asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the answer by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 29 October (Official Report, col. 1212), when they handed responsibilities for national security on the airside of airports to the airport authorities and airport retail outlets. [HL119]

The Department for Transport sets aviation security measures. Airports, airlines and others are responsible for implementing the statutory security requirements and through its inspectors the department ensures compliance. Retail outlets at airports are not regulated by the department.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Who will represent the United Kingdom at the transfer of power ceremony on 10 December, following the election victory of Ms Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in Argentina. [HL44]

No decision has yet been taken about who will represent the United Kingdom at Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s inauguration ceremony in Argentina.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What measures they are taking to ensure that British companies involved in the production of weapons overseas have to seek a specific licence from the United Kingdom Government before any such productivity is undertaken. [HL89]

Exports of all controlled (military or dual-use) items and all transfers of controlled technology from the UK require an export licence. When submitting a licence application, exporters are required to say whether the proposed export is for the purposes of overseas production, and the Government's licence assessment will then take account of the specific risks associated with this. The current controls therefore apply to many elements of the supply chain on which overseas production depends.

The Government launched a review of the current export control legislation on 18 June 2007. This included a public consultation, which examined a wide range of issues, including the controls on licensed production overseas, and specifically sought the views of respondents on a range of change options. The public consultation closed on 30 September, and all responses are currently being considered. The Government will issue an initial response to the review by 31 December.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they will introduce prior parliamentary scrutiny for arms exports licensing decisions. [HL91]

The Government have no plans to introduce prior parliamentary scrutiny for arms exports licensing decisions, both on practical grounds and as a matter of principle. The Government continue to believe that retrospective scrutiny by the Quadripartite Select Committee of its licensing decisions, through its annual and quarterly reports on strategic export controls, is the most effective and practical method of scrutiny.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many applications for asylum have been received in each of the past 10 years from people from (a) Ethiopia, and (b) Eritrea; and in each of these years how many such applications have been granted; how many applicants have been allowed leave to remain; and how many applications have been refused. [HL164]

The table below shows the outcomes of the applications made in each year from 2003 to 2006 for nationals of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Information prior to 2003 is not available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many failed asylum seekers and their dependants from (a) Ethiopia, and (b) Eritrea have to their knowledge left this country in each of the past 10 years (i) voluntarily without financial assistance; (ii) voluntarily with financial assistance; and (iii) by forcible removal; and how many of these have returned to Ethiopia and Eritrea respectively. [HL165]

The accompanying tables show (1) the number of Ethiopian and Eritrean principal asylum applicants removed from the UK between 1997 and 2003, and (2) the number of Ethiopian and Eritrean asylum applicants, including dependants, removed from the UK between 2004 and 2006 broken down by destination and type of removal.

Prior to 2004, nationality data for dependants of asylum applicants and data on the type of removal from the UK by nationality are not available.

It is not possible to say how many asylum applicants left voluntarily with or without financial assistance; this information would only be available by examination of individual case files at disproportionate cost.

Published statistics on immigration and asylum are available from the Library of the House.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Under what circumstances, notwithstanding the submission of medical evidence substantiating a detained asylum seeker's claim to have been tortured, the case owner would allow the detention to be continued; and in any such circumstances, whether they will issue instructions that a document recording the reasons for the continued detention is placed in the Rule 35 log. [HL140]

Detention in such circumstances may be appropriate for the following reasons: public protection in the case of convicted criminals; where the person concerned might be a persistent absconder; where the person is to be returned to a third country for consideration of their asylum claim; or, most commonly, where the person has no lawful basis of stay in the UK and whose removal it is necessary to enforce.

Existing guidance to the Border and Immigration Agency staff requires them to acknowledge receipt of an allegation of torture report from a removal centre doctor. During the passage of the UK Borders Bill we acknowledged that the response might go beyond a simple acknowledgement and undertook to look at the arrangements that exist. This process is still taking place.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, having regard to the Chinese Nationality Law promulgated by the chairman of the standing committee of the National People's Congress on 10 September 1980 and the clarifications concerning implementation of Chinese Nationality Law in Hong Kong, adopted on 15 May 1996, a person who is a British National (Overseas) and is of Chinese ethnicity or race would be entitled to registration under Section 1 of the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997 under the following circumstances (a) he was born in Hong Kong; (b) he does not satisfy the criteria to be a Chinese national set out in Article 4 or 6 of the Chinese Nationality Law because (i) neither of his parents has ever held Chinese nationality, and (ii) neither of his parents was stateless; (c) he has never been naturalised as a Chinese citizen; (d) he is ordinarily resident in Hong Kong at the time of the application for registration; (e) immediately before 4 February 1997 he (i) was ordinarily resident in Hong Kong; (ii) was a British Dependent Territories citizen by virtue only of his having a connection with Hong Kong (within the meaning given by the schedule to the 1997 Act); and (iii) held no other nationality other than British National (Overseas); (f) since 4 February 1997 he has held no nationality or citizenship other than as set out above; and (g) he satisfies the requirements of Section 58 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. [HL99]

The person in this example would qualify for registration under Section 1 of the 1997 Act if he or she was not a Chinese national. However, paragraph 1 of the document entitled Explanations of some questions by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress concerning the implementation of the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, adopted on 15 May 1996, indicated that, apart from the criteria laid down in the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China for acquiring Chinese nationality, a Hong Kong resident would be a Chinese national if he or she was of Chinese descent and was born in Hong Kong.

Any person who, immediately before 4 February 1997, was a Chinese national, whether by virtue of the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China or otherwise, would not be entitled to registration under Section 1 of the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many foreign children under the age of 18 the Border and Immigration Agency, or its predecessor, sought to deport in each of the current and previous two years; and in how many cases this happened, either voluntarily or by enforcement. [HL39]

Four thousand eight hundred and seventy children under the age of 18 were removed from the UK in 2005 and 5,795 in 2006. These figures include enforced removals, persons refused entry at port and subsequently removed, persons departing voluntarily after enforcement action had been initiated against them, persons leaving under assisted voluntary return programmes run by the International Organization for Migration and those whom it is established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities. They include both asylum and non-asylum cases. These figures are rounded to the nearest five; the figure for 2006 is provisional.

An unaccompanied child under the age of 18 would not be considered for removal from the UK unless it has been established with the country to which the child is to be removed that adequate reception arrangements are in place. Officers must liaise with social services and/or the nominated guardian with responsibility for the care of the child in the UK to ensure the removal is affected in the most sensitive manner possible.

National statistics on the number of persons against whom removal action was initiated in 2005 and 2006 are not available due to data quality issues. Therefore it is not possible to say how many persons the Border and Immigration Agency sought to remove. In addition, those departing voluntarily can leave the UK at any time.

Information on the number of asylum applicants removed from the UK between January and September 2007 will be published in the Asylum Statistics: 3rd Quarter 2007 bulletin, scheduled for 20 November. Copies of this publication will be available from the Library of the House and on the Home Office's research, development and statistics website at: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their response to Rights Here, Rights Now published in September by UNICEF (UK) and ECPAT (UK). [HL38]

I welcome the report from UNICEF and acknowledge its continuing efforts to help meet our shared goal of putting an end to human trafficking and protecting vulnerable children from this awful crime.

I have read UNICEF's report with interest and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Crime Reduction met the chief executive, David Bull, to discuss its recommendations. We are considering the report in light of our UK action plan on tackling human trafficking and the Government's signature of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.

We are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of trafficked children discovered in the UK.

We continue to work closely with UNICEF and value its advice as a member of our Inter-Ministerial Stakeholder group on human trafficking.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What consideration they are giving to the appointment of legal guardians for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and for children identified as having been trafficked, given the effectiveness of similar schemes in other European Union countries. [HL40]

We are not considering creating a system of legal guardians for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. The role of such a person is unclear and we consider that the children already receive sufficient assistance from the local authority social worker assigned to their care. The children are also referred to the Refugee Council children's panel, which provides additional advice and signposts the individuals to appropriate services. Legal assistance is of course available to assist with the asylum application.

The Government are also committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all trafficked children discovered in the UK. The protection of any child or young person in the UK should be given the highest and most immediate priority.

As we develop implementation options to comply with the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings we will consult with a range of stakeholders, including via our established non-governmental organisation (NGO) stakeholder group. This will include an assessment of all the options for improvement to the arrangements for children.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many people have been prosecuted for holding a mobile telephone while driving a motor vehicle since 2003. [HL98]

Driving while using a hand-held mobile phone became a specific offence from 1 December 2003.

The figures for England and Wales show that there was one prosecution in 2003, 789 prosecutions in 2004 and 2,090 prosecutions in 2005. However, offences are also dealt with by the offer of a fixed penalty. In 2003, there were 1,888 tickets paid, in 2004 there were 73,976 tickets paid and 126,768 tickets were paid in 2005.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Triesman on 19 February (WA 239), whether they have now conducted the detailed study of the provisions of the International Covenant for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and with what results; and, whether, if the study has not been completed, they will give an estimate of when the work is likely to be done. [HL101]

The preliminary work necessary to identify any changes required to our law in order to ratify the convention necessarily began when the convention was under negotiation, but it has not yet been possible to progress it further to date. This is a difficult area involving complex and sensitive issues and will take some considerable time to complete.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have now completed the detailed analysis of the provisions of the International Covenant for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; whether they have decided on ratification; and whether, if so, they intend to issue any further interpretative statement or reservation to the Treaty.[HL102]

The Government support the International Covenant for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The UK was active throughout the negotiations to draft the convention and we supported its adoption last year at both the UN Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly. The preliminary work necessary to identify any changes required to UK law in order to ratify the convention necessarily began when the convention was under negotiation, but it has not yet been possible to progress it further to date. Until this work is complete, we will not be able to determine the UK’s position towards ratification, including whether we would need to make any reservations. At the adoption of the convention at both the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, the UK made an interpretative statement clarifying our understanding of certain provisions, including what constitutes an enforced disappearance, the application of obligations under international humanitarian law and the procedures applicable to the adoption and placement of children found to have resulted from an enforced disappearance. This statement can be found at: www.fco.gov.uk/ukmisgeneva.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What operations have taken place since 1998 under the European Union's common foreign and security policy and European security and defence policy involving the deployment of military or civil personnel outside the European Union's borders. [HL160]

Nineteen operations have taken place under the EU’s common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and European security and defence policy (ESDP) since 1998. Four of these have been military missions, in the Balkans and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Seven have focused on policing, again in the Balkans and the DRC, but also in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and, more recently, Afghanistan. There have been two rule of law missions in Georgia and Iraq, one security sector reform mission in the DRC, and supporting action to the African Union mission in Sudan. There has been participation in a monitoring mission to Aceh and two border assistance missions: one at the Rafah crossing point between Gaza and Egypt, the other between Moldova and Ukraine. Lastly, there has been a long-running Balkans-wide monitoring mission that transferred from CFSP to ESDP in 2000.

Two further missions are in differing stages of the planning process: a military mission to Chad and the Central African Republic and a rule of law mission to Kosovo.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they expect the Senior Salaries Review Body to report on the review of Parliamentary pay, pensions and allowances; and when they expect any consequential changes to take effect. [HL26]

I refer the noble Lord to the statement given by the Lord President of the Council (Baroness Ashton of Upholland) on 26 July 2007 (Official Report, col. WS107).

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their response to the evidence produced by Bail for Immigration Detainees in September about the Detention Fast Track and its impact on women. [HL117]

The Border and Immigration Agency regularly consults with Bail for Immigration Detainees and considers carefully any such evidence the charity wishes to submit.

The Detained Fast Track office was disappointed not to have been consulted directly prior to the publication of the report Refusal Factory in order to make any comments in relation to its content. The lack of consultation prior to the launch of the report left no room for investigation into the cases reported. However, the Detained Fast Track makes careful and considered decisions on claims based on objective material available and in line with all published guidance, including the gender guidelines.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many persons are now detained in immigration detention and removal centres; whether they will break down the total between foreign criminal ex-prisoners, parents or responsible adults with children, and individual young people aged 16 to 18. [HL42]

The chief executive of the Border and Immigration Agency wrote to the Home Affairs Committee on 19 February providing the most accurate and robust information available on foreign national prisoners, including those in detention. A copy of this letter is available in the Library of the House.

Information relating to the number of persons detained solely under Immigration Act powers on 29 September 2007 will be published in the Asylum Statistics: 3rd Quarter 2007 bulletin, scheduled for 20 November. Copies of this publication will be available from the Library of the House and on the Home Office's research, development and statistics website at: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What complaints they have received about the treatment of women in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre; and whether they will make available interpretation facilities for those who wish to make complaints but whose command of English is insufficient for the purpose. [HL182]

In the past six months, 57 complaints have been made by detainees regarding their treatment at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre. The Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) has received three and Serco, the operating contractor, has received 54. The complaints for Serco were regarding healthcare (18), catering (14) and staff conduct (22). The three received by BIA were confidential complaints which were sent directly to BIA as per the confidential complaint procedures.

If a detainee has difficulty in making a complaint, the contractor will use the Language Line telephone translation service to assist the individual and BIA uses interpreters to assist with interviewing detainees as part of the investigation into the complaint.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many passports have been issued to people residing on the Isle of Man in each of the past five years. [HL29]

Isle of Man Passport Office records do not differentiate between those applicants residing on the Isle of Man and those residing in the UK. It is therefore not possible to provide this information.

The number of passports issued by the Isle of Man Passport Office in the past five years is as follows:

The majority of these passports would have been issued to applicants residing on the Isle of Man.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What actions they are taking in response to reports that Dor Alon, the Israeli energy company, received instructions from the Defence Ministry to reduce shipments of fuel and electricity supplies to Gaza. [HL51]

The Government are deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the recent reports that the Israeli Government have restricted the supply of fuel and are considering electricity cuts. My right honourable friends the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for International Development issued a statement on 30 October detailing our concerns. This statement is available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at: www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename =OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid =1007029391629&a=KArticle&aid=1193597605085& year=2007&month=2007-10-01.

We have also raised our concerns with the Israeli ambassador in London and our ambassador in Tel Aviv has raised the issue with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What steps they are taking to ensure that the Agreement on Movement and Access for Gaza and the West Bank on November 2005 is fully implemented as originally agreed. [HL37]

The implementation of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access stalled following the election of Hamas in January 2006. We continue to call on both the Israelis and the Palestinians to implement the agreement. We have repeatedly raised our concerns about movement and access with the Government of Israel. Most recently, on 15 October 2007, we raised the case of students trapped in Gaza, who have been unable to leave Gaza to undertake their respective studies at overseas institutions, including in the UK.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their response to reports that dozens of patients in the Gaza Strip are still unable to receive medical treatment, in some cases life-saving procedures, due to the continued border closures with Israel and Egypt. [HL52]

The Government are deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation in Gaza. There is a pressing need to overcome the obstacles to reopening Gaza’s crossings, for humanitarian goods, trade and people. The implementation of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access stalled following the election of Hamas in January 2006. We continue to call on both the Israelis and the Palestinians to implement the agreement. We have repeatedly raised our concerns about movement and access with the Government of Israel. Most recently, on 15 October 2007, we raised the case of students trapped in Gaza, who have been unable to leave Gaza to undertake their respective studies at overseas institutions, including in the UK.

The Government remain firmly committed to Israel’s security, but we have made it clear that action taken by Israel in response to actions by violent extremists should not cause suffering to innocent Palestinians. Israel has expressed its commitment to avoiding a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and we continue to call on it to ensure that any response is in accordance with international law.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they last raised the subject of human rights abuses in North Korea with representatives of the Government of North Korea. [HL135]

Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials raise this issue with representatives of the North Korean Government at every opportunity. Our ambassador in Pyongyang addressed human rights in a meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Jun in Pyongyang on 1 October 2007. He stressed that human rights abuses in North Korea needed to be addressed to allow our relations to expand to their full potential and requested frank discussions in order to move forward on this issue. The head of the Far Eastern Group at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office made the same point to the Europe director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pyongyang on 26 September.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Which Ministers have powers of entry under which of those Acts of Parliament or Regulations set out in Schedule 1 to the Powers of Entry etc. Bill [HL]. [HL170]

No Ministers have powers of entry.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their assessment of the role of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe in the monitoring of the forthcoming Russian elections. [HL87]

We welcome the participation of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe in International Election Observation Missions. We greatly value the independence and professionalism of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and its election observation methodology and equally value the knowledge and experience of parliamentary observers representing the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

We share the concerns of the OSCE about unprecedented Russian restrictions on international observation of their 2 December Duma elections. We believe these restrictions will hamper the work of the OSCE/ODIHR and the Council of Europe in conducting an effective election-monitoring mission.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What action they are taking to provide assistance to the Lower and Middle Shabelle regions of Somalia amid reports that about 10,000 children are severely malnourished and at risk of death as food prices have increased sharply and the ongoing conflict there has hindered access to those affected. [HL53]

The UK has this year made £8.6 million in new commitments to humanitarian operations in Somalia. This includes £600,000 to the UNICEF nutrition programme in southern Somalia, including in the Shabelle regions, and £466,000 to Médecins du Monde for health and nutrition interventions in Lower Shabelle.

Last week, DfID’s regional humanitarian adviser visited the Lower Shabelle region to assess the situation first hand and agrees with the UN estimates that more than 10,000 children require treatment for acute malnutrition. DfID officials were also part of joint UN/Donor meetings with President Yusuf and other Somali leaders at which impediments to the delivery of humanitarian assistance were discussed. Discussions continue with the Transitional Federal Government and other parties to reduce access problems.

DfID has also committed £l million to the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (UN OCHA) Humanitarian Response Fund and £3.5 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Some of this funding will be used to address the needs of malnourished children in Middle and Lower Shabelle.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will comply with the latest request from the European Court of Human Rights dated 20 October not to return Tamil asylum seekers to Sri Lanka owing to the current security situation there. [HL50]

The Government responded to the request from the European Court of Human Rights on 31 October 2007 stating that we do not consider that the current situation in Sri Lanka warrants the suspension of removal directions to all Sri Lankan Tamils but we will continue to suspend removal in individual cases where the European Court has issued a Rule 39 indication.

We continue to carefully assess each case on its individual circumstances taking into account relevant case law and the current situation in Sri Lanka before a decision is made to remove from the United Kingdom.