§ Mr. AlisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the total numbers(a) applying for asylum in the United Kingdom, (b) being accepted for immigration in the United Kingdom and (c) emigrating from the United Kingdom, in each year since 1990.
§ Mr. Charles Wardle[holding answer 12 February 1993]: Information on applications for asylum in the United Kingdom is given in table A. The fall in 1992 follows measures introduced in late 1991 to deter multiple and other fraudulent applications.
Information on persons accepted for settlement in the United Kingdom is published in table 3 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin Issue 29/92 "Control of Immigration: Statistics—First and Second Quarters 1992". Information for the second half of 1992 is not yet available.
The available information on emigration from the United Kingdom is produced by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys from the international passenger survey, which defines a migrant as a person leaving one country where he/she has been a resident for a year or more, with the intention of residing in another country for a year or more. This information includes British and other EC citizens, but excludes migration between the Irish Republic and the United Kingdom. Data for 1990 are given in table 2.1 of the 1990 issues of the OPCS publication "International Migration". Corresponding data for 1991 are given in table B; data for 1992 are not yet available.
Copies of both the publications are in the Library of the House.
20W
Table A Applications received for asylum in the United Kingdom, excluding dependants Number 1990 22,000 1991 44,800 1992 24,600
Table B Migration to and from the United Kingdom1 in 1991 Number of persons, in thousands Inflow Outflow Net balance2 All citizenships 267 239 28 British citizens 117 137 -20 Other EC citizens 31 32 -1 Non-EC citizens 119 70 49 1 Excluding migration between the Irish Republic and the United Kingdom. 2 A positive figure represents a net inflow, a negative figure a net outflow.