TORTURED ASYLUM SEEKERS

Early day motion 376, tabled 26 November 2007 by Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 41 members.

That this House expresses concern at the detention of asylum seekers who have been tortured; and calls upon the Home Department to reform the asylum system to allow new arrivals in detention with a history of torture to be quickly identified and released, to reaffirm its commitment to detain asylum seekers who have been tortured only in `exceptional circumstances' to introduce pre-screening medical checks to identify torture survivors before they are detained and to end the present standard practice of detaining unsuccessful asylum applicants together with foreign national prisoners facing deportation.

Signatures by party: Labour 22, Liberal Democrat 13, Conservative 2, Social Democratic and Labour Party 2, Independent 1, Scottish National Party 1.