§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Sri Lankan Tamils seeking asylum in the UK have been deported from the UK in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [3216]
§ Angela EagleInformation is only available on the total number of Sri Lankan nationals who have claimed asylum in the United Kingdom and subsequently been removed. These data are provided in the table. They will include any Sri Lankan Tamils who have been removed, but we are unable to identify this group separately. It will also include Sri Lankans who have been removed to a third country having claimed asylum here. Again, it is not possible to identify this group separately.
Year Removals1,2 1996 80 1997 95 1998 135 1999 375 2000 390 1Asylum seekers removed under port and enforcement procedures. 2Includes 'voluntary' departures. 3Estimated due to data quality issues on the main Immigration Service enforcement database. Note:
Data rounded to the nearest five.
§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Sir Lankan Tamil asylum seekers are held in(a) prison and (b) detention centres. [3215]
§ Angela EagleOur records show that there were 11 Sri Lankan nationals detained in Immigration Service detention centres and 65 in Prison Service establishments at 31 May 2001, the latest date for which information is available. We are unable to say whether any of these persons are Tamils as information of this kind is not held centrally. It is currently not possible to say how many of those persons had claimed asylum.