Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether journalists from The Guardian were invited to accompany the Home Secretary on her recent visit to Rwanda with journalists from other UK newspapers; if not, why not; and, further to the Home Office spokesperson’s comments reported in the Press Gazette on 25 April 2022 that the Home Office “fully adheres to the Government Communication Service Propriety Guidance when dealing with members of the media”, whether the decision on whether to invite Guardian journalists took account of the Government Communication Service Propriety Guidance which states that to "work effectively, media officers must establish their impartiality and neutrality with the news media, and ensure that they deal with all news media evenhandedly”.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Media outlets who accompanied the Home Secretary’s visit to Kigali on March 18 – 19 were BBC News, The Daily Express, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, GB News, Press Association, The Sun, The Times. There were also numerous outlets in the region who covered the visit.
Even-handed treatment of the media in accordance with the Government Communications Service guidelines is central to how the Civil Service communicates. Due consideration of the GCS guidelines is undertaken in Home Office communications.
All news organisations were kept informed of the progress of the visit regardless of whether they attended or not.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 8 March (HL Deb col 847) concerning the legality of the new Illegal Migration Bill, what plans they have to address the legal complexities of that Bill.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
In preparing the Bill our aim has been to ensure that it is legally robust to achieve the Bill’s core purpose as set out in clause 1(1). Namely to prevent and deter unlawful migration, and in particular migration by unsafe and illegal routes, by requiring the removal from the United Kingdom of certain persons who enter or arrive in the UK in breach of immigration control.
The Government continues to examine ways to further strengthen the Bill, including by bringing forward amendments to make substantive provision (in place of clause 49) as to the effect of interim measures indicated by the European Court of Human Rights.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they have not responded to the report by The Right Reverend James Jones KBE The patronising disposition of unaccountable power: A report to ensure the pain and suffering of the Hillsborough families is not repeated, published on 1 November 2017; whether they support the recommendations concerning (1) the duty of candour, (2) the equality of arms at inquests, (3) the appointment of an Independent Public Advocate, and (4) a Charter for Families Bereaved through Public Tragedy; and whether they intend to support the enactment of the Public Authorities (Accountability) Bill.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The points of learning made by Bishop James Jones in his report span a number of departments and organisations and the Home Office is coordinating the Government’s overarching response to it.
Whilst the timing of the Government’s response to the Bishop’s report has been impacted by the need to avoid risk of prejudice during the Hillsborough criminal proceedings, work has been underway within the relevant departments and organisations to carefully consider and address those points of learning directed at the Government. With criminal proceedings having concluded, the Government is committed to engaging with the Hillsborough families and publishing a full response to the Bishop’s report as soon as practicable.
This response will address all the Bishop’s points of learning, including: a Charter for Families Bereaved through Public Tragedy; a duty of candour for public authorities and officials; and equality of arms at inquests.
On 1 March 2023 the Secretary of State for Justice announced the Government’s intention to legislate, as soon as possible, to introduce an independent public advocate; to put victims and the bereaved at the heart of our response to large-scale public disasters; to make sure they get the support they deserve through public inquests and inquiries; and to make sure they get the answers they need to move forward in their lives. He has also offered to meet the families and groups from Hillsborough, Grenfell and the Manchester Arena bombing.
The independent public advocate is an important step forward in ensuring that the pain and suffering of the Hillsborough victims, and other victims, is never repeated.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of (1) the number of people being displaced in Darfur annually, (2) the total number of asylum claims from Darfur, (3) the current grant rate of asylum claims for (a) Sudanese, and (b) Darfuri claimants, and (4) how long it takes on average to process such claims.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Our country policy and information notes (CPINs) on Sudan can be found here: Country policy and information notes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). These are kept under constant review and updated periodically on the Gov.uk website.
Data relating to claimants from specific parts of a country, such as Darfur, is not held in a reportable format and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it requires a manual search through individual records.
However, the grant rate for Sudan in 2022 can be found in figure 4: How many people do we grant protection to? - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
We also regularly publish data on the total percentage of asylum applications processed within 6 months of the date of claim which can be found at Asy_01 of the Asylum Transparency Data January 2022
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-and-protection-data-q4-2022.
The number of asylum decisions awaiting a decision can be found at ASY_D03 Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). This can be broken down by nationality and shows the number of pending initial decisions for 6 months or less, and for more than 6 months.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what communication there has been between the Home Office and the Country Policy Information Team of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office regarding displacements in Darfur; and what assessment they have made of how up to date information held by the Home Office is on this topic.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Country Policy and Information Team (CPIT) in the Home Office maintains regular contact with the British Embassy in Khartoum regarding Sudan, including the situation of Darfuris.
CPIT also monitors open-source information about the country situation, including displacements in Darfur.
CPIT will publish an updated country policy and information note (CPIN) on the risks faced by non-Arab Darfuris in Sudan on GOV.UK shortly.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many members of the Yazidi community from Iraq have been resettled in the UK since 2014.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office provides resettlement solely on the basis of needs, identified by UNHCR. Individual ethnic and religious background is not part of this consideration.
We therefore do not publish a religious or ethnic breakdown of those who have been resettled.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the UK Resettlement Scheme is not accepting new submissions from the United Nations Refugee Agency.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
According to the latest data (December 2022), 2,023 refugees have been resettled through the UKRS since it began.
The government continues to prioritise those who have been referred by the UNHCR and who are already awaiting resettlement.
The numbers resettled in a particular period will depend on a range of factors including the availability of suitable accommodation and care packages in the UK. We are managing the flows based on need and in support of the wellbeing of the people and communities involved.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Resolution 2475 of 23 January, what plans they have to address the issue of Daesh foreign fighters and their families returning from Syria and other countries to the member states of the Council of Europe.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Our priority remains ensuring the safety and security of the UK.
We continue to work closely with international partners in addressing the issue of Daesh Foreign Terrorist Fighters, particularly in the pursuit of justice of those who fought for or supported Daesh. However, repatriating citizens is ultimately a matter for individual countries.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that unaccompanied migrants under the age of 18 have gone missing from hotel accommodation; what safeguards they have in place to protect such children; and what links they have identified between these disappearances and human traffickers.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
We take the welfare of those in our care extremely seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in emergency interim hotels are as safe and supported as possible whilst we seek urgent placements with a local authority.
Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. Staff, including contractors, receive a number of briefings and guidance on how to safeguard children. All UASC receive a welfare interview on arrival in the UK. This includes a series of questions specifically designed to understand whether there are any potential indicators of trafficking. A referral is made to the National Referral Mechanism if indicators are noted. A safety plan is put in place by social services.. The Home Office and its accommodation providers have robust processes in place to ensure that where someone is at risk, they are referred to the appropriate statutory agencies of the police, NHS and social services, to promote appropriate safeguarding interventions
The Home Office has no power to hold asylum seekers, including minors, in hotels or any temporary accommodation if they wish to leave. Once in a hotel where UASC are accommodated, there are various measures in place to ensure that the risk of a child going missing is minimised. Records are kept and monitored of children leaving and returning to the hotel. Support workers will accompany children off site on activities and social excursions, or where specific vulnerabilities are identified.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the current visa of the Myanmar military attaché expires.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
We do not routinely comment on individual cases. All visa applications are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the Immigration Rules.