Written question asked by Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) on Wednesday, 25 July 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 October 2007. It was answered by Liam Byrne (Labour) on Monday, 8 October 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Repatriation

Question: (3) what monitoring of Lebanese prisoners has taken place following their repatriation under the Repatriation Agreement;

Answer: The repatriation arrangements to which my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, referred in his statement to the House on 25 July are the memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on deportation which were signed with Jordan, Libya, and Lebanon in 2005, and the separate arrangements we have agreed with Algeria. Copies of the MoUs, and of the exchange of letters between the previous Prime Minister and the President of Algeria, are in the Library.The terms of the MoUs signed with Jordan, Libya and Lebanon provide for the independent monitoring of assurances. Such monitoring has however not yet been needed as the Jordanian and Libyan individuals we wish to deport from the United Kingdom on national security grounds under the MoUs are still within the process of appealing against our decisions.Since July 2005, eight men have been deported to Algeria on grounds of national security. There are no formal arrangements for post-deportation monitoring. However, the eight individuals concerned were given details of how to contact the embassy in Algiers, and were asked if they wished to provide details of next of kin who could be contacted by the embassy. Two chose to take up this offer, a third merely wanted us to let his relatives know his arrival details.

Secondary information