Asylum: Deportation

Greg Mulholland
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the effectiveness of the Clan Ebor scheme will be measured.

Mr. Byrne
The Border and Immigration Agency intends to review the scheme at the end of December 2007. The review will focus on the number of families that have departed from the UK voluntarily and the reasons why a voluntary departure has not occurred. It will also assess the effectiveness of the scheme in securing up to date information about the circumstances of the families, attendance at case conferences and compliance with reporting restrictions.

Greg Mulholland
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what language (a) the Clan Ebor questionnaires will be distributed and (b) the case conferences element of the Clan Ebor scheme will be conducted.

Mr. Byrne
The questionnaires are written in English. Case conferences are conducted in the first language of the applicants with the help of an official interpreter.

Greg Mulholland
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date the Clan Ebor scheme began.

Mr. Byrne
The Clan Ebor project began on 22 June 2007.

Greg Mulholland
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how participants were selected for the Clan Ebor scheme in West Yorkshire; what criteria were used in this selection process; and what geographical area the scheme will cover.

Mr. Byrne
Families were selected for inclusion for the project which had had their asylum claim refused, had exhausted all of their appeal rights and did not have any applications for leave outstanding or barriers that would prevent their lawful removal from the United Kingdom. A sample of families from a wide cross-section of nationalities from within the local authority areas of Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield have been included.

Greg Mulholland
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps will be taken against those within the Clan Ebor scheme who do not return the questionnaire in the allotted two-week period.

Mr. Byrne
Whether or not a questionnaire is returned, participants will be asked to attend a case conference.

Greg Mulholland
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice will be available for those selected to take part in the Clan Ebor scheme.

Mr. Byrne
Participants are advised to research and pursue their voluntary departure from the United Kingdom with the help available from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The families are provided with literature and contact details of the International Organisation for Migration in their own language and it is explained to them that the IOM may be able to provide assistance with travel arrangements, funding and reintegration. As a direct result of this project, IOM has arranged a drop-in centre twice a month in Leeds city centre and families are briefed on how to access this facility. The risk to the family of enforced removal action being taken is also explained.

Greg Mulholland
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether families with children under the age of five years have been included in the Clan Ebor scheme.

Mr. Byrne
Families with children under the age of five are included in the Clan Ebor project.