HC Deb 03 March 1999 vol 326 cc757-9W
Mr. Gerrard

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the countries currently considered to be in upheaval for the purpose of determining asylum claims. [73889]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

There is no country or territory currently subject to a declaration of upheaval under the Social Security (Persons from Abroad) Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 1996. Declarations were made in respect of Sierra Leone on 1 July 1997 and the Democratic Republic of Congo on 17 May 1998. These expired after three months.

The purpose of such declarations is to ensure that people who find themselves in the United Kingdom at the point when there is a change of circumstances in their home country, of the kind envisaged in the Regulations, are not disadvantaged in terms of access to income support and related benefits if they make an in-country asylum application with reasonable promptness. Three months is the period considered to be reasonable for this purpose. A declaration of upheaval does not, in itself, carry any implication for the determination of asylum applications from the country or territory concerned. The need for this procedure would cease to exist under the scheme of support for asylum seekers contained in Park VI of the Immigration and Asylum Bill.

Mr. Stinchcombe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers under the age of 18 years are currently detained. [73782]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

At 14.00 on 1 March 1999 there were 2 people who are 17 years of age in detention; awaiting removal to Belgium in the near future. Another person in detention is claiming to be 17 years old but his age is in dispute.

Mr. Stinchcombe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the criteria for the detention of asylum seekers in Her Majesty's prisons; [73778]

(2) what are the criteria for the administrative detention of asylum seekers who have not been (a) tried or (b) convicted of a criminal offence. [73779]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

No one is detained solely because they are an asylum seeker. Detention is authorised only in accordance with powers set out in the Immigration Act 1971 as they apply to inadmissible passengers, illegal entrants or stowaways, people subject to deportation action or on grounds of national security.

The principle criterion for detention is whether a person will comply with conditions attached to the grant of temporary admission or release. So far as possible, people are detained in discrete accommodation in Immigration Service Detention Centres or designated prison accommodation at Haslar or Rochester. But there are a few held in other establishments for reasons of geography, security or control.

The exceptions may be those convicted prisoners subject to deportation action who may continue to be held in prisons at the conclusion of their sentence awaiting the activation of the deportation order.

Mr. Stinchcombe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been detained for over six months(a) in Her Majesty's prisons and (b) elsewhere. [73780]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

The available information relates to the snapshot of asylum seekers detained solely under Immigration Act powers as at 29 January 1999 for in-country applicants and 1 February 1999 for port applicants. 116 such persons were recorded as having been detained continuously for at least six months. The breakdown between those detained in prisons and those in other places of detention is available only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Wigley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the position of Her Majesty's Government with regard to the provisions of Article 22 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on protection for children seeking asylum. [74307]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

The effect of Article 22 of the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child is to confer on refugee and asylum seeking children all the rights set out in that Convention. The comprehensive provision in United Kingdom law for the care and protection of children applies in full to children who have been recognised as refugees in this country and to those who have sought asylum here, but whose claim has not been determined. Although the United Kingdom has entered a reservation which makes it clear that nothing in the Convention is interpreted as affecting the operation of our immigration and nationality legislation, our law is entirely consistent with the thrust of the Convention.