Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her Department's policy to prepare for the removal of asylum seekers from the UK before they have exhausted all legal remedies in their claim for asylum.

Section 77 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 prevents a person from being removed from the UK whilst a claim for asylum is pending, and section 78 of the 2002 Act has the same effect where an appeal is pending. In both cases this does not prevent the giving of directions for the person’s removal or the taking of any other interim or preparatory action.

Where a person has claimed asylum and the claim has been refused preparations for removal can be made. Those preparations may involve gathering relevant information and applying for an emergency travel document.