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Written Answers
Thursday, 8th November 2001.
Burma
Lord Corbett of Castle Vale asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What response they have made to the call by the International Labour Organisation for member states to bar all investment in Burma.[HL1117]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Amos): The ILO has not requested that its members ban investment in Burma. It did however recommend in December 2000 that members should review their relations with Burma to ensure they do not contribute to the continuance of forced labour there.
In 1997 the European Commission suspended GSP trading privileges for Burma in response to member states' concern about forced labour. In January 2001, David Blunkett, the then Secretary of State for Education and Employment, wrote to all UK employers and workers groups asking them to review their relations with Burma to ensure they were not contributing to the continuance of forced labour. We do not encourage trade or investment in Burma. We offer no assistance for companies wanting to invest or trade there. We have told the UK's largest investor in Burma, Premier Oil, that we would like it to cease operating in Burma as fully and as soon as it legally can.
A high level team from the ILO visited Burma last month to assess the current situation. I look forward to learning of its assessment when the report is published later this month.
Lord Corbett of Castle Vale asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What recent representations they have made to the Burmese military regime over human rights abuses against the Karen, Karenni and Shan people.[HL1118]
Baroness Amos: We take every opportunity to register our concerns about all political and human rights abuses in Burma through our Embassy in Rangoon and visiting officials, although our contacts with the Burmese regime are naturally limited. We also make our views known through the EU and by supporting resolutions at both the UN General Assembly and the UN Commission on Human Rights.
Race Equality
Lord Ouseley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What consultation took place with the black and minority ethnic communities prior to the laying of the statutory instrument that provides directions
- under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.[HL1040]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Rooker): Two orders under the amended Race Relations Act 1976 were laid before Parliament on 24 October 2001. The orders bring into effect the proposals set out in the consultation document issued in February 2001. The consultation document was widely distributed, including to black and minority ethnic communities, for comments about the specific duties the Government proposed to impose upon public bodies and the extended list of public bodies to be subject to the general duty to promote race equality.
Extradition: Death Penalty in the USA
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether it is their policy to refuse extradition of persons to the United States where the offence for which such persons would be tried by American courts could carry the death penalty; and whether they will only make exceptions to this policy where the United States authorities guarantee that the death penalty will not be imposed or carried out.[HL1050]
Lord Rooker: The United Kingdom is a signatory to the Sixth Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights which outlaws the application of the death penalty. Consistent with the convention, the Extradition Act 1989 provides that extradition may be refused if the fugitive stands accused or convicted of an offence for which he could be or has been sentenced to death. The United Kingdom/United States Extradition Treaty also provides that extradition may be refused unless the requesting party gives satisfactory assurances that the death penalty will not be carried out. In practice, US extradition requests involving capital crimes are very rare. Not all US states continue to apply the death penalty. Those which do stand ready in extradition cases to provide assurances that the death penalty will not be carried out.
Young Offenders
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether any detention and training orders have yet been imposed on young offenders; if so, how many; and what plans exist for imposing such orders in the coming two years. [HL1078]
Lord Rooker: The detention and training order was introduced for 12 to 17 year-olds on 1 April 2000. Home Office statistics indicate that 5,072 orders were made in the period 1 April 2000 to 31 December 2000. The number of orders to be imposed in the future will be a matter for the courts.
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- In relation to offenders under 18 years of age, what plans they have (a) to increase the use of suspended custodial sentences, whether or not in conjunction with other penalties or orders; (b) to introduce family conferencing; and (c) to make restorative justice more widely available. [HL1079]
Lord Rooker: There is currently no provision to suspend custodial sentences for under-18s and we do not have any plans to introduce them for this age group.
The recent reforms to the youth justice system have incorporated restorative principles. In particular, the final warning system (which was introduced nationally in April 2000) and referral order (which is currently being piloted) offer the opportunity for restorative interventions, involving, where appropriate, the offender, the victim, families of both and the community. The Government have not specified the precise model which such interventions should follow and both victim/offender mediation and conferencing are currently being employed.
The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales is seeking to identify and disseminate good practice by working with the police, probation service, magistrates and national voluntary bodies, and is developing training in restorative justice for local practitioners. The board is also funding and evaluating 46 restorative justice schemes in England and Wales and providing restorative justice support to all of the 154 youth offending teams in England and Wales.
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they have introduced or will introduce independent lay representation for people under 18 years of age in custody, whether on remand or following sentence, similar to that available in Northern Ireland.[HL1077]
Lord Rooker: The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales is responsible for commissioning and purchasing secure accommodation for under-18s and works with providers, including the Prison Service, to raise standards.
The board is currently assessing the feasibility of adapting to the prison estate the advocacy models for under-18s which already exist in other residential care settings.
Oakington Detention Centre
Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Under the proposals for reform of the system for receiving asylum seekers, is it intended that Oakington Detention Centre will become one of the new-style "open gate" accommodation centres.[HL1083]
Lord Rooker: No. Oakington will continue to operate on the basis of detention in order to maintain our capacity to make speedy decisions within seven to
10 days on straightforward asylum applications. It will remain a central plank of our asylum policy.Asylum: Unaccompanied Children
Baroness Hilton of Eggardon asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What status is given to unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the United Kingdom who are found not to qualify for (a) asylum and (b) exceptional leave to remain for humanitarian reasons but who cannot be removed from the United Kingdom.[HL1258]
Lord Rooker: It is our policy not to remove a failed asylum seeker from the United Kingdom if he or she is unaccompanied and under 18 years of age unless adequate reception arrangements can be made in the country of origin. Until now, if reception arrangements could not be made, four years' exceptional leave to remain has been granted.
We have now decided that if a failed asylum seeker who has no other basis to remain in the United Kingdom is aged between 14 and 17 at the time a decision is made and adequate reception arrangements cannot be made, he or she will be granted a period of exceptional leave until his or her 18th birthday. He or she will be able to apply for further leave at the end of this period in the same way as anyone else but will be expected to leave the United Kingdom if he or she does not so apply or any application is rejected.
If a failed asylum seeker, for whom adequate reception arrangements cannot be made, is still aged under 14 at the time the asylum decision is made, he or she will continue to be granted four years' exceptional leave to remain in the United Kingdom in view of age and vulnerability. This will enable local authority social services departments to plan for the child's long-term future. The child will then be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom in the same way as adults who have completed four years' exceptional leave. In this way, we are continuing to protect children while they are in need but closing a loophole which affords settlement in the United Kingdom to those who would not normally qualify.
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