§ Ms KinghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanism he has established to collect data concerning human rights abuses documented against Roma, by country; how many Roma(a) sought asylum in the United Kingdom, by country of origin and (b) had their asylum claims (i) upheld and (ii) denied in the United Kingdom in the last five years. [121519]
§ Mrs. RocheThe Country Information and Policy Unit in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate obtains from a wide variety of sources information on issues which are raised in the asylum process, including the question of human rights abuses against Roma. Country assessments based on this information are published on the top 35 asylum-producing countries. The assessments are revised and updated every six months.
The majority of Roma asylum seekers in the United Kingdom come from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. During the period January 1995 to January 1999, there were 2,600 asylum applications from nationals of the Czech Republic. 6,110 asylum applications were received from nationals of Poland and 1,250 received from Slovakia. A visa regime was introduced on 8 October 1998 in respect of Slovakia. During the period January 1995 to May 1999, 490 Czech and 910 Slovak asylum applications were refused. There were no grants of asylum during this period. During the same period 3,355 Polish asylum applications were refused. One or two Polish applicants were granted asylum in each of the years 1996, 1997 and 1998 although our information does not show on what basis asylum was granted. It is not possible to give decisions with a nationality breakdown after May 1999.