§ Mr. WellsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for political refugee status there have been in each year and from which countries of birth since 1980; how many were admitted in each year; how many rejected and how many left the country; and how long it took to process each application on average.
§ Mr. Peter LloydInformation on asylum applications and decisions, by nationality, is contained in tables 2–5 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin 22/90 "Refugee Statistics, United Kingdom 1989", and in the provisional estimates for 1990 provided to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on 22 April. Copies of both these documents are in the Library of the House. The 1990 estimates are likely to understate because of delays in recording. Information on the average length of time between the receipt of an application and the decision, for total decisions in each of the years 1983–90, is given in the 691W table. A reliable analysis of this information by nationality, and corresponding data for 1980–82, are not available.
Estimated average length of time between the receipt of an application for refugee status or asylum, and the decision, for cases decided in the years 1983–90.1 Years in which decision made Months 1983 6 1984 8— 1985 12— 1986 14 1987 14 1988 17 1989 12 21990 12 1 Excludes south-east Asian refugees given settlement on arrival. 2 Provisional.