Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 24 of the Joint Ministerial Declaration on UK/French co-operation on managing migratory flows in Calais, published in August 2015, what progress has been made on the commitment to take stock of the operational effectiveness of the Dublin III Regulations.

Karen Bradley

The UK government supports the Dublin III principles and welcomes the swift processing of asylum claims made in Calais. For migrants to be processed under Dublin III they must first claim asylum in France. The UK government will consider any request made by the French asylum authorities under the Dublin Regulation to take responsibility for an asylum applicant in France because they have close family in the UK.

To ensure that the provisions of the Dublin Regulation are used efficiently and effectively in both countries, a joint contact group has been established in line with the commitment in the Joint Declaration. The UK has held regular discussions with French Interior Ministry colleagues, including visits to Calais and Dunkirk to examine the processes and the information made available to migrants.