Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the National Crime Agency about alleged criminal activity by asylum seekers processed through RAF Manston.

When an individual claims asylum, the Home Office will conduct mandatory identity, criminality and security checks. Biographic and biometric data are checked against relevant Home Office systems and police criminality databases including domestic and international data.

No one in the UK, including foreign nationals, asylum seekers or refugees, is above the law. Asylum seekers are clearly advised of the expectations the Home Office and accommodation providers have for them to behave responsibly while they are accommodated in Home Office properties and not to engage in any form of criminal or anti-social activity.

Criminality in the UK would normally be an operational matter for local law enforcement. Police forces do work with a wide range of partner agencies including the National Crime Agency as appropriate to investigate and disrupt crime as or when it occurs so as to protect local communities from harm.