§ Q9. Mr. Beithasked the Prime Minister what representations she has received concerning Her Majesty's Government's policy on admitting refugees to the United Kingdom.
§ The Prime MinisterI have received representations which allege that the United Kingdom is being less than generous towards refugees, particularly from Eastern Europe. I refute this. We not only satisfy the obligations of the United Nations refugee convention, we also allow many applicants for asylum to remain here when they do not fully meet the requirements of that convention. In other cases we consider applications for exceptional treatment outside the immigration rules.
We do not, however, regard an individual's dissatisfaction with political and economic conditions in his own country as by itself justifying admission to the United Kingdom.