Three debates relating to migration

Ben Politowski; Melanie Gower

The following debates relating to migration are scheduled for Wednesday 10 February 2016 in Westminster Hall:

Contracts let by the Home Office for the provision of asylum support – Stephen Doughty (0930-1100hrs)

Asylum seekers are not eligible for mainstream welfare benefits, however those who have submitted an application for asylum ‘as soon as reasonably practicable’ after arriving in the UK may apply for accommodation and/or financial support. Accommodation is provided to asylum seekers by private providers contracted by the Home Office. Currently G4S, Serco and Clearel (a joint venture between Clearsprings and Reliance) all have Home Office contracts to provide accommodation for asylum seekers through the COMPASS system. More information is available in the Commons Library briefing, Asylum support: accommodation and financial support for asylum seekers.

The providers of accommodation for asylum seekers have recently come under criticism from the media after it was revealed that all the doors of housing accommodating asylum seekers in Middlesbrough had been painted the same colour of red. This led to Andy McDonald asking an urgent question of the Home Office on the treatment of asylum seekers in Middlesbrough. It was subsequently revealed that in Cardiff the provider Clearsprings had been requiring asylum seekers to wear coloured wristbands in order to receive meals. The Home Affairs Select Committee have since launched an inquiry into Asylum accommodation.

The COMPASS contracts awarded may be viewed on the Government’s Contract Finder Archive:

Migration into the EU – Adam Holloway (1430-1600hrs)

The UNHCR has warned that the world is in the midst of a forced migration crisis, with the conflict in Syria the main single cause of displacement. According the UNHCR, over 10% of Syrians who have fled the conflict have sought protection in Europe, with 813,599 asylum applications made between April 2011 and November 2015.

In January 2016, the FT reported that, Mass migration into Europe is unstoppable. Several concerns have been raised in the media regarding the flow of migrants, including fears that extremist groups such as Isil are exploiting this movement of people to smuggle terrorists into Europe, or discussions over whether this spells the end of the Schengen agreement.

The European Commission has issued a press release providing an update on the progress made in relation to EU Member States’ commitments to address the refugee crisis in Europe. The Home Affairs Committee currently has an ongoing inquiry into the migration crisis in Europe.

Further information is available in the Commons Library briefings, The EU’s response to the migration crisis: recent developments and Migration pressures in Europe.

UK Government’s policy on refugees – Richard Arkless (1630-1730hrs)

The UK Government operates a range of schemes in relation to refugees. In January 2014, the Government launched the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Programme (SVPRP) to grant humanitarian protection to vulnerable refugees. According to official statistics, as of September 2015, this programme had taken 252 people since it began. However, on 16 December 2015, the PM announced that the Government had met its commitment to resettle 1,000 Syrian refugees in the UK before the end of 2015. The PM has also announced that the scheme will be expanded to take 20,000 Syrians in need of protection by 2020. National statistics on asylum in the UK are available from the Home Office.

The EU has also attempted to develop a scheme to respond to the refugee crisis, one proposal is that Member States resettle 20,000 people from outside the EU who are recognised by the UNHCR as refugees. The UK Government has chosen to opt out of this scheme, but continues to operate its own longstanding refugee resettlement schemes in addition to the SVPRP such as the Gateway Protection Programme.

In a statement to Parliament made on 28 January 2016, James Brokenshire, the Minister of State for Immigration, announced that in response to calls for the UK to resettle 3,000 refugee children, the Government would be working with the UNHCR, ‘to lead a new initiative to resettle unaccompanied children from conflict regions.’ However, the precise details of this arrangement remain unclear.

More information is provided in the Commons Library briefing, Syrian refugees and the UK.