Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government has taken to ensure that the UK Border Force assets in the Aegean Sea are operating according to international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law.

Border Force Maritime Command resources have been deployed to the Aegean since 2015 to support search and rescue efforts where migrant vessels encounter difficulties. Since operations started, they have been involved in the rescue of over 16,000 migrants. Crew receive training in all aspects of their work, which includes human rights, asylum and modern slavery and human trafficking. This ensures that they comply with the law and helps them identify those who are vulnerable.