Fiona Mactaggart
Main Page: Fiona Mactaggart (Labour - Slough)Department Debates - View all Fiona Mactaggart's debates with the Home Office
(8 years, 11 months ago)
Commons ChamberThe Home Secretary will be aware more than anyone else in the House of the inefficiency inherent in our asylum determination system, which a report by the Public Accounts Committee last year said was being made worse by reducing the seniority of decision makers. Will she ensure that Syrian refugees have their status assessed by well-trained expert staff and have access to healthcare and the other provision that such vulnerable refugees will absolutely need?
I can guarantee to the right hon. Lady that people will be specifically set aside with the task of assessing these claims. Of course, there is an initial assessment with the UNHCR in the region, and we also work with the International Organisation for Migration, which assesses migrants’ health needs. On Monday, I spoke with Bill Swing, who runs the IOM, about the facilities it can make available in the region to carry out those assessments—for example, looking at important issues such as vaccination. The point of matching people with accommodation and support in the UK is to ensure that their needs, be they physical, medical needs or mental health needs, can be met.