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Prisoners: Repatriation

Question for Ministry of Justice

UIN 220146, tabled on 12 February 2019

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what date the compulsory prisoner transfer agreements with each non-UK country came into force; how many prisoners were transferred (a) from and (b) to the UK (i) under each of those agreements and (ii) in the last arrival period under each of those agreements.

Answered on

18 February 2019

Any foreign national who comes to our country and abuses our hospitality by breaking the law should be in no doubt of our determination to punish and deport them. More than 45,000 foreign national offenders have been removed from the UK since 2010, and in the last financial year almost 6,000 were removed from prisons, immigration removal centres, and the community.

The Early Removal Scheme is the principal method for removing foreign national offenders early from prison. In 2017/18, over 2,000 foreign national offenders were removed under this scheme. Prisoners may also be transferred to a prison in their own country under Prisoner Transfer Agreements. The principal compulsory prisoner transfer scheme is the EU Prisoner Transfer Framework Decision (2008/909/JHA). In addition, compulsory transfer may take place under the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, and a small number of bilateral prisoner transfer agreements.

Our departure from the European Union will have implications on prisoner transfers to the EU. If we leave the EU without a ‘deal’, we will lose access to the EU Prisoner Transfer Framework Decision. This will mean falling back on the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and its Additional Protocol, which we believe to be a less effective mechanism than the EU agreement. Therefore, under a ‘no deal’ scenario we should be prepared to see a decline in the number of transfers to and from the EU.

The tables below provide information for England and Wales, taken from Management Information. In relation to British national prisoners transferred into England and Wales, Management Information does not distinguish between prisoners transferred under the EU Prisoner Transfer Framework Decision and the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons. Transfer may therefore have taken place on either a voluntary or compulsory basis. Please note that transfers have not taken place to several countries listed in the tables below as the UK either does not hold nationals from those countries in our prisons, or because there are concerns that prisons might be in breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The transfer of prisoners into and out of Scotland and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter.

Table 1: Transfer under the EU Prisoner Transfer Framework Decision (EU PTFD)

Country

Date country ratified the EU PTFD

Number of foreign national prisoners transferred from England and Wales

Number of British national prisoners transferred into England and Wales

1

Austria

01/01/2012

--

1

2

Belgium

18/06/2012

17

3

3

Bulgaria

Not ratified

--

--

4

Croatia

01/07/2013

--

1

5

Cyprus

23/05/2014

1

5

6

Czech Republic

01/01/2014

12

3

7

Denmark

05/12/2011

1

6

8

Estonia

01/01/2015

1

--

9

Finland

05/12/2011

--

1

10

France

05/08/2013

--

--

11

Germany

25/07/2015

2

9

12

Greece

15/11/2014

--

2

13

Hungary

01/01/2013

--

1

14

Italy

05/12/2011

9

9

15

Ireland (Republic)

Not ratified

--

--

16

Latvia

01/07/2012

15

--

17

Lithuania

01/04/2015

28

--

18

Luxembourg

05/12/2011

--

2

19

Malta

03/02/2012

1

1

20

Netherlands

01/11/2012

141

6

21

Poland

01/01/2012

35

--

22

Portugal

17/12/2015

9

7

23

Romania

26/12/2013

56

--

24

Slovakia

01/02/2012

17

2

25

Slovenia

20/09/2013

--

--

26

Spain

11/12/2014

9

40

27

Sweden

01/04/2015

3

1

Total

357

100

Table 2: Transfer Under the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons This table does not include EU Member States which have ratified the Additional Protocol as transfers take place under the EU Prisoner Transfer Framework Decision. Please note: the date of entry into force has been taken as the date the UK ratified the Additional Protocol or the date of ratification by the named country, whichever is the later date.

Country

Date the Additional Protocol entered into force

Number of foreign national prisoners transferred from England and Wales

Number of British national prisoners transferred into England and Wales

1

Bulgaria

01/11/2009

--

--

2

Georgia

01/11/2009

--

--

3

Iceland

01/11/2009

--

--

4

Lichtenstein

01/11/2009

--

--

5

FRY Macedonia

01/11/2009

--

--

6

Moldova

01/11/2009

--

--

7

Montenegro

01/11/2009

--

--

8

Norway

01/11/2009

--

--

9

Russia

01/11/2009

--

--

10

Serbia

01/11/2009

--

--

11

San Marino

01/11/2009

--

--

12

Switzerland

01/10/2014

--

--

13

Turkey

01/09/2016

--

--

14

Ukraine

01/11/2009

--

--

Table 3: Bilateral Prisoner Transfer Agreements

Country

Date the Bilateral Prisoner Transfer Agreement came into force

Number of foreign national prisoners transferred from England and Wales

Number of British national prisoners transferred into England and Wales

1

Albania

11/06/2013

24

2

2

Ghana

06/07/2017

--

--

3

Libya

29/04/2009

--

--

4

Nigeria

29/09/2014

1

--

5

Rwanda

23/11/2010

--

--

6

Somaliland

Not Available

--

--

Total

25

2

Named day
Named day questions only occur in the House of Commons. The MP tabling the question specifies the date on which they should receive an answer. MPs may not table more than five named day questions on a single day.