Tag: Lord Hylton

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of France about their plans for the refugees now in the Grande Synthe site near Dunkirk; what improvements are in progress; and whether voluntary organisations will be involved.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The management of the migrant situation in Dunkirk is the responsibility of the French government. We share the French government’s concerns about the difficult living conditions in the region and continue to assist their efforts to provide support and facilities elsewhere in France. Migration issues were discussed at the UK-France Summit on 3 March. The summit communiqué provides details of the further cooperation agreed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they are making with the governments of the United States, Russia, and others, to stabilise Syria and to make significant progress on peace negotiations.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK has been undertaking stabilisation activities in Syria for a number of years, through projects totalling over £100 million funded under the Conflict Pool and thereafter the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. But as the Government made clear at the London Conference on Syria in February, the post conflict stabilisation and reconstruction needs in Syria following a political settlement which ends the civil war will require a significant international response.

We are currently working with our international partners to ensure a coordinated post-conflict planning effort which is able to respond to the timeline that will – we hope – emerge from successful UN-mediated peace talks in Geneva, which are due to resume on 14 March. However, as agreed at the London Conference, it will rightly be for the UN to coordinate this work, with the support of Member States including the UK.

The UK is supporting peace negotiations through our leading role in the International Syria Support Group, as well as our support to the Syrian High Negotiations Committee. UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura intends to resume peace negotiations in Geneva from 14 March. We hope that this effort delivers rapid progress towards political transition as envisaged by the 2012 Geneva Communiqué.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-04-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evidence they have received, if any, that Turkey (1) refused access to Syrians fleeing their own country, (2) forcibly returned both registered and unregistered refugees to Syria, (3) split families and separated children from parents in the process of returning refugees to Syria, (4) denied registration to refugees already in Turkey, and (5) failed to provide clean water and sanitation to refugee camps near the frontier.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Turkey is generously hosting over 2.7 million Syrian refugees and has provided Syrians in Turkey with access to healthcare, education and legal employment. The UN has said that refugee camps in Turkey are among the best in the world and we are not aware of any problems with water and sanitation. We have received no evidence of split families or Turkey denying registration to refugees already in Turkey. We are aware of reports of forced returns to Syria but have seen no evidence of these allegations. We continue to work closely with Turkey and the EU to further improve the situation for refugees and asylum seekers in Turkey, including through our contribution to the €3 billion package of EU financial support for Turkey.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of Amnesty International’s report Trapped in Greece: an avoidable refugee Crisis of April 2016, in particular concerning the EU and the Dublin III Regulations on Family Reunion.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

There is no official estimate of the number of children in Calais; this is primarily a matter for the French authorities. It is only possible to assess whether an individual has links to the UK that could enable a transfer on family unity grounds once they make an application for asylum in France.

Once an asylum claim is lodged in another Member State, the Dublin Regulation procedure requesting the UK to take charge of a child on family unity grounds can take place very quickly, often in a matter of weeks, subject to consideration of the evidence in each individual case.

Since February 2016 the UK has accepted 30 requests from France under the Dublin Regulation to take charge of asylum seeking children on family grounds of which 23 have already been transferred to the UK. We are working closely with the French Government and NGOs, including on a joint communications campaign to inform migrants of their options and we provided a senior UK asylum official to the French Government who has put processes in place to support an efficient procedure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-05-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what priority they are giving to ensuring that children of school age, who are refugees, displaced or migrants, receive continuous education regardless of their location; and whether they will discuss this issue, and the needs of refugee children not in school, at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.

Baroness Verma

The UK is committing to providing long-term support for education in emergencies and crises, including education to refugees and internally displaced children. A key example is the Syria region. Through the No Lost Generation Initiative, we’ve announced a further £240m for education in Jordan and Lebanon over the next four years, on top of the £115 million already provided to give every child in the region access to education. The recent London Syria conference has resulted in international pledges to get every refugee and vulnerable child in the host countries bordering Syria, into quality education by the end of the next academic year. These commitments were re-emphasised at the World Humanitarian Summit through an event on No Lost Generation: Empowering Youth Affected by the Syria Crisis.

In addition, the UK has been a leading force behind Education Cannot Wait – a new fund for education in emergencies, which was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit. A key focus for the fund will be on ensuring that all children and young people are able to access a quality education including refugees and internally displaced children. The International Development Secretary announced a £30 million UK commitment to the fund, as a founding donor to this important initiative.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-06-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they and other EU member states are taking to increase the number of competent interpreters available for interviewing and assessing refugees on (1) the islands and mainland of Greece, and (2) in south-east Europe.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The UK continues to assist Member States facing particular migratory pressures and has responded to the request by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) for Member States to provide interpreters to support the function of the Greek asylum system.

The UK has offered up to 20 interpreters to help with the processing of migrants on the Greek Islands, a number of whom have already been deployed. We are working with EASO, the Greeks and the European Commission to plan further deployments. We also continue to work with Greece and the European Commission on how the UK can most effectively bolster their operational and deployment plan(s) and are very clear that we stand ready to do more.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 27 June (HL649), how many unaccompanied refugee children have reached the UK so far this year from (1) Europe, (2) the Middle East, and (3) elsewhere, for family reunion or otherwise for resettlement.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

In the year ending March 2016 the UK received 3,206 asylum applications from unaccompanied children who had reached the UK.

We continue to fulfil our obligations under the Dublin Regulation to unaccompanied children who qualify for transfer to the UK under family reunification provisions. Since January 2016 our records show that over 60 children have been transferred from other EU countries to the UK.

In addtion, the government continues to implement the Immigration Act 2016, including the provision to transfer unaccompained refugee children to the UK from elswhere in Europe. We are consulting local authorities as required and are also working closely with relevant Member States and other partners such as UNHCR, UNICEF and Save the Children.

We are working with UNHCR on our Children at Risk Resettlement Scheme to resettle vulnerable children, both unaccompanied and with their family members from the Middle East and North Africa region. We have committed to resettling several hundred individuals in the first year.

Information on the number of unaccompanied children granted under refugee family reunion provisions in the Immigration Rules is not captured in our data and would require a manual review. This information cannot therefore be provided without exceeding proportionate costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-09-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what stance they plan to take at the UN General Assembly’s High Level Meeting on Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants on 19 September; and whether they will consult in advance with UK allies.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK fully supported the UN General Assembly’s High Level Meeting on Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants on 19 September, and the New York Declaration on refugees and migrants which was adopted at the meeting.

We will work with others following the High Level Meeting to achieve specific outcomes that will be better for migrants, for refugees, and for all countries in the migration chain – source, transit and destination.

In New York, the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) argued that alongside stepping up our efforts on humanitarian assistance and development, the international community needs to build a more effective policy approach: addressing the root causes of forced displacement, providing proper protection for refugees, and reducing today’s unmanaged population movement.

At the High Level Meeting, the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of the principle of providing asylum in the first safe country, thereby discouraging dangerous secondary movements; ensuring clarity in the different protections afforded to refugees and economic migrants; and maintaining the rights of all states to control their own borders.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the outcome of the recent meeting between the Children’s Commissioners for England and France concerning unaccompanied refugee children in Calais and elsewhere, in particular on identifying and processing such children.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner, has met her French counterpart, Mme Avenard, Défenseure des enfants, adjointe du Défenseur des droits on a number of occasions to collaborate on work to encourage the French authorities to afford better protection to lone child asylum-seekers in France and particularly those who might have rights to transfer to the UK either under the Dublin III agreement or Lord Dubs’ Amendment 115 to the Immigration Bill.

The Children’s Commissioners have discussed expediting the registering, processing, safeguarding and provision of support to lone child asylum seekers in France and particularly those in the camp in Calais. Discussions have resulted in Mme Avenard raising concerns with the French Government and also with Anne Longfield raising issues with the Governments in France and the UK.

The Commissioners previously met in England on 28 September. Mme Avenard was interested in seeing the way in which unaccompanied asylum seeking children are registered and assessed in the UK and she accompanied Anne Longfield to the Kent Intake Unit, the dedicated children’s unit in Dover in which many children are assessed and processed. They also discussed the process under which children are transferred from Kent Intake Unit into local authority care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-10-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the proposals for peace in Syria made by former President Jimmy Carter in the International New York Times on 27 October.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Proposals for achieving peace in Syria will need to be agreed by the key international players and, importantly, the Syrian people. The UK is working closely with international partners to bring about a negotiated end to the crisis in Syria, including through Ministerial participation in high-level international meetings. The ultimate solution to the crisis must be a political transition, which brings legitimate and inclusive governance to Syria. We are flexible about how the process of transition would work but are clear that Assad cannot be part of the future of Syria.