§ Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgateasked Her Majesty's Government:
What representations they have received about the grant of entry clearance to a number of Kosovo Albanian children to enable them to come to the United Kingdom for medical treatment, accompanied by their close relatives. [HL3897]
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Williams of Mostyn)My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has received representations from Ms Sally Becker of Operation Angel about a total of 91 applications referred to the Home Office by the British Embassy in Tirana, a third of which are in respect of children needing medical treatment. The applications fell to be considered under the Immigration Rules relating to persons seeking to enter the United Kingdom as visitors for private medical treatment, or simply as visitors. Under these rules my right honourable friend has to be satisfied, among other requirements, that there is satisfactory evidence about the medical condition and its treatment, that the person will be able to maintain and accommodate himself and any dependants without recourse to public funds and that the person intends to leave the United Kingdom at the end of the period of the treatment or visit. In the absence of satisfactory evidence from Operation Angel or any other source, my right honourable friend was not satisfied that these requirements were met in any of the applications.
He considered whether there were grounds for treating the applications on a discretionary basis outside the Immigration Rules but concluded that it would not be appropriate to do so. In reaching this decision, my right honourable friend took account of the fact that Ms Becker had not taken government advice and guidance on how to bring such an evacuation within the recognised official procedures; she had not demonstrated the option of local treatment through the international agencies; and had not made a proper case on medical grounds. He was also aware that my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development has in place a humanitarian strategy for former Yugoslavia (including Kosovo) and Albania, and will be sending a mission there this week. Furthermore, in the absence of adequate guarantees of funding from Operation Angel, my right honourable friend had to take account of the likely cost to the taxpayer in the almost certain event of recourse to public funds, which for a group of this size would be of the order of £400,000 a year. My right honourable friend accordingly decided to 135WA refuse the applications. Ms Becker was notified of this decision by the British Embassy in Tirana on Friday 13 November.