Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to proposals in the Nationality and Borders Bill on Differential treatment for refugees, if she will make it her policy to require decision makers to assess whether given the personal circumstances of the individual applicant they could reasonably believe that they would not be safe in the country concerned.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The detail of the Government’s differentiation policy will be set out in guidance in due course. The Home Office has solicited views on the guidance from a wide range of external stakeholders, which are currently under careful consideration.
Decision makers will always be expected to consider the individual circumstances and vulnerabilities of an asylum seeker as a part of a grouping decision.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to proposals in the Nationality and Borders Bill on Differential treatment for refugees, if she will make it her policy to require decision makers to make proactive enquiries into the availability, accessibility and adequacy of status determination procedures in the relevant country or countries through which the applicant has passed when deciding whether a person is a group one or group two refugee.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The detail of the Government’s differentiation policy will be set out in guidance in due course. The Home Office has solicited views on the guidance from a wide range of external stakeholders, which are currently under careful consideration.
Decision makers will always be expected to consider the individual circumstances and vulnerabilities of an asylum seeker as a part of a grouping decision.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to proposals in the Nationality and Borders Bill on Differential treatment for refugees, what standard of proof will apply for establishing whether a person is a group one or group two refugee.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The detail of the Government’s differentiation policy will be set out in guidance in due course. The Home Office has solicited views on the guidance from a wide range of external stakeholders, which are currently under careful consideration.
Decision makers will always be expected to consider the individual circumstances and vulnerabilities of an asylum seeker as a part of a grouping decision.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to proposals in the Nationality and Borders Bill on Differential treatment for refugees, on whom the burden of proof will fall in relation to establishing whether a person is a group one or group two refugee.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The detail of the Government’s differentiation policy will be set out in guidance in due course. The Home Office has solicited views on the guidance from a wide range of external stakeholders, which are currently under careful consideration.
Decision makers will always be expected to consider the individual circumstances and vulnerabilities of an asylum seeker as a part of a grouping decision.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have applied the Family Test to the Nationality and Borders Bill.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Nationality and Borders Bill is part of our New Plan for Immigration, delivering the most comprehensive reform of the asylum system in decades.
We have undertaken an Equality Impact Assessment as part of our work on the Nationality and Borders Bill, which was published on 16 September 2021.
The assessment considers the potential impacts on people because of their marriage / civil partnership. It also includes consideration of the possible impacts on children.
The Equality Impact Assessment can be found on the GOV.UK website at; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nationality-and-borders-bill-equality-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of provisions in the Nationality and Borders Bill on family reunion for asylum seekers from (a) Eritrea and (b) Sudan.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Family reunion for Group 2 refugees of any nationality will be permitted where a refusal would be a breach of our international obligations under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to introduce a longer-term global resettlement programme for refugees who wish to come to the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The UK has a long history of supporting refugees in need of protection. The UK continues to welcome vulnerable people through the existing global UK Resettlement Scheme, Mandate Resettlement Scheme, Community Sponsorship Scheme and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
Since 2015, we have resettled more than 27,000 refugees through safe and legal routes directly from regions of conflict and instability - around half of whom were children.
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) commenced on 6 January and will provide up to 20,000 women, children, and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.
In addition to our resettlement schemes, we also operate the following safe and legal routes:
In response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the Government has introduced two new schemes: the Ukraine Family Scheme announced on 4 March, and for those without family links to the UK, the Homes for Ukraine Scheme announced 14 March.
Resettlement is only one strand of our international efforts helping refugees. It is complemented by the UK’s significant humanitarian aid programme and diplomatic efforts.
More information on existing resettlement schemes can be found in the published guidance Resettlement: policy guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and Afghan citizens resettlement scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Further information on the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine Scheme can be found in the published guidance Apply for a Ukraine Family Scheme visa - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and Homes for Ukraine – Homes for Ukraine – Local Sponsorship Scheme for Ukraine (campaign.gov.uk)
More information on safe and legal routes can be found here: Nationality and Borders Bill: Factsheet Safe and Legal Routes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of provisions in the Nationality and Borders Bill on Eritrean victims of (a) religious persecution and (b) torture who are seeking asylum in the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Nationality and Borders Bill is part of our New Plan for Immigration, delivering the most comprehensive reform of the asylum system in decades.
An Equality Impact Assessment was published on 16 September 2021, and this includes consideration of possible impacts on people arising from their nationality and their religion or beliefs; it also includes consideration of possible impacts on people who have experienced trauma.
The Equality Impact Assessment can be found on the GOV.UK website: Nationality and Borders Bill: equality impact assessment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish in draft the statutory guidance on the identification of potential victims of slavery or human trafficking, referred to in clause 64 of the Nationality and Borders Bill, during the current parliamentary session.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We committed in the Lords to engage with Lord Alton of Liverpool, Baroness Butler-Sloss, and others on the development of the guidance for decision makers in relation to the Modern Slavery clauses of the Nationality and Borders Bill.
The guidance will be published in the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish in draft the statutory guidance on the identification of potential victims of slavery or human trafficking, referred to in clause 64 of the Nationality and Borders Bill, during that Bill's passage through Parliament.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We committed in the Lords to engage with Lord Alton of Liverpool, Baroness Butler-Sloss, and others on the development of the guidance for decision makers in relation to the Modern Slavery clauses of the Nationality and Borders Bill.
The guidance will be published in the coming months.