§ Mr. HendersonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those countries where circumstances which in the past have justified recourse to the 1951 UN convention on refugees have in the past 12 months ceased to exist. [554]
§ Mr. KirkhopeAll applications for asylum are considered in accordance with the criteria set out in the 1951 United Nations convention relating to the status of refugees. Decisions are based on all the relevant circumstances of individual cases as well as on an assessment of conditions in the country of origin. There is no question of our refusing to consider, or of our automatically refusing, an application because of the country of origin of the applicant.
§ Mr. HendersonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those countries that are not generating refugees as defined by the 1951 UN convention on refugees at the present time. [553]
§ Mr. KirkhopeInformation about asylum decisions, broken down by the country of origin of applicants, is contained in table 3 and 4 of the Home Office statistical bulletin "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 1994", a copy of which is in the Library.