§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy that he and his Ministers personally read the letters sent to them by hon. Members on constituency matters. [27673]
§ Mr. StrawIt has been my policy and that of my junior Ministers to read letters from hon. Members on constituency matters and that will remain the case.
208W(2) in each of the last 12 months how many of the Czech and Slovak asylum seekers who applied at Dover subsequently withdrew their applications; [27383]
(3) in each of the last 12 months how many of the Czech and Slovak asylum seekers who applied at Dover were (a) dranted refugee status, (b) granted exceptional leave to remain and (c) refused; [27384]
(4) how many Czech and Slovak asylum seekers who, having applied at Dover and were refused asylum, have (a) appealed against the decision and (b) had their appeal determined; and what has been the outcome of the appeals which have been determined. [27385]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe available information is given in the table.
Of the 400 Czech and Slovak nationals who applied for asylum at the Port of Dover in the period 1 February 1997 to 31 January 1998, 190 have appealed to Immigration Adjudicators. Of these, 75 appeals have been dismissed or withdrawn and one has been allowed. These figures exclude dependants.
It is estimated that, during the period 1 February 1997 to 31 January 1998, a total of 580 dependants arrived with Czech and Slovak asylum applicants at the Port of Dover. I regret that it is not possible to provide an accurate breakdown of this figure by date of application.
In the case of the one appeal which was allowed, the Adjudicator recommended that the case should be reviewed within six months.