§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures the Government have in place to keep track of immigrants who enter the UK; and if he will make a statement. [69013]
§ Beverley HughesA great many people who are not British citizens come to the United Kingdom each year. Excluding European Union citizens, approximately 13 million people were given leave to enter the United Kingdom in 2000, the last year for which data has been published.
Foreign nationals who are granted limited leave to enter or remain for longer than three months for employment, and foreign nationals granted limited leave to enter or remain for a total period in excess of six months for any other reason are required to register with the police. Failure to do so is an offence. For this purpose, "foreign nationals" excludes European Economic Area (EEA) nationals and citizens of Commonwealth countries. This requirement does not apply to anyone who has been granted indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain.
Arriving passengers awaiting a decision on whether or not they should be given leave to enter, passengers who have been refused entry, and people liable to deportation or to removal as an illegal entrant or under the powers contained in section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 may be granted temporary admission pending a decision whether or not to grant leave or pending removal. This temporary admission may be subject to conditions as to residence, employment and reporting to the police or an immigration officer. Failure to comply with these conditions is also an offence. A person detained under Immigration Act powers may also be released on bail, again subject to conditions, which may include a requirement to report.
The Immigration Service has seven designated reporting centres, which have been established to assist the Immigration Service in managing these reporting regimes. Alternatively a person may be required to report to a police station near their address.
We are seeking to further improve our ability to remain in contact with persons seeking leave to remain in the United. Kingdom. In particular, the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill will provide for the creation of accommodation centres for asylum seekers, and we will also seek to improve arrangements in respect of asylum seekers outside those centres. During the new induction process all asylum seekers are advised of the importance of informing the Home Office of any change of address and of the need to report as required. The Bill provides that the provision of support to asylum seekers will be conditional on their reporting as required.
225W
§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the definition used for each category of immigrant to the UK; and if the European Union has agreed upon these categorical definitions. [69206]
§ Beverley HughesOur immigration system is formed around the concept of categories of entry, each with its own eligibility criteria, conditions and restrictions. The categories are broadly for the purposes of visiting, study, economic activity, family reunion and humanitarian protection.
Details for each category are set out in the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules, HC395. In addition there are a number of concessions that operate outside the rules under which individuals may qualify if they meet the requisite criteria. The European Community (EC) does have competence under Title IV of the EC Treaty in the area of visas, asylum and immigration. The European Commission has brought forward a number of proposals for Community legislation on rules on admission of third country nationals to the member states, covering family reunification, admission for the purposes of employment and self-employment, the status of those who are long-term residents and the conditions in which third country nationals have the freedom to travel. None of these proposals have so far been adopted by the Council of Ministers. The United Kingdom has not exercised its right to opt in to the adoption and application of these measures. The United Kingdom has legislation which governs the rights of entry and residence of European Union (EU) citizens, as defined in the EC Treaty.
§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers entered England in the past five years, broken down by country of origin; what proportion this total represented of the total number of immigrants to enter England in these periods; and how many emigrants to England were recorded from each of the countries listed in this period. [69210]
§ Beverley HughesI regret that information on how many asylum applicants entered England in the past five years is unavailable. Regional information is available on where asylum applications in the United Kingdom were made (by port of application) but not on the entry routes of asylum seekers. In 2001 over a third (36 per cent) of applications were made at United Kingdom ports, while most applications (64 per cent) were made in country.
Information on the numbers of asylum applications (excluding dependants) at port and in country, by nationality, for 1999 to 2001 is published on the Home Office Research Development Statistics website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigrationl.html in Table 3b of the quarterly web pages "Asylum Statistics: 1st Quarter", and corresponding data for 1997 and 1998 are published in Table 2.2 of the annual statistical bulletin "Asylum Statistics 2001" (also available from the Library).
Information on the numbers of persons granted settlement annually, by nationality, is published in Table 6.5 of the Command Paper "Control of Immigration Statistics 2000", available from the Library and from the Research Development Statistics website.