PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
British Nationals Abroad: Forced Marriage (9 January 2019)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost of repatriating a victim of forced marriage to the UK in each year since 2010.

Asked by:
Wes Streeting (Labour)

​We do not maintain statistics on the cost of repatriation. We do have statistics on the number and value of emergency loans given to victims of forced marriage for repatriation purposes since 2012. The cost of repatriating victims of forced marriage to the UK varies, and is dependent on individual circumstances including the victim’s age and the country that they are in. There are also different routes for funding repatriation: in the majority of cases the family cover the cost of the repatriation. Where possible, the Government to seek to ensure the costs fall on the perpetrators by means of Forced Marriage Protection Orders (FMPOs). After being served with an FMPO the victim’s family, who are usually responsible for the victim travelling overseas against their wishes or under false pretences, would be instructed to arrange and pay for them to return to the UK within a specific period.

Answered by:
Dame Harriett Baldwin (Conservative)
14 January 2019