses and dependent children. Will the Government help to keep already traumatised families together by allowing elderly parents and other family members to find temporary protection in the UK, as the Refugee Council and the Red Cross have requested?

[Richard Harrington]

The family reunion scheme has been used successfully in the past, and it is still being used. In addition, we have the vulnerability criteria of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which include vulnerable families.