§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will propose to other member states of the European Union amendment of the rules for determining the country in which an asylum application should be considered, so that an individual's total family and cultural affiliations with his or her community in a country would be taken into consideration on a discretionary basis, if the asylum-seeker wishes to settle in a country other than that of first asylum.
§ Lord Williams of MostynThe Dublin Convention, which determines which member state is responsible for asylum applications made in the European Union, already provides for member states to take account of family and cultural affiliations. Under Article 3(4) member states have full discretion, subject to the agreement of the applicant, to examine asylum applications that are not their responsibility under the criteria defined in the convention. Article 9 also specifically provides that member states may, for humanitarian reasons, based in particular on family or cultural grounds, examine applications for asylum at the request of another member state even when it is not responsible under the criteria in the convention.