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Written Question
Asylum: Rwanda
Friday 15th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many Rwandan nationals have been granted (1) refugee status, or (2) other leave to remain, in the UK since April 2022; and what are the principal reasons for granting.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ on gov.uk. Data on initial decisions by nationality are published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum applications, decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. From April 2022 until December 2023, 9 main applicant Rwandan nationals were granted refugee permission and 1 main applicant was granted other leave.

All asylum and human rights claims lodged from within the UK and admitted to the UK asylum system, including those seeking asylum from Rwanda, are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations, and against the background of relevant case law, policy guidance and the latest available country of origin information.


Written Question
Asylum: Children
Thursday 14th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many unaccompanied children seeking asylum who were housed in Home Office hotels are still missing; and what is the breakdown of (1) ages, and (2) length of time missing, for those children.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We take any child going missing extremely seriously. When any child goes missing, a multi-agency missing persons protocol is mobilised. Many of those who have gone missing are subsequently traced and located.

As of 5 March, 118 children are still missing. The majority were aged 16 and 17 when they went missing. Only about 18 are still under the age of 18. It is important to note that this data is from a live operational database and has not been quality assured to the same standard as published data.

The most recent published data can be found at asylum and resettlement datasets on GOV.UK: (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
Undocumented Migrants
Wednesday 13th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals have arrived into the UK via irregular routes since 7 March 2023; and of those individuals, how many have a case for refugee status started by the Home Office.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes statistics on irregular arrivals to the UK in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release on gov.uk. Data on irregular arrivals from 2018 to 2023 is published in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’. Data on asylum applications from small boat arrivals and the initial decisions for these applications is published in tables Irr_D02 and Irr_D03 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, with the latest data up to the end of May 2023.

The Home Office does not publish data on asylum applications for other irregular arrivals.

As shown on table Irr_D03, there were no applications of asylum granted to small boat arrivals who arrived in April and May 2023.


Written Question
Visas: Families
Wednesday 20th December 2023

Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the compliance of the proposed £38,700 income requirement for applications to bring dependents to the UK with the Human Rights Act 1998.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The family Immigration Rules contain a provision for exceptional circumstances, including a breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, where there would be unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant, their partner, a relevant child, or another family member if their application were to be refused.


Written Question
Asylum: Bibby Stockholm
Tuesday 19th December 2023

Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people are being accommodated on the Bibby Stockholm barge at present, and what is the cost per person to accommodate them.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The capacity of the Bibby Stockholm is around 500 people. The number of asylum seekers onboard the vessel at any one time is likely to vary due to a number of factors.

Numbers will increase in a phased approach as part of a carefully structured plan. We are conscious of the need to manage arrivals in a way that local services can support.

Accommodation costs are considered to be commercially confidential. Therefore, the Home Office does not publish this information. However, total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at: Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2022-2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk).


Written Question
Asylum: Bibby Stockholm
Tuesday 19th December 2023

Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the daily cost per person will be if 504 asylum seekers are accommodated on the Bibby Stockholm barge.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The capacity of the Bibby Stockholm is around 500 people. The number of asylum seekers onboard the vessel at any one time is likely to vary due to a number of factors.

Numbers will increase in a phased approach as part of a carefully structured plan. We are conscious of the need to manage arrivals in a way that local services can support.

Accommodation costs are considered to be commercially confidential. Therefore, the Home Office does not publish this information. However, total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at: Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2022-2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk).


Written Question
Asylum: Age Assurance
Tuesday 12th December 2023

Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people who arrived in the UK claiming to be unaccompanied children seeking asylum, and who underwent a Merton compliant age assessment and were determined as a child, were then found to be an adult, for each year since 2016; and what percentage of the number of Merton compliant age assessment tests this constituted, broken down by year since 2016.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on asylum and resettlement in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ on gov.uk. Data on Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children and age disputes are published in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D05 of the ‘Asylum and Resettlement detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of each of the workbooks. The latest data relates to Q3 2023. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ on gov.uk.

Data on age disputes includes age disputes that may have been resolved by means other than following a Merton compliant age assessment such as: receipt of credible and clear documentary evidence of age; a judicial finding on age; following a determination by two Home Office officers that the person’s physical appearance and demeanour very strongly suggests they are significantly over the age of 18; or, where the reasons for raising an age dispute no longer apply.


Written Question
Asylum: Children
Monday 11th December 2023

Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 23 November (HL192), of those unaccompanied children seeking asylum who are placed in hotels awaiting placement with a local authority who either have documents or do not require an age assessment, (1) how, and (2) when, their age is entered onto the operational databases referred to; when it is done so; and by whom its quality is assured.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Many of those arriving in the UK who claim to be children, often do not have clear evidence such as an original passport or identity document to back this up.

In the absence of documentary evidence, Home Office officials will treat a claimant as an adult if their physical appearance and demeanour very strongly suggests that they are significantly over 18 years of age, in-line with the Home Office’s published age assessment policy. This is carried out by two Home Office officials who independently assess whether a claimant is an adult.

The age provided through evidence or through the assessment carried out upon the person’s entry to the UK is entered into Home Office systems within 24 hours of their arrival in the UK.

A sample of data is quality assured as standard practice.


Written Question
Asylum: Children
Monday 11th December 2023

Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 23 November (HL192), of those unaccompanied children seeking asylum over the last two years who have had to be placed in a hotel whilst awaiting to be placed with a local authority, what percentage either (1) had documents, or (2) did not require an age assessment.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Many of those arriving in the UK who claim to be children, often do not have clear evidence such as an original passport or identity document to back this up.

In the absence of documentary evidence, Home Office officials will treat a claimant as an adult if their physical appearance and demeanour very strongly suggests that they are significantly over 18 years of age, in-line with the Home Office’s published age assessment policy. This is carried out by two Home Office officials who independently assess whether a claimant is an adult.

The age provided through evidence or through the assessment carried out upon the person’s entry to the UK is entered into Home Office systems within 24 hours of their arrival in the UK.

A sample of data is quality assured as standard practice.


Written Question
Asylum: Deportation
Monday 11th December 2023

Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Supreme Court judgment on the use of Rwanda for extradition of those seeking asylum who arrive to the UK by irregular routes, what assessment if any they have made of each of the countries listed in Schedule 1 to the Illegal Migration Act 2023 (Countries or territories to which a person may be removed) to determine if they have any similar features as laid out in the Supreme Court's judgment and therefore would make them illegal to send asylum seekers too.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The list of countries in Schedule 1 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 is an amalgamation of the lists of safe counties currently set out in section 94(4) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 to the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc) Act 2004 with the addition of the Republic of Rwanda and the exclusion of Ukraine. The Home Office regularly reviews country situations and the countries listed have been found to be safe.

The Government is considering the outcome of the Supreme Court’s judgment on the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) with Rwanda and its application to the Illegal Migration Act, including the Schedule 1 list. If we were to seek to remove a third country national to any of the countries listed under Schedule 1, they would have the opportunity to raise if they would have a risk of serious and irreversible harm if removed to that country. An individual would not be removed to that country if it was found that there was such a risk.