§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations he received from (a) hon. Members and (b) others urging that Mr. and Mrs. Starosta, from Czechoslovakia, be allowed to remain in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaddingtonOne hundred and two hon. Members and some 3,700 others wrote to the Home Office about Mr. and Mrs. Starosta.
Mr. and Mrs. Starosta's appeal to the independent appellate authority against the decision that they did not qualify for asylum in the United Kingdom was dismissed by the immigration appeals tribunal on 9 March. In accordance with an undertaking given in May 1982, the case was then reviewed. Although I was still not persuaded that the family qualified for asylum, I did not think it right, in all the circumstances of this particular case, to enforce 280W their departure. I therefore directed that they be allowed to remain here on an exceptional basis for an initial period of 12 months.