The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of individuals transferred out of the UK under the Dublin regulation is published in the Dublin regulation detailed dataset (Dub_D01). Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The data relates up to the end of 2020, after which the UK was no longer subject to the Dublin regulation.

There is nothing progressive about people crossing the channel in small boats—nothing at all. We need to ensure that that stops.

I agree with the hon. Gentleman on the question of the Dublin agreement. We had a returns agreement with the whole of Europe, but it was ripped up when we left the EU by people who made promises that that would not be the case. We are rebuilding that relationship—we have reset it—and we now have a returns agreement with France. We would not need a single returns scheme with France if we had not ripped up the Dublin agreement.

Q7

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Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) (SNP):

First of all, I refer to my comments earlier in the week, since the Prime Minister’s research is not up to scratch.

George Reid, a former Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament and MP, passed away over the summer. He was a humanitarian to his very fingertips. He abhorred the demonisation of asylum seekers, including those desperate enough to cross the channel in small boats. Figures published by the House of Commons Library show that the number of asylum seekers who are forced to cross increased dramatically after Brexit, as a result of our leaving the Dublin regulation. Instead of punching down and joining in with the victim blaming of Reform and the Conservatives, will the Prime Minister reject their isolationism and look to rejoin the Dublin convention, which every other country in western Europe has joined?

The Dublin III Regulation ceased to apply to the UK from January 2021 onwards. Any assessment of the potential impact of that change would have been for the previous government to make at the time in question.

The Dublin Convention was replaced by the Dublin Regulation in 2003. The Dublin III Regulation is a long-standing mechanism between EU Member States to determine responsibility for examining asylum claims. It is not an application route for transfer to the UK.

The Home Office publishes data on the number of asylum seekers transferred under the Dublin regulation in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of asylum seekers transferred out of the UK under the Dublin Regulation, broken down by the EU member state they have been transferred to are published in tables Dub_D01 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending December 2019.

Please note, that we do not publish the breakdowns of the nationality of those being transferred under the Dublin regulation.

Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the ‘summary tables’. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on asylum and resettlement.

Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Full guidance on Dublin III Regulation was published on 30/04/2020 and can be found via the link below:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment data/file/882400/Dublin-III-regulation-v3.0ext.pdf

The primary responsibility for unaccompanied children in France lies with the French authorities. It is vital that children claim asylum in France rather than risking their lives by attempting to enter the UK illegally. That is the fastest route to safety.

The Dublin III Regulation is the mechanism which determines the Member State responsible for the consideration of an asylum claim. In order for an application to be transferred from France to the UK, an asylum seeker must first claim asylum in France, and the French authorities can request to have the claim transferred to the UK. We continue to work closely with France, other EU Member States and partners to ensure the timely and efficient operation of the Dublin III Regulation.

We are fully committed to delivering our commitment to transfer the specified number of 480 children under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 (the ‘Dubs Amendment’) and are working very closely with Member States, as well as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGO partners to identify and transfer children to the UK in line with each individual Member State’s national laws. Children have been transferred from France under section 67 this year and we have received further referrals. More eligible children will be transferred from Europe under the scheme in due course.

We are fully committed to delivering our commitment to transfer the specified number of 480 children under section 67 and transfers are ongoing.

We are working very closely with Member States, as well as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGO partners to identify and transfer children to the UK in line with each individual Member State’s national laws.

In 2016, we transferred over 900 unaccompanied children to the UK from Europe, including more than 200 children who met the criteria for section 67.

The Home Office consulted extensively with local authorities over several months to reach the specified number of children under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016. This included a national launch event and over 10 regional events in England, as well as Scotland and Wales. There are already over 4,000 unaccompanied asylum seeking children in local authority care in the UK, and some local authorities host a disproportionate number of children. These children all need support, as do the British children in our care system.

In order to ensure the specified number of children to be transferred is a true reflection of the responses to that consultation, the Government increased the specified number from 350 to 480 following the notification of an administrative error as part of collating the figures.

The Government welcomes all offers from local authorities with capacity to look after unaccompanied asylum seeking children which we will to fulfil our existing commitments, including ensuring a fairer distribution of unaccompanied asylum seeking children between local authorities.

The Government is fully committed to transferring 480 unaccompanied children from Europe under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 and transfers are ongoing. To be eligible, children must have been present in Europe before 20 March 2016, and it be determined, following individual assessment, that it would be in their best interest to be transferred to the UK.

Member States have been asked to prioritise those likely to qualify for refugee status and the most vulnerable. The requirement to be present in Europe before 20 March 2016 has been in place since the passage of section 67 in May 2016, and supports the principle that the scheme should not act as a pull factor for further children to make dangerous journeys to Europe.

The UK strongly supports the principle of family unity and there are already legal routes for families to be reunited safely that are not dependent on our EU membership. The UK’s family reunion policy is generous; we have granted over 24,000 family reunion visas over the last five years. Further, children recognised by UNHCR as refugees can join close family members here in the UK through our Mandate resettlement scheme.

Unaccompanied children cannot make applications for family reunification under the Dublin Regulation. The Dublin Regulation is a mechanism to determine the Member State responsible for the consideration of an asylum claim; it is not, and never has been, a family reunification route in itself. The Immigration Rules provide for family reunion and allow extended family members to sponsor children where there are serious and compelling circumstances. The Immigration Rules are entirely separate from the Dublin Regulation, and will remain in force when the UK leaves the European Union.

We expect cooperation on asylum and migration with our European partners to continue after the UK leaves the EU, and will discuss the exact nature of this cooperation in the negotiations.

The UK strongly supports the principle of family unity and there are already legal routes for families to be reunited safely that are not dependent on our EU membership. The UK’s family reunion policy is generous; we have granted over 24,000 family reunion visas over the last five years. Further, children recognised by UNHCR as refugees can join close family members here in the UK through our Mandate resettlement scheme.

Unaccompanied children cannot make applications for family reunification under the Dublin Regulation. The Dublin Regulation is a mechanism to determine the Member State responsible for the consideration of an asylum claim; it is not, and never has been, a family reunification route in itself. The Immigration Rules provide for family reunion and allow extended family members to sponsor children where there are serious and compelling circumstances. The Immigration Rules are entirely separate from the Dublin Regulation, and will remain in force when the UK leaves the European Union.

We expect cooperation on asylum and migration with our European partners to continue after the UK leaves the EU, and will discuss the exact nature of this cooperation in the negotiations.

The UK’s family reunion policy is generous; we have and continue to reunite many refugees with their immediate family. We have granted over 23,000 family reunion visas over the last five years.

Whilst we remain a member of the EU, we will continue to participate in Dublin III. We are ready to discuss our future relationship on establishing responsibility for processing asylum claims as part of negotiations. It would be wrong to set out our position on the nature of any future relationship here, but we expect our close cooperation on asylum and migration with our European allies to continue after the UK leaves the EU.

The data is not recorded centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Published statistics on visa applications in the Family category can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/638590/entry-visas1-apr-jun-2017-tables.ods

At present we do not publish data on cases covered by the Dublin Regulation. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, regularly publishes Member State figures, which can be found at:

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Dublin_statistics_on_countries_responsible_for_asylum_application

In 2016, over 900 unaccompanied asylum seeking children were transferred to the UK from Europe. Over 750 were transferred from France, including over 200 under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

In the joint Written Ministerial Statement of 8 November, the Government committed to publishing regular updates on the number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children transferred to the UK. The Government is considering options for publishing this information.

Statistics on transfers under the Dublin Regulation are already available here:

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Dublin_statistics_on_countries_responsible_for_asylum_application

Asylum statistics are published quarterly in the Home Office Immigration Statistics release, which can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2016/asylum

Annual Figures on the number of claims for asylum from Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC), including by country of nationality, are published quarterly by the Home Office in the Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics to December 2016, is available from:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2016/asylum

A breakdown of these figures by region, city and immigration status is not available.

The Government is committed to ensuring that there is a more equitable distribution of UASC across the country and that no one authority has to care for more UASC than they are able to, including those transferred to the UK under Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016. That is why we introduced the voluntary National Transfer Scheme and have consulted with every region in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on their capacity. Every region in England is participating in the National Transfer Scheme and we are working closely with the Devolved Administrations to ensure they are able to accept cases under the National Transfer Scheme. We are very grateful for the way in which local authorities have stepped up to accept UASC under the National Transfer Scheme. We will continue to work closely with local authorities to take up offers of placements to help ease the burden on those local authorities caring for a disproportionate number of UASC.

The Government continues to work with key EU Member States to ensure the Dublin Regulation family reunification process works effectively. We will always fully consider any request made to the UK to unite family members under the Dublin Regulation. Where someone seeking asylum elsewhere in the EU can demonstrate they have close family members legally in the UK, we will continue to meet our obligations under the Dublin Regulation and accept responsibility for processing such claims. At present we do not publish data on cases covered by the Dublin Regulation. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, regularly publishes Member State figures, which can be found at:

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Dublin_statistics_on_countries_responsible_for_asylum_application

The Government consulted with all local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales before agreeing the specified number of unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children it would transfer to the UK.

The Government takes the welfare of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children extremely seriously and the UK has contributed significantly to hosting, supporting and protecting the most vulnerable children affected by the migration crisis.

The Government committed to increasing the number of foster carers as part of our wider safeguarding strategy for unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children. In September, we commissioned the Refugee Council and ECPAT to deliver training for foster carers and support workers to support them in looking after unaccompanied asylum seeking or refugee children. We have also committed to evaluating the need for any additional training required by foster carers looking after these children. Further information on our safeguarding strategy can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/safeguarding-unaccompanied-asylum-seeking-and-refugee-children