Written question asked by Claire Curtis-Thomas (Labour) on Wednesday, 18 November 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 November 2009. It was answered by Phil Woolas (Labour) on Monday, 30 November 2009 on behalf of the Home Office.

Immigrants

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effects of (a) monetary incentives and (b) other factors on return migrant flows; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: The Government want failed asylum seekers who are in the UK illegally to leave voluntarily and, in co-operation with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) it operates the assisted voluntary return (AVR) schemes to help them to do so. This offers failed asylum seekers a means of return which is both dignified and sustainable. To test elasticity of demand, we have piloted different packages of reintegration assistance to promote AVR.The Assisted Voluntary Return programme offers packages of support to all returnees under the Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration Programme (VARRP). This programme is subject to an annual external assessment which looks at the package of reintegration assistance on offer, and considers other factors which may affect migrants' decisions to return voluntarily.UKBA operate a short term upstream AVR project currently operating in Libya, implemented by IOM, which aims to offer a return and reintegration package to return up to 250 irregular Ethiopian migrants from Libya to their country of origin. The project is due to complete in December 2009, after which evaluation of the project will be made. At this point, therefore, it is not possible to fully assess the effect of monetary incentives or other factors on this return migrant path way.The Secretary of State has no plans to make a statement at this time.

Secondary information