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Friday Volume 637 16 March 2018 No. 112 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Friday 16 March 2018 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2018 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 1113 16 MARCH 2018 1114 De Cordova, Marsha McDonald, Stuart C. House of Commons Debbonaire, Thangam Merriman, Huw Dinenage, Caroline Milling, Amanda Docherty-Hughes, Martin Monaghan, Carol Friday 16 March 2018 Dodds, Anneliese Morris, David Donelan, Michelle Morton, Wendy The House met at half-past Nine o’clock Dowden, Oliver Nandy, Lisa Duffield, Rosie Neill, Robert Edwards, Jonathan Newlands, Gavin PRAYERS Ellman, Mrs Louise Nokes, rh Caroline Farron, Tim O’Hara, Brendan Field, rh Mark Owen, Albert [MR SPEAKER in the Chair] Fletcher, Colleen Pennycook, Matthew Foster, Kevin Philp, Chris 9.34 am Foxcroft, Vicky Pincher, Christopher Freer, Mike Pollard, Luke Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP): I beg to Furniss, Gill Pound, Stephen move, That the House sit in private. Gaffney, Hugh Pow, Rebecca Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 163). Gardiner, Barry Pursglove, Tom The House proceeded to a Division. Gethins, Stephen Quin, Jeremy Gibb, rh Nick Reeves, Ellie Gibson, Patricia Robinson, Mary Mr Speaker: Will the Serjeant at Arms please investigate Grady, Patrick Saville Roberts, Liz the delay in the Aye Lobby, which I have reason to Grant, Peter Shelbrooke, Alec believe is not heavily populated? Green, Chris Sheppard, Tommy The House divided: Ayes 1, Noes 114. Gwynne, Andrew Smith, Cat Haigh, Louise Sobel, Alex Division No. 132] [9.34 am Harris, Carolyn Soubry, rh Anna Harris, Rebecca Stephens, Chris AYES Hayman, Sue Stephenson, Andrew Fitzpatrick, Jim Tellers for the Ayes: Heaton-Harris, Chris Stevens, Jo Will Quince and Hendry, Drew Sunak, Rishi Michael Tomlinson Hollobone, Mr Philip Tami, Mark Hosie, Stewart Thewliss, Alison Huddleston, Nigel NOES Thomas-Symonds, Nick Jayawardena, Mr Ranil Timms, rh Stephen Argar, Edward Carmichael, rh Mr Alistair Kerr, Stephen Warburton, David Bardell, Hannah Charalambous, Bambos Khan, Afzal West, Catherine Bebb, Guto Cherry, Joanna Law, Chris Whitfield, Martin Black, Mhairi Cooper, rh Yvette Lopresti, Jack Whitford, Dr Philippa Blackford, rh Ian Coyle, Neil MacNeil, Angus Brendan Williams, Dr Paul Blackman, Kirsty Crouch, Tracey Madders, Justin Yasin, Mohammad Blomfield, Paul Cruddas, Jon Malthouse, Kit Bottomley, Sir Peter Cryer, John Martin, Sandy Tellers for the Noes: Bowie, Andrew Cunningham, Mr Jim Maynard, Paul David Linden and Brock, Deidre Davey, rh Sir Edward McDonald, Stewart Malcolm Neil Gray Buck, Ms Karen David, Wayne Davies, Mims Burden, Richard Question accordingly negatived. Cadbury, Ruth Day, Martyn 1115 16 MARCH 2018 Refugees (Family Reunion) 1116 (No.2) Bill Refugees (Family Reunion) From the reception centre he travelled to Rome and (No.2) Bill spent two weeks living at a railway station before moving through France to the famous Calais jungle, where he Second Reading lived with other Eritreans for a while. He told me that in the jungle there could be tensions between different communities: Eritreans in one place, Syrians in another, 9.50 am and whoever else in another group. Obviously, people were quite stressed in such a situation. Angus Brendan MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP): I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. Lisa Nandy (Wigan) (Lab): I thank the hon. Gentleman I found out the other day from the House of Commons very much for the story he is telling about this remarkable Library that there is a shortage of welders in the United young man. It reminds me very much of a young Kingdom. I can see the puzzlement on your face already, woman I worked with at the Children’s Society nearly a Mr Speaker, as to where I am going with welders in decade ago, who was separated from her mother on a relation to family reunion, but please bear with me—as journey here, and whose mother, sadly, died before she I am sure you will. I mention this because I met an could see her again. Does the hon. Gentleman agree apprentice welder the other day, a 19-year-old who lives that these incredible young people deserve so much in Canterbury in Kent, a place described as the garden better than these avoidable rules that cause so much of England. Canterbury is a beautiful, historical town; human misery, and will he urge other Members when I once visited it, and I can attest to that. they think about how they are going to vote today to think of those young people and do the right thing? Our welding apprentice is doing very well in college; he is working at level 2 and spends a day a week in Dover with a welding company. He is a focused young Angus Brendan MacNeil: I thank the hon. Lady for man; he is motivated and is looking forward to the her intervention, which succinctly sums up what I have future. He is an asset to the community and a help to his to say in a rather long speech. I suspect a number of neighbours, a burden on no one; he is polite, he is funny. Members will want to make interventions, and that is This welding apprentice is also multilingual; he speaks welcome, because testaments and points like those the four languages, and efficiently. I am not sure if that is hon. Lady has made are very welcome. the norm for welders, but I know cousins of mine who Eventually, Yohannes made it across the English are welders who can speak at least two languages, and channel in the back of a refrigerated lorry. Things were bilingual welders seems to the norm in my constituency. fine until somebody switched off the refrigeration system; This individual is certainly doing better than that, however. being a tight, insulated space with 24 people in it, it He has a great future ahead of him, especially as the became very hot. One of them had a mobile phone and average age of welders in the UK is 55 and EngineeringUK eventually contacted the emergency services. They did says the UK has a chronic shortage of skills in engineering, not know where they were, but the phone’s GPS system particularly welding. located them. This young man has a fascinating backstory.Yohannes’ At that time—in December 2016—they made the journey to Canterbury was a long one, as before he news. Luckily, none of them were in any way badly moved to Canterbury and became a welder he was a medically affected by the experience. They were taken refugee. He escaped Eritrea at the age of 16 to avoid to a reception centre in Kent, before Yohannes found conscription to the brutal military, which could have no his way to Canterbury, where he lived in communal time limits, and after going to Sudan where he spent a accommodation with other refugees. Over time in while with his uncle, he moved through the Sahara—a Canterbury some people who had volunteered to help fortnight in a lorry and a fortnight in a pick-up—to at a refugee charity got to know Yohannes, and he lives Tripoli in Libya. He told me that the pick-up was so with one of them at the moment. tightly packed that if anybody fell out, the danger was It seems that Canterbury is quite the place. It is not they would be left behind by the people-smugglers—and the stereotype we are given to believe by many in the the prognosis for those left behind in the Sahara desert newspapers, of people struggling and complaining about would not be great. On that journey in the desert the migrants and refugees. In Canterbury, people seem to authority were the people-traffickers with the guns, and be very welcome. There is a big Eritrean community in he said some bad things happened to girls; I will leave Canterbury,which of course Yohannes gravitated towards. that there. Canterbury can be proud of the way it has treated and From Tripoli he boarded a boat—a jalba as he called looked after refugees. it in one of his languages. One of the four languages he speaks is obviously English, and he is also fluent in Stephen Gethins (North East Fife) (SNP): My hon. Arabic, Aramaic and his native Tigrinya, and jalba is Friend is making an exceptionally powerful and compelling the Eritrean word for boat. They sailed for two days speech. Does he agree that his friend Yohannes is one in from Libya before being picked up by a bigger boat—a a long line of refugees from places including Germany, mercab, the Tigrinya word for a larger ship, in this case Hungary and Iraq who have made a significant economic an Italian naval ship, which, happily, took them to Italy. and other contribution to society across the UK? One of the benefits of speaking to Yohannes is that at least I have picked up two words of another language. Angus Brendan MacNeil: That is absolutely correct, Everybody was very happy when they arrived in Italy and I am making this speech because, unfortunately, after crossing the Sahara and the Mediterranean. They some people look at this issue in terms of pounds, were taken to a reception centre and given plenty of shillings and pence. We should look first at the humanity, food. That was the first part of his journey. but certainly in terms of pounds, shillings and pence, we 1117 Refugees (Family Reunion) 16 MARCH 2018 Refugees (Family Reunion) 1118 (No.2) Bill (No.2) Bill should note that Yohannes, at 19, with his drive and refugees and travel here.