HL Deb 21 June 1985 vol 465 cc540-1WA
Lord Avebury

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will expand on the statement of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office [Official Report, 3rd June, col. 535], that Sri Lankan Tamils are not refugees within the terms of the 1951 Convention.

Lord Glenarthur

As my right honourable friend the Home Secretary explained in announcing on 20th May his policy towards the return of Sri Lankan Tamils to Sri Lanka, it is unlikely that many Tamils will qualify for recognition as refugees under the terms of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. There is no evidence of systematic persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has acknowledged that the situation in Sri Lanka is not such that a person will qualify for refugee recognition solely by virtue of being a Tamil.

Nevertheless, every application for asylum is considered individually in accordance with established asylum procedures. So far, of more than 200 cases considered one has been granted refugee recognition; others have been given leave to enter exceptionally in accordance with the terms of the statement by my right honourable friend the Home Secretary.