Wayne David – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wayne David on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what security checks her Department carries out on refugees from Syria who are admitted to the UK.

Mr John Hayes

The Syrian nationals admitted to the UK under the UNHCR Resettlement Programme are some of the most vulnerable displaced people and they are taken directly from the region.

We take security extremely seriously in cases referred to us for resettlement, working closely with the UNHCR who have their own robust identification processes in place. When refugees arrive in the UK they have been through a thorough two-stage vetting process to ensure we know who is entering the country. This includes the taking of biometric data, documentation verification and interviews. Potential resettlement cases are screened and considered by the Home Office for suitability for entry to the UK: we retain the right to reject individuals on security, war crimes or other grounds. For reasons of national security, we cannot provide further information on the details of the screening process itself.