§ Mr. Tony LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the procedures for receiving asylum seekers and refugees in the light of experience following recent changes to these procedures; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThere have been no recent major changes in procedures and I am not clear to what changes the question refers. In view of the sharp increase in numbers of asylum applications in the United Kingdom, the Government are urgently reviewing arrangements for dealing with asylum seekers.
§ Mr. Tony LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received concerning procedures for dealing with refugees and asylum seekers; what was his response; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydWe receive representations from time to time on many aspects of our procedures for receiving506W asylum seekers. Representations are made by hon. Members, interested organisations and the public. Many of the issues raised are being considered in the Government's current review of asylum arrangements.
§ Mr. DarlingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each month from September 1989 to the nearest available date the number of asylum applications, by country(a) at ports of entry, (b) after entry and (c) at British ports overseas made in each case for (i) principal applicants and (ii) their dependants.
§ Mr. Peter Lloyd[holding answer 12 December 1990]Information is not available in the form requested. The available information records dependants by the date and location of the application of the principal asylum applicant and also does not generally include dependants who join a principal applicant after the principal application has been decided.
§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in respect of dependants granted permission to join family members in the United Kingdom(a) who themselves had refugee status under the 1951 convention and (b) who had exceptional leave on the basis of family reunion, if he will give for 1989 and 1990 so far (i) the numbers of each nationality, (ii) how many cases and for which nationalities were required by the embassies abroad to pay visa charges and how much was paid in each case, (iii) for each nationality the numbers by reference to the familial relationship to the convention refugee in the United Kingdom and (iv) the delay between application and date of issue of visa in terms of three months, six months, nine months, and over one year.
§ Mr. Peter Lloyd[holding answer 12 December 1990]: Information is not available in the form requested. The available information on asylum applicants records dependants by reference to the data on the principal applicant, and does not record the location of the dependants, or the date, whey they applied. It also does not generally include dependants who join a principal applicant after the principal application has been decided. Information on visa applications by dependants to join a person recognised as a refugee or granted exceptional leave in the United Kingdom is not available centrally. I understand that overseas posts have standing instructions that visas for dependants joining a person who has been recognised as a refugee under arrangements made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or its partner the intergovernmental committee for migration—now the International Organisation for Migration—should be issued free of charge.