HC Deb 15 December 2003 vol 415 cc740-1W
Mr. Barnes:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many people have been exiled from Northern Ireland by (a) Loyalist and (b) Republican paramilitary groups in each of the last five years; [142747]

(2) what his latest estimate is of the total number of people who have been exiled from Northern Ireland by paramilitary groups since 1973. [142748]

Angela Smith:

There are no official figures on the number of people exiled from Northern Ireland as a result of paramilitary intimidation as not all incidents are reported. The needs of exiles are examined in detail in the Legacy Report, an independent needs analysis of victims of the Troubles living in Great Britain. One of the major contributors to this research was Maranatha, a Christian community which has considerable experience in this area. Maranatha estimates that around four people per month are exiled from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

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