HL Deb 11 July 1996 vol 574 cc35-6WA
Lord Avebury

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What representations they have received from the UK Somali Community Council about the Home Office's paper, Somalia: Background Brief, published by the Asylum Division in October 1995; whether they will place a copy of the latest edition of the brief in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament; whether they will list the countries for which similar briefs are available, and whether they will put these and other public documents on the World Wide Web.

Baroness Blatch

Two country reports have been published so far, on Ghana and Nigeria. Other reports, on Bulgaria, Cyprus, India, Pakistan, Poland and Romania, will be published shortly. A report on Somalia is being prepared but has not yet been published. All published reports will be placed in the Library. They will also be made available to organisations directly concerned with the asylum determination process, but we have no plans to place them on the World Wide Web. The United Kingdom Somalia Community Council has written to my right honourable friend the Home Secretary and has been invited to discuss information on Somalia with officials from the Asylum Directorate.