HL Deb 17 December 2001 vol 630 cc2-3WA
The Countess of Mar

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many applications for asylum have been made by citizens of Sri Lanka since 1990; how many applications have been allowed by the Secretary of State, adjudicators and the Immigration Appeal Tribunal; and how many applications have been refused after all legal means have been exhausted. [HL1825]

Lord Rooker

The available information is given in the table. Information on the outcome of tribunal hearings by nationality is not available prior to September 2000. Statistical information on applications which have been refused after exhausting all legal means is not collected centrally and is therefore unavailable.

Applications for asylum from nationals of Sri Lanka. number grunted refugee status at initial decision, by IAA adjudicators and tribunal following an initial refusal by the Home Office 1990 to Q3 20011.2
Year Asylum applications3 Initial decisions4 Recognised as a refugee and granted asylum Granted asylum or ELR under backlog criteria5 Allowed by IAA adjudicator following initial refusal6 Allowed by tribunal
1993 1,965 2,690 10 — N/A N/A
1994 2,350 1,070 10 — 10 N/A
1995 2,070 1,335 20 — 25 N/A
1996 1,340 2,145 5 — 30 N/A
1997 1,830 1,780 55 — 95 N/A
1998 3,505 2,010 50 — 495 N/A
1999 5,130 2,630 20 620 N/A N/A
2000p 6,395 9,050 900 895 N/A N/A
Jan—Sept 2001p 4,035 8,755 1,170 — 1,400 65
Total 37,800 37,225 2,315 N/A N/A N/A
1Figures rounded to nearest 5.
2Decision figures do not necessarily relate to applications received in the same year.
3May exclude some cases lodged at local enforcement offices between January 1999 and March 2000.
4Decision figures for 1990 and 1991 may understate due to delays in recording.
5Cases decided under measures aimed at reducing the pre-1996 asylum application backlog.
6For the years 1994 to 1998, figures for appeals allowed by the IAA adjudicator were collected manually. Manual collection stopped in 1998. Hence, no information is held for 1999 and 2000.
pProvisional.
N/A = Not available.

Information on asylum applications, initial decisions and appeals is published quarterly on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov. uk/rds/immigrationl.html.