HL Deb 20 March 2003 vol 646 cc43-4WA
Lord Greaves

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many Iraqi nationals are legally resident in the United Kingdom; and how many of these are permanent residents, students, temporary visitors, asylum seekers and refugees, and diplomats. [HL2086]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Filkin)

The Labour Force Survey provides estimates of the number of foreign nationals resident in the United Kingdom in private households, student halls of residence and NHS accommodation. The latest available estimate of the number of Iraqi nationals resident in the United Kingdom is 21,000. This estimate is obtained from averaging the results from the Labour Force Survey over the 12-month period ending November 2002 and is subject to sampling error. It is not possible to break this estimate down into the categories requested.

Lord Greaves

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their estimate of the number of Iraqi nationals who are resident without permission in the United Kingdom. [HL2087]

Lord Filkin

The nature of illegal migration means that the work required to assess the number of illegal migrants in the UK is complex. There is currently no official estimate of the number of immigrants (nor the figure for Iraqi nationals specifically) who are resident without permission in the UK. This is, of course, why the Government have been consulting on the issue of the introduction of entitlement cards, and for purposes of entitlement by those who are formally claiming asylum have introduced the application registration card.