Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the risk of radicalisation of asylum claimants whose asylum claim has been refused but who cannot legally be deported because their destination country is deemed unsafe.

James Brokenshire

Those claiming asylum in the UK undergo a series of checks against immigration and police databases. Asylum claimants are screened to identify individuals who may have been involved in serious criminality outside of the UK, this includes (but is not limited to) war crimes, crimes against humanity and terrorism. Asylum claimants are also screened for indicators of national security interest and where identified further checks and investigations are undertaken.

The Prevent statutory duty has made it a legal obligation for specified public bodies, including the police, local authorities, and health services, to have due regard to the need to prevent people being drawn into, or supporting, terrorism. We would expect authorities in contact with asylum claimants to have due regard to the risk of radicalisation in the same way that they would any other safeguarding issue.

No one who is at risk of serious harm in their country is expected to return there, but we do expect those who do not need our protection to return home voluntarily.