Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of establishment of safe and legal routes for asylum seekers wishing to enter the UK on the frequency of migrant deaths at sea.

James Brokenshire

Any migrant death is a tragedy and the international community must act to reduce the likelihood of more migrants losing their lives in this way or falling victim to smuggling and trafficking.

The Government believes it is better to prioritise interventions upstream in countries of origin and transit in ways that reduce the need of migrants to leave their country of origin or move on from a safe third country. The UK is at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. On 4 February 2016, the Prime Minister announced that the UK will more than double our total pledge to the Syria crisis from £1.12 billion to over £2.3 billion. This is our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis.

Furthermore, more than $11 billion was pledged at the Supporting Syria Conference the UK co-hosted in London on 4th February, the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. The international community has pledged nearly $6 billion for 2016; with a further $5 billion for the coming years until 2020.

However, for those individuals who cannot be supported in the region, the UK operates three resettlement programmes: Gateway, Mandate and the Syrian Resettlement Scheme. These provide a safe and direct route to the UK for the most vulnerable UNHCR recognised refugees.