§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to change the system of handling visa applications of family members of refugees residing in the UK. [86842]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThere are no such plans.
However, in response to the crisis in Kosovo, special arrangements have been made to facilitate family reunion for Kosovans who have been evacuated from Macedonia under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Humanitarian Evacuation Programme. Arrangements have also been made to send a Home Office team to Macedonia to assist the UNHCR in the registration of refugees and selection for evacuation to the United Kingdom. A further Home Office team is going to Tirana to process applications from family members notified to the Red Cross by their families in the United Kingdom. This is to assist the British diplomatic post in Tirana which is not resourced to provide a full visa service.