Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to help ensure that asylum seekers arriving at the UK border from red list countries can (a) quarantine effectively and (b) proceed with their asylum claim during the covid-19 pandemic.

Asylum seekers are not going to be denied entry to the UK from red-list countries and their asylum claims will be processed as usual.

The Home Office have a statutory duty to accommodate any asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. Asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute are provided with free, fully furnished accommodation while their applications for asylum are considered. The Accommodation providers recognise the challenge of managing COVID 19 within our accommodation estate and are working closely with Public Health England (PHE) on how their guidance on social distancing and self-isolation is properly applied, while ensuring that people can continue to access essential services.

The accommodation is provided for free to those asylum seekers in receipt of asylum support and we do not recoup costs.