§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many refugees are currently resident in the United Kingdom; how many have entered the United Kingdom in each of the last 10 years; if he will tabulate a breakdown of these figures by country of origin; and how many are resident on a short-term and long-term basis, respectively.
§ Mr. WaddingtonInformation about the number of people now living in the United Kingdom who first came here as refugees is not available.
There have been two programmes for the resettlement of refugees in the last 10 years; between 1973 and 1979 some 3,000 Latin American nationals, predominantly Chileans, were admitted and between 1975 and 1982 some 16,500 south-east Asians, mostly Vietnamese, were accepted.
Tables of individual applications for refugee recognition or the grant of asylum showing countries of origin have been compiled on a yearly basis only since 1979. Copies have been placed in the Library; the 1982 figures are now available and have also been placed there. I am sending copies of these tables to my hon. Friend. Individual applicants are normally given initial leave to enter or remain for 12 months and indefinite leave is granted after four years' residence in the United Kingdom.