Refugees and Asylum Seekers: Safe Routes Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Home Office
Lord Lilley
Main Page: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Lilley's debates with the Home Office
(5 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)
My Lords, there have been a number of petitions and general requests to look at very specific safe and legal routes. As I understand it at the moment, there are no plans to adopt any for any specific countries, but I am sure they are being kept under review.
Lord Lilley (Con)
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that all those coming by small boats are coming from a safe country, France, and that it is absurd for us to suggest that they are all coming from an unsafe country? One of the reasons they may be wanting to leave France to come here is that France refuses asylum to three times as high a proportion as we do. Can my noble friend explain why that is?
Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)
I will certainly confirm that France is a safe country. How the French asylum system works is, I am afraid, well beyond my knowledge.