Mediterranean: Migrant Trafficking Debate

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Department: Home Office

Mediterranean: Migrant Trafficking

Earl Attlee Excerpts
Tuesday 14th July 2015

(9 years, 3 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Bates Portrait Lord Bates
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I am very happy to give our support to that. We give our support to the European Asylum Support Office which has locations in Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Italy. In fact, we are the largest provider of bilateral assistance to that organisation. What the church is doing is to be applauded. It is absolutely in keeping with the priority we see in providing these vulnerable people with the care they need.

Earl Attlee Portrait Earl Attlee (Con)
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My Lords, does the Minister agree that it is very important to concentrate on a long-term, upstream solution rather than purely on short-term solutions?

Lord Bates Portrait Lord Bates
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My noble friend is absolutely right. Part of the issue is to deal with the immediate crisis and stop the deaths that are occurring in the Mediterranean, but there is a bigger part, which is how you build stability within these countries so that people do not have to embark on this perilous journey. That is why we are so proud of our overseas aid budget, which of course is the second largest, in cash terms, in the world.