Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of UK asylum and visa policies, in the context of Iranian nationals potentially seeking refuge.

The UK has a proud history of providing protection and we continue to welcome refugees and people in need through our safe and legal routes. However, there is no provision within our Immigration Rules for someone to be allowed to travel to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge. Whilst we sympathise with people in many difficult situations around the world, we are not bound to consider asylum claims from the very large numbers of people overseas who might like to come here. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.

Our visa policy is kept under review. Iran is a visa national country, and we will assess any visa applications against the relevant immigration rules in the normal way.