HL Deb 23 January 1996 vol 568 cc66-7WA
Lord Avebury

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will give details of asylum seekers who have been deported to other countries without substantive consideration of their applications in the last five years; and whether, in reaching the decision to deal with Dr. Muhammed al-Mas'ari, they relied on the precedent of France's attempted deportation of Iranian refugees to Gabon.

Baroness Blatch

The numbers of asylum seekers, excluding dependants, removed from the United Kingdom without substantive consideration of their applications (mainly on safe third country grounds) since 1992 are as follows:

Year Number
1992 480
1993 550
1994 [...]
1995 520

These figures include some voluntary departures. Information about the number of removals before 1992 is not readily available.

The decision in Dr. al-Mas'ari's case was taken on the basis of its individual circumstances, not of the action taken by the French Government to which the noble Lord refers.