Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time between a visa application centre making a decision in respect of a Ukrainian visa application and issuing a permission to travel letter.
Answered by Kevin Foster
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to complete the review into child citizenship fees following the Court of Appeal February 2021 ruling that the current rate is unlawful.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office has acknowledged the Court of Appeal’s judgment and has committed to reviewing the child citizenship registration fee in line with its duties under Section 55. This review is on-going and the results will be published in due course
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the findings of the report by Women for Refugee Women After Exploitation entitled Survivors Behind Bars, published on 4 February 2021, that the detention of trafficking victims has increased since the introduction of the Adults at Risk policy in 2016; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government does not have an absolute exclusion from detention for any particular group. However, we fully accept that some groups of individuals can be at particular risk of harm in immigration detention. This is the basis of the Adults at Risk in immigration detention (AAR) policy, which strengthens the presumption against detention for vulnerable individuals.
The policy covers a wider range of vulnerabilities and its introduction has enabled Home Office staff to promptly identify whether a person is vulnerable and consequently whether they should be detained. This allows for a more rounded assessment of such vulnerabilities in a detention setting, along with a balanced assessment of any immigration compliance, criminality factors and expected date of removal. The greater the evidence of vulnerability, the less likely it is that the individual will be detained.
Additional safeguards are also in place which underpin detention decisions, including regular reviews to ensure detention remains lawful, appropriate and proportionate.
All Home Office staff working in the detention system are also given training and support to identify and act upon indicators of vulnerability, including recognising victims of trafficking and modern slavery, at the earliest opportunity. If an individual is suspected to be a victim of trafficking, they will be referred into the National Referral Mechanism.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2021 to Question 136030, whether a person being initially processed at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal centre will be moved to the new, temporary accommodation for asylum seekers on the adjacent site.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
All service users that might be accommodated in initial accommodation at Yarl’s Wood will have already completed the required period of self-isolation at another location before being transferred there.
Therefore, asylum seekers will not transfer directly from Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre to the initial accommodation on the adjacent site.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will ensure that there is no cross-over between the residents of Yarls Wood Immigration Removal Centre and the asylum seekers to be homed in temporary accommodation on the same site.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
To ensure we have sufficient accommodation available to meet our statutory obligations we are planning to use a vacant site adjacent to the existing Immigration Removal Centre to accommodate single, adult male asylum seekers.
Asylum seekers on this adjacent site are separate from the Immigration Removal Centre and are free to come and go as they please.