§ Mr. MalinsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Czech Romanies have, in each of the last three years,(a) applied for asylum in the UK, (b) been granted asylum and (c) been removed having failed to achieve asylum status. [75407]
Applications received for asylum in the United Kingdom, and initial decisions1,2, 1999–2001 for nationals of the Czech Republic Number of principal applicants Applications received3 Initial Decisions4 Cases considered under normal procedures5 Backlog clearance exercise6 Granted asylum Granted ELR Refused Granted asylum or ELR under backlog criteria Refused under backlog criteria7 1999 1,790 275 * — 275 * — 2000 1,200 1,800 10 10 1,775 * — 2001p 880 895 — 5 890 — — Notes: l Figures rounded to the nearest 5, with * = 1 or 2.
2 Decision figures do not necessarily relate to applications received in the same period.
3 May exclude some cases lodged at Local Enforcement Offices between January and March 2000.
4 Information is of initial decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.
5 Cases considered under normal procedures may include some cases decided under the backlog criteria.
6 Cases decided under measures aimed at reducing the pre 1996 asylum application backlog.
7 Includes some cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds.
P Provisional figures
Czech principal asylum applicants removedP,E,1,2 1999 n/a 2000 n/a 2001 800 Notes: Figures rounded to the nearest five.
P Provisional data, subject to change.
E Data have been estimated due to data quality issues.
1 Includes persons departing "voluntarily" after enforcement action had been initiated against them, and persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration.
2 Nationality breakdown of dependants removed is not available.
§ Mr. MalinsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his policy relating to Romanies from the Czech Republic seeking asylum. [75899]
§ Beverley HughesApplications for asylum made by Roma from the Czech Republic are considered on their individual merits, in accordance with our obligations under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.
The objective country information about the situation for Roma in the Czech Republic shows that asylum claims based on discrimination against Roma are manifestly unfounded. The independent Immigration Appeal Tribunal have also reached this conclusion.