Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of a UK–EU agreement on the return of asylum seekers, and whether they have had discussions with the EU on that topic in the light of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum.

As set out in the Common Understanding from 19 May, our priority is to work with the EU to strengthen our cooperation to tackle people smuggling gangs, coordinate in our approach to upstream migration, explore innovative solutions, and enhance information sharing between our respective border agencies.

This Government is already getting on with the work of returning people who have no legal right to be here. Nearly 30,000 failed asylum seekers, foreign criminals and other immigration offenders were returned from the UK between 5 July 2024 and 18 May 2025. Of these total returns, 7,893 were enforced returns of people with no legal right to remain in the UK. This compares with 6,414 enforced returns over the same period 12 months prior, an increase of 23%.

A key part of reducing irregular arrivals is deterring those from making dangerous journeys in the first place.