Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the outcomes of the visit to Eritrea by Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Home Office representatives in December 2014.

As part of an ongoing dialogue on migration related issues between the UK and Eritrean governments, a joint delegation of senior Home Office and Foreign Office officials visited Eritrea on 9-11 December. The delegation held a number of discussions with government ministers, officials and non-government actors on topics including the current drivers of irregular migration, ways to mitigate it, and voluntary and enforced returns. The meetings were constructive and identified a number of potential areas for joint co-operation, including on returns. We are now considering how best to use the information gathered during the visit to develop our approach to managing migration from Eritrea.