§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for the latest available date the total number of Czech and Slovak Roma asylum seekers who(a) are in detention awaiting determination of their cases, (b) have been released on bail, (c) are awaiting deportation following refusal of their application and (d) have been granted asylum or leave to remain in the United Kingdom. [34310]
§ Mr. Mike O'Brien[holding answer 16 March 1998]: Czech and Slovak Roma are not separately identifiable in the statistics; the available information relates to all asylum applications lodged in the United Kingdom by nationals of Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
For information regarding initial decisions made during 1996 and 1997 on asylum applications lodged in the United Kingdom by nationals of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to him on 29 January 1998, Official Report, columns 336–37. Equivalent information for years prior to 1996 is not available. For additional information, may I also refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Mr. Gerrard) on 11 February 1998, Official Report, columns 207–08, which provided statistical data regarding those asylum applications lodged at the port of Dover by Czech and Slovak nationals.
One Slovakian and one Czech family (husband, wife and son—each asylum seekers in their own right), have had their appeals allowed and have been granted asylum.
As at 27 February 1998, a total of four nationals of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, who had sought asylum at some stage, were recorded as detained solely under Immigration Act powers. Of these, one person was awaiting an initial decision on their application while the remainder were awaiting the outcome of appeals.
I regret that comprehensive information on the number of Czech and Slovak asylum seekers who have been released on bail, or on the number of those who have currently reached a stage where they could be removed from the United Kingdom (either through the deportation process, removal as an illegal entrant or removal under port procedures), is not available.