Written question asked by Lord Judd (Labour) on Thursday, 13 July 2017, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 27 July 2017. It was answered by Lord Bates (Conservative) on Thursday, 20 July 2017 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

EU Immigration

Question: Her Majesty's Government what measures they have put in place to ensure that UK funding which is intended to address the central Mediterranean migration crisis is not used to finance the increased detention of refugees and migrants in a manner which denies them their right to asylum.

Answer: The UK contribution to the Mediterranean migration crisis is delivered through trusted humanitarian agencies such as the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). As the UN agency mandated to protect and support refugees, UK support for UNHCR is specifically designed to help ensure that refugees are supported to access asylum procedures. UK assistance inside detention centres is not provided to increase detention capacity, but to protect migrants’ and refugees’ human rights and meet basic needs, including by advocating for alternatives to detention for vulnerable groups. We also assist migrants to return home, if they wish to do so.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: HL850
Session: 2017-19
Subjects: Asylum Detainees Finance Migrants EU immigration Mediterranean Sea
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk