Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which of the 33 recommendations in the Brook House Inquiry report they accept, and when each of these will be implemented.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The abuse that took place at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) in 2017 was unacceptable.
The previous government published its response to the public inquiry into Brook House IRC on 19 March 2024, summarising the progress made since 2017 and addressing each of the ten key areas of concern raised in the report.
Positive progress continues to be made in addressing the Inquiry findings. A cross departmental working group has been meeting since September 2023. The working group continues to meet monthly to consider and monitor delivery of the Inquiry’s recommendations, providing oversight and overarching governance to monitor Inquiry recommendations.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their forecast of the number of people currently seeking asylum that will still need to have their case decided by the end of (1) 2024, and (2) 2025.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office routinely publishes information on a quarterly basis, including the number of cases outstanding. Data on the total number of outstanding cases in the asylum system (‘asylum work in progress’), asylum decision makers, processing times and productivity is published in the ‘Immigration and Protection’ data of the Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
We are unable to forecast the number of people with outstanding case decisions as each case is decided on its own individual merits and there are many factors that can delay and contribute to the length of time to process asylum claims.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many full-time equivalent established posts there were in the Civil Service dealing with immigration issues related to the Rwanda scheme at (1) 30 September 2023, (2) 31 December 2023, and (3) 31 March 2024; and how many of these posts were filled on these dates.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes its accounts each year which sets out the FTE working in each of its systems, including on matters relating to Migration and Borders.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what planning estimate they have made for the number of people who have arrived by irregular routes and need to be accommodated in the UK because they have not been sent to a safe third country or returned home, for the end of each month from April to December 2024.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office routinely publishes information on a quarterly basis, including on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, all irregular modes of entry into the UK, and the level of returns.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have examined, and from which organisations, to determine that (1) Georgia, and (2) India, are safe countries.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As with all our country assessments to inform asylum and immigration decision making, we have drawn on evidence taken from a wide range of reliable sources, including reputable media outlets; local, national and international organisations, including human rights organisations; and information from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what conditions exist in Rwanda that have led them to conclude that appropriate and professional age assessments will be capable of being carried out on people sent there for immigration purposes where special requirements apply in respect of an uncertainty over an individual’s age.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Our age assessment policies for immigration purposes seek to protect genuine children and identify those who are adults.
The UK-Rwanda Treaty makes clear at Article 3 that the agreement reached between the governments of Rwanda and the UK does not cover unaccompanied children and that the UK Government shall not seek to relocate unaccompanied children under the age of 18. It is therefore only those individuals who are confirmed to be, or have been assessed to be, adults who will be removed to Rwanda.
We have already strengthened the age assessment process through measures introduced in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have considered, and from which organisations, which has led them to the conclusion that Rwanda is a safe country.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The list of sources used are listed in the extensive country information notes, and the annexes that accompany them. This – alongside the additional assurances agreed with the Government of Rwanda under the terms of the UK-Rwanda Treaty: Provision of an Asylum Partnership – allow us to conclude that Rwanda is safe.
Detail of these is available via the ‘Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill: policy statement and evidence pack’ page on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the government of Georgia introducing a bill that would curtail LGBT+ rights on the UK government’s declaration that Georgia is a safe country for immigration purposes.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In line with 80AA of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, we work closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to regularly monitor and review the situation in countries where migrants originate from, including how any new legislation is applied in practice.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 15 March (HL2855), how long each of the 118 unaccompanied children seeking asylum have been missing; and what are the individual ages of the 18 children now under the age of 18 who are still missing.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This data has not previously been published and quality assured to that standard. We are unable to provide it in response to this question.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Rwandan nationals have been granted (1) refugee status, or (2) other leave to remain, in the UK since April 2022; and what are the principal reasons for granting.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ on gov.uk. Data on initial decisions by nationality are published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum applications, decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. From April 2022 until December 2023, 9 main applicant Rwandan nationals were granted refugee permission and 1 main applicant was granted other leave.
All asylum and human rights claims lodged from within the UK and admitted to the UK asylum system, including those seeking asylum from Rwanda, are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations, and against the background of relevant case law, policy guidance and the latest available country of origin information.