§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with the Romanian Government on the issue of illegal immigrants by Romanian citizens into the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [68450]
§ Beverley HughesHome Office officials met their Romanian counterparts in November 2001 and March 2002 to negotiate the terms of a readmission agreement between our two countries. The draft agreement is intended to improve co-operation between the United Kingdom and Romania in order to contribute to the prevention and combating of illegal migration. This it will do by facilitating the readmission to each country of its own citizens and third country nationals whose residence in the other country is illegal. Officials are currently working on finalising the text of the agreement, which we expect to be formally signed later this year.
The United Kingdom has also deployed two officers to Romania in an advisory capacity, to assist the Romanian government in creating a professional intelligence unit for
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19971 19981 19991 20001,2 20011,2 Total Applications received 1,075 1,295 1,800 7,475 6,805 18,450 Initial decisions3 660 1,100 735 5,520 4.060 12,075 Cases considered under normal procedures4 Granted asylum 255 510 315 845 805 2,730 Granted ELR 295 500 320 2,455 1,800 5,370 Refused 110 90 100 2,220 1.455 3,975 Backlog clearance exercise5 Granted asylum or ELR under backlog criteria — — 5 10 — 15 Refused under backlog criteria' — — * * — * 1Data rounded to the nearest 5 with * = 1 or 2 >2Provisional data 3Initial decision figures do not necessarily relate to applications received in the same period 4 Information is of initial decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions 5Cases decided under measures aimed at reducing the pre 1996 asylum application backlog 6Includes some cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds combating organised immigration crime. The unit aims to provide intelligence packages to support operational activity to target the criminal gangs operating in and through Romania.