Written questions by Allister.

Whether the PSNI informs her Department of the immigration status of victims and witnesses of crime in Northern Ireland.

PSNI may in the course of their duties refer individuals who are victims of crime to IE’s National Control and Command Unit for the purposes of establishing the individual’s immigration status and/or to support Home Office safeguarding processes.The decision to refer any individual falls to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Further guidance and policy in relation to PSNI referrals to IE will need to be addressed to PSNI directly.

How many immigration enforcement raids have taken place in each of the last five years in Northern Ireland.

To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office prefers to refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication. Information about how many Immigration Enforcement raids have taken place in each of the last five years in Northern Ireland is not available in our published data.Our published national data on enforcement activity is available at the: Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2025 - GOV.UK

What information her Department holds on the employment rate of refugees in Northern Ireland in each of the last ten years.

Data on refugees by location and nationality is available in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release on GOV.UK.Information on resettled refugees by UK region can be found in Table Res_D01, and by nationality in Table Res_D02 of the Resettlement Detailed Datasets.Data on asylum seekers receiving support, broken down by nationality and UK region, is published in Table Asy_D09 of the Asylum Support Datasets.Please note that individuals only receive refugee status once their asylum claim is granted. The Home Office does not track the addresses of those granted refugee status, and refugees are free to relocate within the UK or leave the country.The latest available data covers up to the end of June 2025. Guidance on using the datasets can be found on the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook.The Home Office does not hold data on the employment rate of refugees in Northern Ireland. The employment rate of refugees in England and Wales between 2015 and 2021 was 37% for asylum route refugees and 12% for resettlement refugees.

How many hotels are being used as contingency accommodation for irregular migrants in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland is not a dispersal area and asylum seekers are therefore not routed between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, Northern Ireland’s asylum population is however, proportionate to its population when compared to the UK. Because Northern Ireland is not a dispersal area, only those claiming asylum in Northern Ireland are accommodated there.For the safety, security and wellbeing of staff and those being accommodated, the Home Office does not disclose information about accommodation sites.However, data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including contingency, by local authority (including Northern Ireland) can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.

How many refugees there are by nationality in Northern Ireland.

Data on refugees by location and nationality is published in the Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK.Data on resettled refugees by UK region is published in table Res_D01 and by nationality in table Res_D02 of the resettlement detailed datasets.Data on asylum seekers in receipt of support, by nationality and UK region, is published in table Asy_D09 of the asylum support datasets. An asylum seeker does not receive refugee status until after their claim is granted refugee permission. Please note that the Home Office does not track the addresses of those granted refugee status, and refugees are free to move around the UK or leave. The latest data is available up to the end of June 2025. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook.

How many inbound anti-smuggling checks have been conducted by the Border Force at (a) Belfast, (b) Larne and (c) Warrenpoint ports since 2021.

This information is not held in an easily accessible format.

How many of those who are recorded as having entered the U.K. illegally were (a) women and (b) men in the most recent period for which data is available.

The Home Office publishes statistics on detected irregular arrivals to the UK in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on detected irregular arrivals by age group and sex is published in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, with the latest data up to the end of June 2025.

What the average age was of people recorded as having entered the U.K. illegally in the most recent period for which data is available.

The Home Office publishes statistics on detected irregular arrivals to the UK in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on detected irregular arrivals by age group and sex is published in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, with the latest data up to the end of June 2025.

When the Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum plans to respond to the correspondence of 16 June 2025 from the hon. Member for North Antrim on a meeting arising from communal disorder in his constituency.

I thank the Hon Member for his question. My officials have been in touch with his office on this matter.

Whether she is taking steps to prevent people smuggling at the border from Ireland into Northern Ireland.

Journeys from Ireland to the UK are within the Common Travel Area (CTA). As part of the CTA arrangements, the UK does not operate routine immigration controls of individuals arriving in the UK by air or sea from within the CTA, and no immigration checks are undertaken at the land border with Ireland.The UK does however operate intelligence-led operational activity on CTA routes – away from the land border. This is to detect those who intend to abuse CTA arrangements. Operational activity must be targeted and supported by specific intelligence of CTA abuse.There is a high level of cooperation on migration and border security between all members of the CTA (UK, Ireland, and the Crown Dependencies) to identify and tackle migration trends as they emerge.Everyone entering the UK, regardless of where they enter from, is required to meet UK’s immigration requirements. Anyone identified attempting to circumvent UK border controls is liable to be detained and, if they are not lawfully present within the UK, removed.

How many (a) Romanians and (b) Roma are resident in (i) Northern Ireland and (ii) North Antrim constituency.

Obtaining the specific information requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple systems owned by multiple teams across various departments and, therefore, could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

What steps she is taking to ensure that EU citizens do not move from the Republic of Ireland to become resident in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the rest of the UK.

Journeys from Ireland to the UK are within the Common Travel Area (CTA). As part of the CTA arrangements, the UK does not operate routine immigration controls of individuals arriving in the UK by air or sea from within the CTA, and no immigration checks are undertaken at the land border with Ireland.The UK does however operate intelligence-led operational activity on CTA routes – away from the land border. This is to detect those who intend to abuse CTA arrangements. Operational activity must be targeted and supported by specific intelligence of CTA abuse.There is a high level of cooperation on migration and border security between all members of the CTA (UK, Ireland, and the Crown Dependencies) to identify and tackle migration trends as they emerge.Everyone entering the UK, regardless of where they enter from, is required to meet UK’s immigration requirements. Anyone identified attempting to circumvent UK border controls is liable to be detained and, if they are not lawfully present within the UK, removed.

What procedures are in place to check the movement of people over the Northern Ireland-Republic land border to identify illegal immigrants with no right to access the Common Travel Area.

As the Hon Member will be aware, no immigration checks are undertaken on the Northern Ireland-Republic land border, but our enforcement agencies do operate intelligence-led operational activity throughout the UK to ensure that all individuals within our territory, regardless of where they enter from, meet the UK’s immigration requirements. Anyone who fails to do so is liable to be detained and, if they are not lawfully present within the UK, removed.