Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the proportion of people who would not be eligible for asylum under the Illegal Migration Bill who would be eligible to be sent to (a) a third country and (b) their country of origin.

The Illegal Migration Bill will change the law so that people who come to the UK illegally can be detained and then swiftly returned to a safe third country or their home country. If they cannot be returned to their home country, then they will be relocated to a third safe country, such as Rwanda, where they will receive support to rebuild their lives. If someone is identified as a potential victim of modern slavery or human trafficking, we will ensure they are safely returned home or to another safe country, away from those who have trafficked them.

The Secretary of State is not required to make arrangements to remove an unaccompanied child from the UK until they turn 18 years old, but there is a power to do so. As a matter of current policy this power will only be exercised in limited circumstances ahead of them reaching adulthood, such as for the purposes of family reunion or where removal is to a safe country of origin.