§ Lembit ÖpikTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of undetected stowaways entering the UK in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [160372]
§ Mr. BrowneThere is no official estimate of the number of clandestine entrants to the UK.
Illegal entry action is initiated against those people who are detected having entered or attempting to enter the country clandestinely or by means of deception, either verbal or documentary.
The available figures include those people who were identified as having entered the country clandestinely, they are not separately identifiable as such information would only be available by examination of individual case-files at disproportionate cost.