§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many immigrants or visitors to the United Kingdom have been placed in detention in each of the last five years; how many of them were also asylum seekers; what was the average period of detention; what was the weekly cost of detaining a person in each of the five years; and whether those detained enjoyed and do now enjoy, rights and privileges at least as good as those of persons remanded in custody.
Earl FerrersThe available information is for passengers detained overnight in approved accommodation and is as follows:
Year No. detained 1983 4,482 1984 4,548 1985 8,221 1986 14,781 1987 10,917 Notes:
1.For 1983 and 1984 the figures do not include those detained in Queen's Building, Heathrow.
2.For 1986 the figure is for the total number of passengers detained for any period in approved accommodation.
The information readily available on asylum seekers at the ports is in respect of persons who at the first day of each month since January 1987 had been detained for more than one month. Monthly figures shown in the table below include detainees carried forward from previous months.
1987 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun 46 78 92 127 126 114 Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 119 110 102 99 30 36 1988 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun 43 50 51 41 55 40 Since 1984–85 the estimated weekly cost of detention (other than in police cells or prison department accommodation) has been about £806.
249WARights and privileges enjoyed by detainees depend on the establishment concerned and are not comparable with those in prison establishments. But detainees have ready access to the telephone, and within reason the number of letters they may write and visitors they may receive is not restricted.