The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-05-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made towards implementation of the provisions of the EU–Turkey Joint Action Plan to tackle the migrant crisis in line with EU principles.

Lord Keen of Elie

The UK is committed to ensuring the EU Turkey deal is implemented in an effective and sustainable way. We believe it is going to make a genuine difference to managing the flows of migrants; preventing people from putting themselves in the hands of smugglers and from dying while attempting the crossing. The UK is working with our European partners to ensure that most migrants can be returned quickly, fairly and securely to Turkey. We have offered 75 expert personnel including staff to help with the processing and administration of migrants in Greek reception centres. This will help to ensure that vulnerable people, including children, are identified and can access asylum systems as quickly as possible, while other migrants will be returned to Turkey in accordance with the EU-Turkey deal. The first cohort of staff are due to arrive in Greece next week. The UK also continues to deploy three vessels in the Aegean assisting in Search & Rescue missions, and a Royal Navy vessel operating as part of the NATO mission.