Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in EU members on the treatment of asylum seekers on Europe's borders.

The UK co-operates closely with our European partners to manage migration and strengthen our collective borders. We strongly support the principle that asylum seekers are entitled to decent, humane, fair treatment. We welcome the fact that Frontex has conducted an internal investigation into the allegations of pushbacks, and that the European Parliament has established a permanent standing committee in order to scrutinise Frontex. FCDO engagement includes frequent Ministerial conversations; most recently, the Foreign Secretary reiterated our opposition to Belarus' use of migrants and refugees to increase pressure on neighbouring states, in a Joint Communique issued following a meeting with her Baltic counterparts on 11 October.