Asylum (Hansard, 31 October 1994)

§ Mr. Allen
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the 1,000 ex-Yugoslav detainees whom the Government said, in November 1992, it would accept into Britain have been accepted; and how many of them are already here.

§ Mr. Nicholas Baker
As at 13 October 1994, 969 particularly vulnerable individuals and 1,293 dependants have been authorised for acceptance under the arrangements announced in November 1992 and June 1993, where the Government offered to receive 1,000 particularly vulnerable individuals from the former Yugoslavia and their immediate dependants, an estimated total of 4,000 people in all.
As at 24 October 1994, 803 particularly vulnerable individuals and 1,104 dependants have arrived under these arrangements. Prior to this, 68 sick and wounded ex-detainees from Bosnia arrived in September 1992.

§ Mr. Allen
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to provide information on the length of time applicants have been waiting for an initial decision on their asylum applications.

§ Mr. Nicholas Baker
Statistics giving the year of decision by year of application is published in table 5.1 of the Home Office statistical bulletin: "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 1993", issue number 17/94 published on 14 July 1994, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. Information on the estimated average length of time between receipt of an application and a decision in a given period is available and is provided on request.

§ Mr. Worthington
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications he has received for asylum from Kenyan citizens in each of the past 10 years and in this year to date; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Nicholas Baker
In the period 1 January 1994 to 30 September 1994, 930 applications for asylum have been received from Kenyan nationals. Information for the years 1985 to 1993 is given in table 2.1 of the Home Office statistical bulletin: "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 1993", issue 14/94 published on 14 July 1994, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.