HC Deb 31 October 1990 vol 178 c556W
Mr. Parry

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the current situation of Somali citizens awaiting entry into the United Kingdom.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Under the immigration rules, applications for visas by foreign nationals must be lodged with the entry clearance officer of a British diplomatic post. The application will then normally be resolved by the entry clearance officer without reference to the Home Office. However, because of the current situation in the Horn of Africa this requirement has been waived in respect of Somali refugees—mainly those in camps in Ethiopia and Djibouti—who are unable to go to a British diplomatic post to lodge a visa application. In such cases we have agreed that sponsors in the United Kingdom may present the facts of cases here so that as far as possible applications can be determined before their families need embark on the difficult and sometimes hazardous journey to collect their visas. This has generated a substantial amount of new work for the refugee unit of the immigration and nationality department and in the interests of fairness the applications are dealt with in the order in which they are received.