HC Deb 29 February 1980 vol 979 cc772-3W
Mr. Marlow

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what numbers of persons have entered the United Kingdom from each of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia for each of the last five years; what proportion of the total population of the countries concerned each of these figures represents; and why these persons do not require visas.

Mr. Raison

The available information relates to nationals of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia admitted to the United Kingdom, and has been separately recorded only since 1976. It has been published annually since that year in the Command Papers "Control of Immigration: Statistics" the latest of which, that for 1978 —Cmnd. 7565—is available in the Library of the House.

The population of the three countries is thought to be of the order of 17 million, 151 million and 6 million, respectively.

Visas have not been required by nationals of the three countries for many years under international agreements.