HC Deb 08 December 1998 vol 322 cc107-8W
Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many asylum seekers have been convicted of offences punishable with imprisonment in the last year for which figures are available; [62212]

(2) how many asylum seekers have been (a) excluded and (b) deported from the United Kingdom as a result of the commission of crime in another country in the last year for which figures are available; [62206]

(3) how many asylum applicants have been ordered to be deported as a result of the commission of criminal offences in the United Kingdom in the last year for which figures are available. [62205]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

[holding answer 3 December 1998]: Information is not held centrally on the number of asylum seekers who have committed offences in another country or on the number of asylum seekers convicted of offences punishable with imprisonment and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

During 1997, 366 persons were recommended for deportation by a court and 89 were served with deportation notices on the basis that their continued presence in the United Kingdom was not conducive to the public good. These figures include asylum and non-asylum cases.

The system we inherited for identifying asylum seekers who have offended requires the police and prison service to inform the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) when someone subject to immigration control is convicted of any offence against the person, any drugs offence or any immigration offence or any other offence where a sentence of imprisonment of 12 months or more is imposed. In addition IND is notified where a court recommends that an offender should be deported. Other offences may be reported but there is no requirement for this to be done.

This system produced records which showed that, in 1997, 14 persons who applied for asylum at some stage were recommended for deportation by a court and a further four were issued with notices of intention to deport on grounds conducive to the public good following conviction for a criminal offence. The current records are likely to under-estimate the numbers involved but it is difficult to assess by precisely how much. I have asked officials to re-examine and recommend improvements to the inherited process of collecting this data as part of our process of modernising the information systems in IND.