Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Fowler (Conservative). It was answered on Monday, 12 November 2007.

Iraq: Resettlement of Citizens

Question: My Lords, I welcome the Government’s recognition that we owe a special duty to the Iraqi staff, although the scheme that they have devised discriminates against those who left British employment prior to August 2007. Many former staff and their families have been forced to flee Iraq and live in other countries. The Government now say that they will be given the opportunity of resettlement in the United Kingdom under the refugee resettlement programme, but the numbers will be limited to 600 places for staff and their dependants. How is such a limit compatible with the Government’s duty to consider each application on its merits?

Answer: My Lords, the first point to make is how difficult it is to establish where people have worked and served with us in Iraq. That is part of the reason why we went for the method of separating the two types of claims. There will be direct claims for those people currently working, which will be for some 600 currently serving staff, about 280 of whom will have done more than 12 months, and then between 400 and 500 former staff meeting the criteria. Getting hold of those staff, finding where they are and getting hold of the people whom they worked with in Iraq is extremely difficult, which is why we have gone down the route of the gateway system for those people.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 696 c241
Session: 2007-08
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Civilians Eligibility Immigration Iraq Peacekeeping operations Refugees Resettlement
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk