Asylum Hotels and Illegal Channel Crossings

Lord Dubs Excerpts

Wednesday 26th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

If the noble Lord visits the Library and asks which benefits migrants receive, he will find that the Government have a responsibility to pay certain amounts of resource for upkeep but it is not a question of access to a benefits system. We are trying to ensure that we assess those individuals extremely quickly. If he is interested in illegal working then, as I mentioned earlier, we have increased visits and working arrests for those who have slipped into the country and are now working here illegally by 38%.

[Lord Dubs (Lab)]

My Lords, everybody—with one or two exceptions—knows that the Government inherited an incredible mess. Are we satisfied that we are doing everything we can to ensure maximum co-operation with the French and with Interpol in catching the people traffickers? Secondly, surely in anything but the very short term we must have wider international co-operation, particularly with our EU friends, to deal with the problem of asylum seekers in a more sensible and balanced manner.

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has met her French, Belgian and Dutch counterparts and is looking at a group which we have named, imaginatively, the “Calais group” to see how we can act on these issues. That co-operation has led to increased convictions and arrests of people traffickers and will do so further. There are discussions with the German Government to see what we can do downstream about some of the equipment that is being supplied in Germany. When the immigration Bill comes before this House, noble Lords will recognise that there are measures in it which further criminalise those gangs and give further powers to the state to take assets from criminals who are people trafficking.