Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the (a) needs and (b) vulnerabilities of LGBTQI+ people as part of Operation Maximise.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The safety and wellbeing of asylum seekers in our care is of paramount importance to the Home Office. We expect high standards from all of our providers, and we have a robust governance framework in place to manage service delivery of the Asylum Accommodation Support Contracts (AASC). Further details can be found at: AASC_-_Schedule_2_-_Statement_of_Requirements.pdf.
Section G.2 of the AASC provides examples of factors which accommodation providers should consider as part of their case-by-case assessment of an individual’s needs in room sharing, including whether they identify as LGBT. This aligns with the allocation of accommodation policy which sets out that the circumstances of every person in asylum accommodation should be assessed individually. Where an individual need or safeguarding concern exists, accommodation may be provided to meet such need.
Additionally, the Home Office has published the Asylum Support Contracts Safeguarding Framework at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-support-contracts-safeguarding-framework. This framework sets out a joint, overarching approach, as well as the key controls and reporting mechanisms in place, across the AASC contracts, for safeguarding arrangements. All asylum seekers have access to a 24/7 AIRE (Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility) service provided for the Home Office by Migrant Help where they can raise any concerns regarding accommodation or support services and they can get information about how to obtain further support.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the conformity of adding Georgia to the list of Safe States with the duties laid out in section 80AA(4) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 on LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
In order to inform ministerial decision making on whether to add India and Georgia to the list of Safe States in section 80AA of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (NIAA 2002), we made an assessment of the general situation in both countries, using evidence from a wide range of reliable sources in order to do so. This was in line with the requirements at section 80AA(3) and 80AA(4) of the NIAA 2002 (as inserted by section 59(3)(3) and 59(3)(4) of the Illegal Migration Act 2023).
Through considering country information and each country’s respect for the rule of law and human rights, we assessed that both countries met the criteria. Further information on the situation for LGBT people in Georgia and India is contained within our published Country Policy and Information Notes, available on Gov.Uk.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the conformity of adding India to the list of Safe States with the duties laid out in section 80AA(4) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 on LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
In order to inform ministerial decision making on whether to add India and Georgia to the list of Safe States in section 80AA of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (NIAA 2002), we made an assessment of the general situation in both countries, using evidence from a wide range of reliable sources in order to do so. This was in line with the requirements at section 80AA(3) and 80AA(4) of the NIAA 2002 (as inserted by section 59(3)(3) and 59(3)(4) of the Illegal Migration Act 2023).
Through considering country information and each country’s respect for the rule of law and human rights, we assessed that both countries met the criteria. Further information on the situation for LGBT people in Georgia and India is contained within our published Country Policy and Information Notes, available on Gov.Uk.
Mentions:
1: Ben Bradshaw (Lab - Exeter) people.I will confine the rest of my remarks to the plight of LGBT people in both of those countries - Speech Link
2: Ben Bradshaw (Lab - Exeter) people, but there are clearly real dangers to individual LGBT people in both India and Georgia, as is - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: None Secondly, the fact that the position of LGBT+ people in Rwanda is not so utterly ghastly as in neighbouring - Speech Link
2: Lord Scriven (LD - Life peer) The Government aim to send people who have arrived here via illegal routes, who may be LGBT, to be processed - Speech Link
3: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con - Life peer) For people who identify as LGBT+, that consideration would include any assessment of any compelling evidence - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Lord Etherton (XB - Life peer) It is not limited to people who are LGBT but applies to those who are members of a particular social - Speech Link
2: Lord Cashman (Lab - Life peer) activists, and asked again what the situation was like for LGBT asylum seekers in Rwanda. - Speech Link
3: Lord German (LD - Life peer) We have had a focus on LGBT, on modern slavery and on Afghans and other people who have served this country.My - Speech Link
4: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con - Life peer) people, and it has joined nine other African countries to support LGBT rights. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: None nearly one in three LGBT people had tried at one time to end their life. - Speech Link
2: None There are already some excellent organisations working with people who are seeking asylum. - Speech Link
3: None for intersex people and 80 per cent for asylum seekers. - Speech Link
4: None people, asylum seekers and neurodivergent folk. - Speech Link
Found: findin gs from the Life in Scotland for LGBT Young People: Rural Report .
Apr. 29 2024
Source Page: Rwanda: country policy and information notesFound: General po sition on LGBTQ Think that LGBT people can act freely and form associations.
Mentions:
1: Stephen Kinnock (Lab - Aberavon) Tens of thousands of people who are now ineligible to be processed and ineligible to claim asylum cannot - Speech Link
2: Joanna Cherry (SNP - Edinburgh South West) seekers, particularly LGBT asylum seekers, we need to consider what we heard from people when we were - Speech Link
3: Caroline Johnson (Con - Sleaford and North Hykeham) a safe place for LGBT individuals to live. - Speech Link