HC Deb 08 December 1997 vol 302 cc438-9W
Mr. Cox

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by nationality the(a) men and (b) women who were being held in custody in England and Wales under immigration laws on 1 November. [18963]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

The available information on persons held in detention in England and Wales under immigration powers as at 31 October 1997, but nationality and gender, is given in tables 1 and 2.

Table 1: Males recorded as being in detention1,2 under Immigration Act powers in England and Wales, by nationality as at 31 October 19973
Nationality Total detainees
Afghanistan 4
Albania 6
Algeria 57
Angola 13
Bangladesh 21
Bulgaria 10
Burundi 2
Chile 2
China 25
Colombia 9
Cyprus 12
Czech Republic4 26
Democratic Republic of Congo5 8
Ecuador 8
Egypt 2
France 2
Gambia 12
Ghana 34
Greece 3
Guyana 2
India 123
Iran 10
Iraq 3
Israel 2
Ivory Coast 7
Jamaica 29
Kenya 16
Lebanon 7
Liberia 6
Libya 4
Morocco 6
Nepal 2
Netherlands 3
Nigeria 88
Pakistan 73
Palestine 2
Poland 2
Romania 18
Sierra Leone 4
Slovakia 22
Somalia 3
South Africa 4
Spain 2
Sri Lanka 14
St. Lucia 3
Sudan 5
Tanzania 3
Tunisia 3
Table 1: Males recorded as being in detention1,2 under Immigration Act powers in England and Wales, by nationality as at 31 October 19973
Nationality Total detainees
Turkey 34
Uganda 3
USA 3
Venezuela 2
Former USSR 18
Former Yugoslavia 17
Stateless6 and Nationality Doubtful 7
Other 25
Total 831
1 Persons detained in prisons or immigration detention centres.
2 Excluding persons detained in police cells.
3 The data are provisional.
4 Figures for the Czech Republic may include persons holding Czechoslovakian passports.
5 Formerly Zaire.
6 Excluding Palestine and Hong Kong stateless persons.

Table 2: Females recorded as being in detention1,2 under Immigration Act powers in England and Wales, by nationality, as at 31 October 19973
Nationality Total detainees
Angola 5
Colombia 2
Czech Republic4 2
Ghana 6
Jamaica 11
Kenya 4
Nigeria 18
USA 2
Other5 20
Total 70
1 Persons detained in prisons or immigration detention centres.
2 Excluding persons detained in police cells.
3 The data are provisional.
4 Figures for the Czech Republic may include persons holding Czechoslovakian passports.
5 The category "Other" includes persons whose nationality is doubtful or for whom no nationality is recorded.