Tag: Lord Hylton

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they have about the number of persons brought to justice for trafficking in persons, enslavement, forced prostitution, labour exploitation, and other similar crimes in the last three years, both in the UK and in other jurisdictions.

Lord Bates

The number of perpetrators of ‘slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour’, ‘human trafficking for sexual exploitation’ and ‘human trafficking for non-sexual exploitation’ found guilty and sentenced in each of the last three years is available at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014

The ‘Outcomes by Offence Tables’ should be selected, and can be filtered for each of the three offences listed above. The UK Government does not hold information on the numbers brought to justice in other jurisdictions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what powers they have to insist that recipients of British development aid should respect freedom of conscience and religion, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Baroness Verma

The UK attaches great importance to ensuring that people of all faiths can participate fully in society and live without fear of abuse or discrimination. DFID works closely with the FCO to raise concerns about freedom of religion with partner governments to ensure that all citizens can claim their rights. The UK’s development and humanitarian aid is not targeted at specific groups but at the poorest, regardless of race, religion, creed, or nationality.

Before providing aid to a foreign government, DFID assesses the government’s commitment to four partnership principles, one of which concerns human rights. DFID provides aid to governments where we are satisfied that they share our commitments to reduce poverty and to respect human rights.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussion, if any, they have had with the government of Turkey and the UNHCR about urgent plans for the return home of Yazidi refugees, currently in a camp near Diyarbakir.

Baroness Verma

The UK Government is not aware of plans to return Yezidi refugees to their homes from Diyarbakir. The UK works with the Government of Turkey, the United Nations and the international community to support the rights of all minorities.