HC Deb 30 January 1990 vol 166 c115W
Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of Kurdish asylum seekers from Turkey who have(a) arrived in the United Kingdom since January 1989, been (b) granted political asylum, (c) returned to Turkey, (d) given exceptional leave to remain and (e) held in detention; and if he will make a statement on his policy towards Kurdish asylum seekers.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Immigration statistics do not record ethnic origins of asylum seekers. Since January 1989, some 3,900 Turkish nationals have applied for asylum on arrival: 164 have been granted asylum; 44 have been removed to Turkey; 249 have left the United Kingdom of their own accord before their examination was completed; 611 have been given exceptional leave to enter. On 29 January, there were three Turkish asylum seekers in detention.

The Government are committed to their obligations under the 1951 United Nations convention on refugees. All asylum applications are considered on their individual merits and where the applicant is found to have a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, he or she will be granted refugee status.