Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of imposing Magnitsky-style sanctions on people responsible for religious persecution in (a) Iran, (b) Eritrea and (c) Pakistan.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK's Global Human Rights sanctions regime can be used to impose sanctions for serious human rights violations or abuses, including; i) an individual's right to life; ii) right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; and iii) right to be free from slavery, not to be held in servitude or required to perform forced or compulsory labour. Sanctions complement other tools as part of a wider strategy. It would not be appropriate to speculate about potential future designations as to do so could reduce their impact.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum claims from Eritreans have been (1) lodged, and (2) accepted or refused, since 2014.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
2014, 35,611 Eritreans have claimed asylum. In the same timeframe, 26,594 were granted protection or other leave and 5,157 were refused.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) the age of refugee children is accurately assessed at the port of entry and (b) they are not inappropriately placed in adult (i) accommodation and (ii) detention settings.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is Home Office policy that an individual claiming to be a child will only be treated as an adult, if two Home Office members of staff independently determine that the individual's physical appearance and demeanour very strongly suggests they are significantly over 18 years of age. The lawfulness of this process was endorsed by the Supreme Court in the case of R (on the application of BF (Eritrea)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] UKSC 38.
Where there remains doubt about the individual’s age, they will be transferred to a local authority for further consideration of their age, usually in the form of a holistic social worker assessment of age, referred to as a ‘Merton’ age assessment.
We continue to work with local authorities and our asylum accommodation providers to ensure appropriate processes for individuals claiming to be children. For example, we have already improved information sharing with local authorities so that we are more routinely sharing reports for initial decisions on age, when required, as well as reviewing the initial decisions on age training rolled out to Home Office staff at the Western Jet Foil in Kent. We are also exploring new methods of scientific and technological age assessment, including Facial Age Estimation.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will consider the potential merits of establishing a safeguarding process to protect child refugees who are being mistakenly routed through the adult asylum system.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is Home Office policy that an individual claiming to be a child will only be treated as an adult, if two Home Office members of staff independently determine that the individual's physical appearance and demeanour very strongly suggests they are significantly over 18 years of age. The lawfulness of this process was endorsed by the Supreme Court in the case of R (on the application of BF (Eritrea)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] UKSC 38.
Where there remains doubt about the individual’s age, they will be transferred to a local authority for further consideration of their age, usually in the form of a holistic social worker assessment of age, referred to as a ‘Merton’ age assessment.
We continue to work with local authorities and our asylum accommodation providers to ensure appropriate processes for individuals claiming to be children. For example, we have already improved information sharing with local authorities so that we are more routinely sharing reports for initial decisions on age, when required, as well as reviewing the initial decisions on age training rolled out to Home Office staff at the Western Jet Foil in Kent. We are also exploring new methods of scientific and technological age assessment, including Facial Age Estimation.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the treatment of Christians in Eritrea, particular with regard to prolonged detention without trial; and what steps they are taking with international partners to seek the release of prisoners of conscience and to hold Eritrean authorities accountable for any violations of religious freedom under international law.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We consistently raise human rights with the Eritrean government, including religious freedoms. We advocate for the end of detentions based on religion or belief, as we have stated at the UN Human Rights Council. We call for all those unjustly incarcerated to be released. The UK's Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea raised human rights during her most recent visit to Eritrea in April and the UK supports the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea, voting in favour of his mandate renewal in July 2024.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of asylum claims made on the grounds of religious persecution from (a) Nigeria, (b) Eritrea and c) Pakistan between December 2001 and December 2024; and what steps she is taken to ensure claims are processed (i) fairly and (ii) efficiently.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not publish the number of asylum claims that were granted based on religious persecution. This information is not recorded in a reportable format. Information regarding initial decisions on asylum applications, by outcome, is contained within ASY_D02 tab of the Asylum applications, decisions and resettlement dataset on GOV.UK at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Detailed Home Office policy guidance provides a framework for considering asylum claims. All caseworkers receive extensive training to consider claims objectively and impartially, and they receive mentoring support before interviewing claimants and making such decisions. Each individual assessment is made against the background of relevant case law and the latest available country of origin information.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made recent representations to his counterpart in Eritrea on releasing prisoners of conscience detained without trial.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We consistently raise the human rights situation with the Eritrean Government, most recently by way of a statement at the 58th Human Rights Council in February and also during a senior Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) official visit to Asmara in April. We continue to advocate for the end of arbitrary detentions, including detentions based on religion or belief. Eritrea is a priority country in the FCDO Annual Human Rights Report and we support the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Eritrea, voting in favour of his mandate renewal in July 2024. As we have stated at the Human Rights Council, all those who have been unjustly incarcerated must be released.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on whether people claim to be from Eritrea to improve their chances of asylum being granted.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Home Office is committed to ensuring that the asylum system is not open to abuse. All asylum claimants are subject to mandatory security checks to confirm their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks. These checks are critical to the delivery of a safe and secure immigration system.
The Home Office uses several processes and tools to identify a claimant’s nationality and other identity features including fingerprint and other systems, identity documents, language analysis, and asylum interviews.
For further information regarding security checks during the asylum screening process, please see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-screening-and-routing/asylum-screening-and-routing-accessible.
The guidance for doubtful or disputed nationality can be found here: Doubtful and disputed nationality cases: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 1 April (HL5876), what action they are taking in addition to issuing joint statements to prevent renewed conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are concerned at heightened tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea and are engaging both sides at senior levels to encourage channels of communication and dialogue. This includes recent engagements by the Deputy Prime Minister during her recent visit to Ethiopia, and by myself as part of discussions on regional security with Ethiopian Ministers in recent weeks. Additionally, this week the UK's Special Envoy for the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa is visiting Asmara to meet with Eritrean Ministers and reinforce the need for calm and de-escalation.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following concerns raised at the UN Human Rights Council’s 58th regular session about the continued presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray, what steps they are taking to ensure that Eritrean and other non-Ethiopian federal forces honour the terms of the 2022 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement and fully withdraw.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK is working with partners to prevent a return to conflict in the region by supporting the implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. On 13 March, the UK issued a joint statement with the EU and 23 countries emphasising our support for the agreement and urging all parties to refrain from violence and engage in urgent dialogue. We regularly engage with all parties and the African Union guarantors, to reiterate the importance of implementation and encourage political dialogue to overcome obstacles on the return of internally displaced persons and other outstanding issues.
The UK provides support for the demobilisation, disarmament, and reintegration process, funds international and Ethiopian human rights monitoring and supports investigatory capacity building across the country. The UK is aware of reports of illicit trade contributing to tensions in the region.