§ Mr. AllanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers in transit in the United Kingdom have been stopped from their onward journey and(a) prosecuted and (b) convicted for bearing a false document in (i) 1996, (ii) 1997, (iii) 1998 and (iv) 1999 to date. [89674]
§ Mr. BoatengDetails of the number of asylum seekers prosecuted and convicted cannot be identified separately from the information held on the Home Office Court Proceedings Database. I understand that many of the prosecutions relate to people whom the carrying companies refuse to carry. The Home Office will not necessarily be involved and no record is kept of the number of such cases.