§ Mr. AncramTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Zimbabwean citizens seeking asylum in Britain have been deported since June 2000. [26620]
§ Angela EagleThe latest available information relates to the period April to June 2001, during which an estimated 40 principal asylum applicants (to the nearest five) of Zimbabwean nationality are recorded as having466W been removed from the United Kingdom. This includes persons departing 'voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them and may include some persons leaving under the Voluntary Assisted Returns Programme, but excludes dependants of those asylum seekers who departed at the same time, for whom nationality information is not available.
Information on the destination of asylum seekers removed from the United Kingdom is not recorded centrally and could be obtained by examining individual case files only at disproportionate cost. Therefore it is not possible to determine how many of these persons were returned to Zimbabwe.
I regret that a nationality breakdown of asylum seekers removed between June 2000 and March 2001 is not available due to data recording problems.
Information on the nationality of principal asylum applicants removed in the period July to September 2001 will be published on 28 February 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigrationl.htm