Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the governments of Italy and Greece about the relocation to the UK of children and adults in refugee camps who have family members already resident in the UK.

The UK is committed to close cooperation and collaboration with EU partners, including Italy and Greece, to ensure that where eligible asylum seekers and refugees with family in the UK can be reunited, primarily through the Dublin Regulation. The Dublin Regulation is a mechanism for determining the Member State responsible for considering an individual’s asylum claim, with clauses relating to family reunification. Where reuniting with a family member who has been granted protection in the UK, individuals may qualify under the family reunion policy.

We have frequent contact with the Italian and Greek authorities, at official and ministerial level, to discuss the situation for migrants, including on joint plans to improve the effectiveness of transfers under the Dublin Regulation. The UK is providing support to help the Italian and Greek authorities, the European Asylum Support Office and the European Commission deal with flows of migrants, including by deploying experts and interpreters to the Greek islands as well as specialists to the EU Commission team in Athens and Rome, specifically to strengthen the intra EU asylum system. The UK has Liaison Officers in both Greece and Italy who work daily with our Italian and Greek counterparts, including assisting with the Dublin transfer process.