HC Deb 20 March 1997 vol 292 cc867-8W
Mr. Stern

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will assess the extent of intelligence acquired by NATO from asylum seekers currently facing the threat of deportation from Germany to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine; and if he will discuss the value of that intelligence with his German counterpart. [21323]

Mr. Soames

My Department has no indication that any intelligence reports from asylum seekers were acquired by NATO.

Mr. Stern

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will request that a search be made of NATO files to establish what promises of asylum were made to asylum seekers in Germany in the course of interrogations by intelligence officers reporting to NATO. [21315]

Mr. Soames

I have no plans to do so.

Mr. Stern

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the proportion of asylum seekers arriving in a NATO member state from(a) Eastern Europe and (b) elsewhere who are interrogated on behalf of NATO or one of its member states. [21325]

Mr. Soames

No such estimate has been made.

Mr. Stern

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many asylum seekers now resident in Germany were interrogated for military information by officers of the British armed forces or officers of British military intelligence. [21324]

Mr. Soames

I am withholding this information under exemption 1 of the code of practice on access to government information, in relation to defence security and international relations.