Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government has (a) reached any agreements with countries to remove people it considers inadmissible to the asylum procedure and (b) identified any locations for offshore processing of asylum claims to the UK.

In response to part (a), we have several bilateral agreements with key third countries that assist in expediting the return of individuals we consider inadmissible. This includes within the EU and other international partners.

In response to part (b), we must consider every possible option to prevent people from putting their lives at risk to make perilous journeys – deterring abuse of the asylum system and criminality associated with it. As part of offshoring, we are in discussion with a number of international partners but will not comment on the detail of individual negotiations. We would only ever work with countries that we know are safe and will treat asylum seekers in accordance with the Refugee Convention and relevant international human rights laws.