Asked by: Lord Higgins (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they have about whether government documents are being issued by EU member states to those seeking asylum in countries in the Schengen area while they await a decision on their application for asylum.
Answered by Lord Bates
Under Article 6 of the Reception Conditions Directive 2013/13, EU member states are required to ensure that asylum applicants seeking international protection within their territory are provided with a document showing their status as an applicant or testifying that person is allowed to stay in the member state whilst the application is pending or being examined.
The process for issuing such a document will vary from country to country.
Asked by: Lord Higgins (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether EU member states within the Schengen area are issuing a standard form of passport or other document to those they accept as asylum seekers or whether individual countries decide on the format to use; whether they have examined any sample of such document; and if so, whether they will place in the Library of the House any examples they may have.
Answered by Lord Bates
Under Article 25 of the Qualification Directive asylum seekers accepted as refugees in an EU member state will be issued a refugee status travel document, in the form set out in the Schedule to the Geneva Convention, for the purpose of travel outside their territory unless there are compelling reasons of national security or public order which prevent this.
It is normal practice for member states to distribute specimen documents between states. All specimen documents are stored securely in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Higgins (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that migrants rescued from drowning by the British Navy in the Mediterranean are no longer disembarked in the European Union, in order to discourage migrants from travelling in unseaworthy vessels provided by people smugglers.
Answered by Lord Bates
As set out in the Government’s response to written questions HL2307 and HL2339 under international law the UK has a duty to not return people who are rescued at sea to countries where they would be at risk of serious harm. Migrants rescued in the Mediterranean must therefore be disembarked at the nearest safe country.
The Government, however, maintains that the link must be broken between getting on a boat and automatically achieving residence in the Europe. The UK continues to push for action through the EU and UN to tackle the causes of illegal migration in order to discourage people from making these dangerous journeys. The UK is pursuing and disrupting the organised crime groups profiting from the people smuggling trade, including through the creation of an Organised Immigration Crime Task Force.
Migrants who do reach the EU need to be registered, screened and processed when they arrive to control their movement as well as to distinguish between those in real need of international protection and economic migrants. The UK is supporting the EU ‘Hotspots’ initiative which will help give effect to this.
The UK is leading the way for a sustainable and effective approach to the migrant situation and at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 8 October the Home Secretary reiterated that in order for EU Member States to focus their resources on helping those in genuine need, an effective returns system for those not found to be in need of international protection is vital.
Asked by: Lord Higgins (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Royal Navy's decision to instruct migrants rescued from the Mediterranean to disembark from the ships inside rather than outside the European Union is consistent with their policy of discouraging people trafficking.
Answered by Lord Bates
Under international law the UK has a duty not to return people who are rescued at sea to countries where they would be at risk of serious harm. That is why people rescued at sea are taken to Italy as this is considered the nearest safe country.
However, we need to break the link between getting on a boat and automatically achieving residence in Europe. The UK is playing a leading role in pushing for action through the EU and the UN to tackle the causes of illegal immigration to discourage people from making the perilous journey in the first place. The UK is also pursuing and disrupting the organised crime groups profiting from the people smuggling trade, including through the creation of an Organised Immigration Crime Task Force.
If migrants do reach the EU they need to be stopped, processed and screened when they arrive to control their movement and to distinguish between genuine refugees and economic migrants. The UK fully supports the EU’s ‘hotspots’ initiative which will help give effect to this.
Asked by: Lord Higgins (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to take steps to ensure that the United Kingdom can decide where to land migrants rescued from the Mediterranean by the Royal Navy, so as to ensure that they are not landed in the European Union.
Answered by Lord Bates
Under international law the UK has a duty not to return people who are rescued at sea to countries where they would be at risk of serious harm. That is why migrants rescued at sea are taken to Italy as this is considered the nearest safe country.
But we are pushing for the swift establishment of 'hot spot' screening centres and action to return those who do not need our protection to their countries of origin.