§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether nationality is one of the factors that is taken into consideration in assessing the case for detaining an asylum seeker at Oakington; what are the "nationalities listed in the regular instructions to staff" referred to in the Operational Enforcement Manual of the Immigration and Nationality Department; what is the relevance of this list to decisions to detain at Oakington; and what advice they took on the compatibility of these instructions with Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights. [HL1570]
139WA
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonNationality is a factor, although not the only factor, in deciding whether a case is suitable for consideration at Oakington, as the country of origin has a bearing on the likely complexity of the claim.
The nationalities currently considered potentially suitable for Oakington are; Albania, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Ivory Coast (temporarily suspended), Czech Republic, Estonia, Ghana, Hungary, India, Iraq, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tanzania. Ukraine, Uganda, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Zimbabwe. Operational constraints—for example, the availability of interpreters—limit the range of nationalities that can in practice be dealt with at Oakington at any one time.
Applicants from these countries may be referred to Oakington where it appears that their application can be decided quickly, including those which may be certified as manifestly unfounded, and there are no other circumstances which would make their claim unsuitable for Oakington.
We are satisfied that these instructions comply with Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights.