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Immigration Minister, EU Commission and Frontex give evidence on migrant smuggling

11 September 2015

On Wednesday 16 September, the House of Lords EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee, in the final evidence session of its inquiry into the EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling, questions the Immigration Minister, the EU Commission and Frontex on migrant smuggling.

Witnesses

Wednesday 22 July, Committee Room 3, Palace of Westminster

At 10.30am:

  • James Brokenshire MP, Immigration Minister, Home Office

At 11.30am:

  • Fabrice Leggeri, Executive Director, Frontex
  • Dana Spinant, Head of Unit, Irregular Migration and Return Policy, DG Home, EU Commission

Possible questions

Questions the Committee may ask the minister include:

  • What value does EU action add to national activities aiming to tackle migrant smuggling?
  • How has the HMS Enterprise contributed to the UK's "intelligence-led" response to the migrant crisis?
  • How is the Government working to ensure that the fundamental rights of smuggled migrants are respected?
  • How is the UK response to migrant smuggling coordinated within the Home Office? What resources are dedicated to EU cooperation on migrant smuggling.?
  • What is the scale of migrant smuggling in the UK?

The Committee will then ask the Commission and Frontex:

  • What is being done to create more safe and legal routes for refugees?
  • What can be learnt from data collected by Frontex regarding changes in routes and methods used by smugglers?
  • What additional actions are going to be taken to target this rapidly changing crime?
  • What safeguards have been put in place to ensure rights granted to refugees and migrants are not infringed upon?
  • How will the new 'hotspot' approach contribute to achieving the objectives of the action plan?

Further information

Image: PA