Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the UNHCR statement of 21 October 2015 on UK responsibility for asylum seekers arriving directly on to the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus.

No assessments have been made.

Under the 2003 Memorandum of Understanding, Republic of Cyprus asylum officials assess asylum claims of migrants arriving directly into the Sovereign Base Areas. If they are granted asylum, they will have the same rights as those granted refugee status in the Republic of Cyprus. These collaborative arrangements between the UK and the Republic of Cyprus on the handling and processing of the migrants are being applied to those who arrived in the Sovereign Base Areas in October 2015 and the process is working well.