§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the average waiting time for a decision to be made on an application for asylum; and if he will make a statement; [2345]
(2) what is the average waiting time between an initial rejection of an application for asylum and the hearing of an appeal; and if he will make a statement. [2346]
§ Ms Janet AndersonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the speed with which asylum applications are processed. [1676]
§ Mr. KirkhopeI refer the hon. Members to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for Newcastle Upon Tyne, North (Mr. Henderson) on 22 November,Official Report, column 219, which gave the available information on the average times involved in deciding applications for asylum.
§ Mr. FatchettTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of visitors and short-term students who have overstayed in the United Kingdom in each year since 1990 or asked for political asylum; and if he will name the country from which these people came. [2834]
§ Mr. KirkhopeInformation on the number of visitors and students who have overstayed in the United Kingdom is not available. The estimated proportion of asylum-seekers since 1990 who had entered the United Kingdom in another capacity before submitting their asylum application is given in the table. A nationality breakdown of these figures is not available.
770W
Proportion of in-country1 asylum applicants who had been granted leave in another capacity2 before applying for asylum Number of in-country applications Of which proportion submitted Year In-time Percentage Out of time Percentage Other3 Percentage 1990 17,200 45 9 46 1991 35,815 32 5 63 1992 22,370 53 13 34
Proportion of in-country1 asylum applicants who had been granted leave in another capacity2 before applying for asylum Number of in-country applications Of which proportion submitted Year In-time Percentage Out of time Percentage Other3 Percentage 1993 15,050 43 18 39 1994 22,600 36 17 47 1 Applications submitted after entry into the United Kingdom. 2 Include those granted leave to enter or remain in other capacities as well as visitors and students. 3 Includes illegal entrants and those whose status was unknown.
§ Mr. HendersonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the European countries which operate special asylum procedures to deal with cases where the applicant is a national of a country in which there is no serious risk of persecution. [550]
§ Mr. KirkhopeI refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 22 November,Official Report, column 220.
§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers are currently being held in detention in police stations; what is the length of time of their detention(a) in police stations (b) in total; and if he will present this information according to the nationality of the asylum seekers. [1524]
§ Mr. Kirkhope[holding answer 23 November 1995]: As at 21 November 1995, 14 people who had sought asylum were being detained in police cells. Of these, five are Nigerians and four are Algerians.
The longest period of time that any of these people have been detained in a police cell is seven nights. This is the maximum time that a person who has claimed asylum can be detained in police cells if removal directions have been set. If removal directions have not been set, a person can be detained for up to five nights.