Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department will take to relocate more asylum seekers and refugees from the Aegean Islands to the UK.

The responsibility for asylum seekers and refugees in EU Member States lies with the authorities of the safe EU country in which they are present in accordance with their international obligations. We regularly engage with Greek ministers and senior officials on the challenges presented by the migration situation in Greece.

The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it. In 2019 the UK received more asylum claims from unaccompanied children than any country in the EU and accounted for approximately 20% of all claims from unaccompanied children made in the EU and UK.

Our existing Immigration Rules enable those with close family members in the UK to apply to join eligible sponsors such as those with refugee or humanitarian protection leave, or with British or settled status. Under the Immigration, Nationality and Asylum (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 we have committed to processing Dublin family reunion request made before the end of the Transition Period at 11pm on 31 December. Some of these requests have been received from Greece.