Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what agreements the Government has with the Government of Iraq relating to the transfer of prisoners; and what effect those agreements have had on the number of prisoners exchanged with that country.

The United Kingdom and Iraq signed a prisoner transfer agreement on 8 October 2015. It is not yet in force. The Agreement will enter into force once the Iraqi Government has completed its ratification procedures and has notified the British Government of this in accordance with the requirements of the Agreement.

As the Agreement is not yet in force no prisoners have been transferred from the UK to prisons in Iraq. Where possible, the UK will seek to remove Foreign National Offenders held in custody through the Early Removal Scheme or seek their deportation at the completion of their prison sentences.

We are committed to increasing the number of Foreign National Offenders removed from our prisons, whether they are removed through Prisoner transfer Agreements or the Early Removal Scheme. In 2015/16 we removed the highest number of offenders since records began with a total of 5,810 offenders removed from prisons, immigration removal centres and the community.