Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what impact on applications for refugee status in the UK transpires when an applicant's home country refuses to share criminal activity data with UK authorities.

The Home Office performs mandatory and case-by-case verification and security checks on individuals applying to enter or remain in the UK. To protect the integrity of the specific identity and security checking processes that are conducted, information about them is not disclosed publicly.

We will deny the benefits of refugee status to those who commit serious crimes and are a danger to the community or those who are a threat to national security. Article 1F of the Refugee Convention and Section 72 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 allow us to exclude individuals from protection status where there are serious reasons to show they have committed a particularly serious crime or pose a danger to the community.

In accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention and domestic law, we do not disclose information about an individual’s asylum claim to their home country or seek information in a way that could expose them, or any family who remain in that country, to serious risk.