§ Mr. Robert Taylorasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the 536 rejected applicants for amnesty under the immigration laws published in the official statistics for the third quarter of 1977 remain in the United Kingdom.
§ Dr. SummerskillOf 536 applicants who at 30th September 1977 had been found ineligible to benefit under the terms of the announcement of 11th April 1974 regarding the treatment of clandestine illegal entrants who entered before 1st January 1973, 156 were found to be overstayers; 122 had entered illegally on or after 1st January 1973; and 33 were seaman deserters. The remaining 225 comprised miscellaneous other categories—e.g., foreign nationals, people with unexpired leave, applicants who failed to attend for interview, etc.
The action to be taken in respect of ineligible cases depends on the relevant circumstances, and information about the outcome is not recorded centrally. However, it is the normal practice to send away those illegal entrants who do not for compassionate or other reasons qualify to stay. As explained to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Mr. Sever) on 19th January, in over 1,500 cases in 1977 deportations orders were made or illegal entrants removed.