Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she will take to ensure equal treatment of asylum seekers of all ethnicities and nationalities fleeing war; and if she will make a statement.

The UK has a proud record of providing protection for people who need it, in accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). As a signatory to the Refugee Convention and ECHR, we are legally obliged to consider all asylum claims made in the UK and admitted to the asylum system, and we are legally obliged to consider people’s human rights in all circumstances where a person would be removed from the UK.

Every asylum claim, regardless of the ethnicity or nationality of the claimant is carefully considered on its individual merits by assessing all the evidence provided by the claimant against a background of country information from a wide range of credible sources, including the Foreign, Development and Commonwealth Office, the media and non-governmental sources, such as the UNHCR, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Refugee status is granted when someone has a well-founded fear of persecution under the Refugee Convention for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. For those who do not have a well-founded fear of persecution for a convention reason, we consider whether they are at risk of serious harm and are in need of protection on humanitarian grounds. This ensures that we do not remove anyone who faces persecution or serious harm on return to their country of origin.

All asylum decision making policies are developed and reviewed in line with our duties under the Equality Act 2010; to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under this Act; advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. Protected characteristics include race.