Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his US counterpart on (a) the human rights of (i) children and (ii) others held without provision of (A) soap, (B) toothbrushes and (C) beds in the US-run border detention centres on the US-Mexican border and (b) closing those centres; and if he will make a statement.

We are aware of recent concerning reports describing conditions for children in US detention facilities. The US Congress passed a Bill on 27 June providing emergency funding, including humanitarian support, in part to help address those conditions. We will continue to monitor the situation, though immigration policy in the US is of course a matter for the US Government, just as immigration policy in the UK is decided by the British Government.