Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether Bahrain has paid for the flights or accommodation of any Minister visiting that country in the past four years; and if so, who the Ministers were, what were the reasons for their visits, and the cost of (1) the flights, and (2) the accommodation.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We do not hold this information on behalf of HMG; it is held by each Government department for their own ministers. In the case of FCDO Ministers, we do not hold this information centrally and it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The FCDO publishes details of FCDO Ministers' meetings with external organisations, gifts (given and received), hospitality and overseas travel every quarter. This information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fcdo-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any foreign country has paid for the flights or accommodation of any Minister visiting that country in the past two years; and if so, who the Ministers were, what were the reasons for their visits, which country was visited, and the cost of (1) the flights, and (2) the accommodation.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Cross-Whitehall data on flights and accommodation of any Minister visiting foreign countries is not centrally held by the FCDO and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department.
However, information relating to overseas travel by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Ministers is published on GOV.UK, including costs of travel, and on other costs (visas, accommodation, meals).
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 Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government on which occasions in the past five years a UK ambassador to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia or Qatar has been a guest of the government, a government body or the F1 governing body, at F1 races.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All FCDO Staff are expected to maintain the highest standards of propriety and regularity at all times in line with the Civil Service Code and Diplomatic Service Code. It is recognised across HMG that, for example, the exchange of gifts and hospitality have long been an important part of building relations, particularly overseas. The motorsport industry provides significant economic opportunities for the UK, generating over £10 billion in revenue each year, and UK Ambassadors to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have regularly attended F1 events as part of their official duties. Offers of gifts or hospitality to FCDO officials are recorded and regularly audited under our management assurance processes.
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.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many unaccompanied children seeking asylum who were housed in Home Office hotels are still missing; and what is the breakdown of (1) ages, and (2) length of time missing, for those children.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We take any child going missing extremely seriously. When any child goes missing, a multi-agency missing persons protocol is mobilised. Many of those who have gone missing are subsequently traced and located.
As of 5 March, 118 children are still missing. The majority were aged 16 and 17 when they went missing. Only about 18 are still under the age of 18. It is important to note that this data is from a live operational database and has not been quality assured to the same standard as published data.
The most recent published data can be found at asylum and resettlement datasets on GOV.UK: (www.gov.uk).