§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions the Government have had with African countries to strengthen protection of individuals who seek asylum from key refugee-producing regions; and what the outcome of these discussions was. [178892]
§ Mr. RammellThe UK Government have an obligation under the 1951 refugee convention to protect those with "a well founded fear of persecution". We continue to work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and in bilateral discussions with African countries to strengthen the protection of individuals who come from regions with particularly high refugee caseloads. Our objective is to draw on the full-range of protection tools where appropriate, including resettlement, assisting African countries with immigration service training, and effectively incorporating refugee aspects into development assistance programmes.