§ Mr. HendersonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of asylum seekers claimed asylum(a) at port of entry, (b) within three working days of arrival in the United Kingdom and (c) within 14 working days of arrival in the United Kingdom. [36655]
§ Mr. KirkhopeDuring 1995, there were 43,965 applications for asylum submitted in the United Kingdom, of which 14,410–33 per cent.—were made at the port of arrival and 29,555–67 per cent.—were made after entry. During the first six months of 1996, 14,860 applications for asylum have been submitted with 36 per cent. being made at ports and 64 per cent. made in country.
Information regarding the length of time between arrival date and application date, for those who applied for asylum in the United Kingdom after having been previously granted leave to enter or remain under another section of the immigration rules, is given in the table.
Average time taken1 to apply for asylum by persons2 previously granted leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom under another section of the Immigration Rules, 1995 and January to June 1996 Percentage Period of time between arrival and application 1995 1996 (January-June) Within 3 days 10 5 Between 4 and 14 days 15 15 Over 14 days 75 80 Total 100 100 1 Estimated and rounded to the nearest 5 per cent. 2 Excludes those in-country cases for which arrival dates are not known.