Asylum Seekers: Missing from Registered Address

Lord Blunkett Excerpts

Thursday 2nd May 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gascoigne (Con)]

I am afraid I do not know what number that is 80% of, and nor do I think it appropriate to talk about it, but this Government are absolutely committed to the Good Friday agreement. We will do all we can to ensure that there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. This is an incredibly sensitive issue and I know that some of the noble Lord’s colleagues raised this in a debate in the Chamber yesterday evening. As I said earlier, the Secretary of State is seeking urgent clarification with his Irish counterpart.

[Lord Blunkett (Lab)]

My Lords, I froze on Skegness beach as a child, but I return to the question from the noble Baroness, Lady Smith. Under the Illegal Migration Act, anyone who comes here undocumented is not processed. Perhaps the Minister, who is a decent guy, will tell us the figure for those who are unprocessed and permanently resident here because they cannot be transported in such numbers to Rwanda.

[Lord Gascoigne (Con)]

As a point of clarity, at no stage did I say that I was sunbathing on the beaches of Skegness—or Skeggy, as we used to call it. Braver people would. On the noble Lord’s point, it is worth returning to what we have said about tackling illegal migration. We have been in contact with a number of individuals who will be sent to Rwanda through the passage of that Act, but it is not appropriate for me to go into further detail on that. There are reporting restrictions in place for those individuals.