§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What action they will take concerning allegations that two Sudanese doctors working in the United Kingdom's National Health Service were involved in acts of torture in Sudan; and whether a person who was granted exceptional leave to remain, or refugee status, having failed to declare that he committed serious human rights violations in his country of origin would be liable to have his status revoked.
§ Baroness Jay of PaddingtonAt present there is no evidence to substantiate these allegations. However, if evidence shows that actions of this nature have taken place, we would expect the appropriate action to be taken.
The Government have discretion to withdraw the grant of asylum in the light of evidence that refugee status was obtained by a misrepresentation of material facts or where one of the exclusion clauses of the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees would have applied had all the relevant facts been known. We would apply the same considerations where exceptional leave had been granted on humanitarian grounds. Each case would need to be assessed on its individual merits in the light of all the available evidence.