Thangam Debbonaire
MP for Bristol West
Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Yesterday (Wednesday 2nd October 2019), in oral questions to the Secretary of State for International Development, I followed my set question – on government attempts to reduce the number of people who are forced to migrate – with a supplementary one.
Because forced migration is often dangerous, I emphasised how refugee resettlement allows the United Nations to assess someone and – if they’re found to be a refugee – provide a safe and legal route to get to a safe country. The Department for International Development (DFID) funds and supports this, but there’s no commitment from government to continuing resettlement in the long term. I asked the Secretary of State to consider committing to a minimum of 10,000 refugees per year via resettlement, and for a minimum of five years.
You can watch my questions, and Alok Sharma’s answer here.
A firmer commitment to long-term refugee resettlement
Yesterday (Wednesday 2nd October 2019), in oral questions to the Secretary of State for International Development, I followed up my set question – on government attempts to reduce the number of people who are forced to migrate – with a supplementary one. Because forced migration is often dangerous, I emphasised how refugee resettlement allows the United Nations to assess someone and – if they’re found to be a refugee – provide a safe and legal route to a safe country. The Department for International Development (DFID) funds and supports this, but there’s no commitment from government to continuing resettlement in the long term. I asked the Secretary of State to consider committing to a minimum of 10,000 refugees per year via resettlement, and for a minimum of five years. You can watch my question, and Alok Sharma’s answer here.
Posted by Thangam Debbonaire MP for Bristol West on Thursday, October 3, 2019