§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were granted leave(a) to enter and (b) to remain as refugees during March following a successful asylum appeal; and if he will make a statement. [60537]
§ Beverley HughesThe information requested is not available and could be obtained only by examination of individual case records thereby incurring a disproportionate cost.
§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of persons granted leave(a) to enter and (b) to remain as refugees during March following a successful asylum appeal had had their asylum appeals disposed of as defined in section 94(4) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 within (i) 28 days, (ii) two months, (iii) three months and (iv) more than three months prior to the issue of papers granting leave to enter or remain; and if he will make a statement. [60538]
§ Beverley HughesThe information requested is not available and could be obtained only by examination of individual case records thereby incurring a disproportionate cost.
§ Miss WiddecombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of asylum seekers entered the United Kingdom lawfully in each year since 1997. [61333]
103W
§ Beverley Hughes[holding answer 13 June 2002]: I regret that information on the entry routes of asylum seekers, and whether they entered the United Kingdom lawfully, is not available. In 2001, 64 per cent. of applications for asylum were made in-country and 36 per cent. were made at port.
The 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees recognised that people trying to escape persecution often relied upon the use of false documents and unusual means of travel. Article 31 of the convention provides that refugees should not have any penalties imposed upon them as a consequence of entering the country of refuge illegally in order to seek sanctuary, provided that they travel to that country directly from their own country, present themselves to the domestic authorities without delay and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence.
Information on asylum applications is published quarterly. The next publication will be available from 30 August 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigrationl.html.
§ Miss WiddecombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for asylum were made at UK(a) airports and (b) ports in each year since 1997. [61330]
§ Beverley Hughes[holding answer 13 June 2002]: The information requested for the periods April 2000—March 2001 and April 2001—December 2001 is shown in the table. I regret that this information is unavailable for previous years, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
At port asylum applications1,2 Period Airport SeaPort Rail Total April 2000–March 2001 10,850 5,455 5,335 21,640 April 2001–December 2001 9,635 1,740 5,790 17,165 1 Figures rounded to the nearest five 2 Principal applicants only This information was taken from manual counts of asylum applications taken at port, which do not reconcile with the quarterly asylum statistics published on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigrationl.html.