Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why only three of the 25,800 unaccompanied children reported by Unicef to be in Italy have been transferred to the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
In 2016, we transferred over 900 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to the UK from Europe. More children will be transferred under the Immigration Act and we will continue to meet our obligations under the Dublin Regulation. We have a long standing secondee in Italy who is based in the Italian Dublin Unit. We will announce in due course the process and criteria for transferring more children to the UK from Europe.
We continue to work with the Italian authorities to implement section 67 of the Immigration Act, and Immigration Minister met with his counterpart in November to discuss how we can support them; discussions are ongoing. We must secure the consent and cooperation of the host governments concerned before taking any action on their territory and can only act within their laws.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many unaccompanied minors from the Calais camp known as the Jungle have been transferred to the UK since 2 November (1) through the Dublin III family reunification route; and (2) through provision made under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We have been working closely with the French authorities to bring eligible children eligible to the UK under the Dublin Regulation and the wider criteria of the Immigration Act. Since 10 October, more than 750 children have arrived.
This is in line with the commitments made by the Home Secretary to Parliament on 24 October. We will publish a total number of transfers as a result of the operation in France in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their commitment to resettle 3,000 unaccompanied minors from the Middle East and North Africa, how many have been resettled in the UK to date.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Vulnerable Childrens Resettlement (VCR) scheme has been designed with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to resettle ‘vulnerable children’ and their families from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The Government has committed to resettling several hundred individuals in the first year with a view to resettling up to 3,000 individuals over the lifetime of this Parliament. Children who are identified as at risk will be resettled with their family members or carers where appropriate. The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The figures for the VCR scheme will be published in the usual way, and will feature in future releases of the Home Office’s immigration quarterly statistics. We will not be providing a running commentary.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their target to resettle 20,000 people via the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme, how many have been resettled in the UK to date.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
Latest statistics published on 1 December confirmed that a total of 4,414 Syrians have been resettled under the scheme since it began, 4,162 of these arriving in the 12 months to the end of September 2016.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Bates on 21 March (HL Deb, col 2149), what evidence they have that allowing child refugees to sponsor relatives would "create a situation that encourages children to risk hazardous journeys to and across Europe".
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are a range of factors that affect migrants decisions to leave their countries and travel across Europe to seek asylum. The Government believes that allowing children to sponsor relatives would create further incentives for children to be encouraged, or even forced, to leave their family and risk hazardous journeys to the UK in order to act as sponsors.Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many refugees have been brought to the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons scheme; how many of those refugees were children; and where within the UK those refugees have been dispersed.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 26 May 2016 and will cover the period January – March 2016.
Latest statistics published on 25 February 2016 confirms in 2015, a total of 1,194 people were resettled the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) including 1,085 who arrived in the last quarter of 2015. Of those resettled under the scheme in 2015, 605 were under 18 years old. Resettlement under the Syrian VPRS by local authorities is voluntary. It is a matter for each local authority to decide whether they want to publish the fact of their participation and the numbers of refugees they take.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will take any action to evaluate the claims to asylum of Afghan interpreters formerly employed by the British Army who are currently in the Calais "Jungle" camp, in the light of the Channel 4 news report on 28 February.
Answered by Lord Bates
We carefully consider all asylum claims made in the UK, including those made by former interpreters with our armed forces in Afghanistan, but we have no obligation under the Refugee Convention to consider asylum claims outside the UK. Those who need international protection should claim in the first safe country they reach so those currently in Calais should claim in France. Where someone seeking asylum elsewhere in the EU can demonstrate they have close family members legally in the UK, they may be entitled to have their claim processed in the UK under the Dublin Regulation.
Separate schemes have existed since 2013 to assist interpreters previously employed by the UK Armed Forces. These apply only to those who have remained in Afghanistan and, in recognition of their unique and exceptional service or the danger interpreters may face because of their work, can lead to relocation to the UK if certain criteria are met.