§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what public response he has made to the publication by Amnesty International last June of "Playing Human Pinball-Home Office Practice in Safe Third Country Asylum Cases"; if he will place copies in the Library of letters he has sent to Amnesty International in reply to letters from it concerning matters contained in the pamphlet; and if he will make a statement. [10660]
§ Mr. KirkhopeMy predecessor wrote to Mr. David Bull, director of Amnesty International, on 27 July in response to this report. I have placed a copy of the letter in the Library.
§ Mr. GallowayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the average time taken by his Department to reach substantive decisions on asylum applications lodged since the coming into force of the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993, when applications are made(a) at a port of entry, (b) by persons given leave to enter the United Kingdom for a limited period and (c) by persons liable to removal as illegal entrants; [10080]
(2) what is the average time taken by his Department between receipt of an asylum application under the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993 and the carrying out of substantive interview with the asylum seeker when applications are made (a) at a port of entry, (b) by persons given leave to enter the United Kingdom for a limited period and (c) by persons liable to removal as illegal entrants. [10081]
§ Mr. KirkhopeInformation on the average time taken during 1995 to reach a substantive decision on those asylum applications submitted after the implementation of the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993 is given in the table. Reliable information on the time between application date and interview date is not held centrally.
56W
Average time taken to reach a substantive decision1 on post 1993 Act asylum applications, 1995 1995 Average decision time Months Port cases 8.6 In-country cases previously granted leave to enter2 13.4 Illegal entrants 7.6 All cases decided3 9.5 1 Excludes without foundation refusals and refusals under paragraph 340 of immigration rules. 2 Includes those who applied after deportation action had been initiated. 3 Excludes those cases where the applicant's immigration status was unknown at the time of application.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library all material issued on behalf of Her Majesty's Government to the UN human rights committee concerning the appeal rights of asylum seekers. [10623]
§ Mr. KirkhopeThe fourth periodic report by the United Kingdom to the committee, dated October 1994, which included a description of asylum appeal rights under the 1993 Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act, is already available in the Library. The committee's record of oral evidence by United Kingdom officials to the committee on 21 July 1995 about the report will be placed in the Library when it becomes available.
§ Mr. MarlowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the Tamil asylum seekers arriving in the United Kingdom on 13 February 1989(a) have been repatriated and (b) have been given leave to remain or are remaining in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [10460]
§ Mr. KirkhopeThe information requested is not readily available.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the Home Office circular dated 13 January 1994 setting out the circumstances in which the Home Office may exercise its 57W discretion and consider asylum cases substantively in potential safe third country cases. [10661]
§ Mr. KirkhopeI have done so today.