Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent events in Eritrea, and of the impact of those events on the number of refugees seeking refuge in Western Europe.

We remain deeply concerned by the political situation in Eritrea and the impact on migration in Western Europe. Although the number of claims has increased, the profile of Eritrean asylum claims seen by the Home Office has not changed significantly. Our Ambassador regularly monitors events in Eritrea and works closely with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, through whom we receive monthly updates on migration. We also support multilateral initiatives to tackle illegal migration such as the African Union-EU Khartoum process. The last meeting was on 13-16 October 2014.