§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been granted exceptional right to work in the last 12 months: and what his estimate is of the number of asylum seekers who remain in employment which they commenced prior to the abolition of the employment concession. [124987]
§ Beverley HughesInformation about the number of asylum seekers granted permission to work exceptionally in the last 12 months is not available centrally and could be obtained only by examination of individual case files.
265WThere are no estimates on the number of asylum seekers who remain in employment having been granted permission to work prior to the abolition of the employment concession.
§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made towards setting a target for the proportion of asylum cases to be decided within six months. [124991]
§ Beverley HughesThe six-month target is the joint responsibility of the Home Office and the Department for Constitutional Affairs. Both Departments are
Initial decisions on applications received for asylum in the United Kingdom1 for nationals of Iraq—1998 to 2002 Number of principal applicants Cases considered under normal procedures3 Backlog clearance exercise4 Initial decisions2 Granted asylum Granted ELR Refused Granted asylum or ELR under backlog criteria Refused under backlog criteria5 1998 1,100 510 500 90 — — 1999 745 315 320 100 5 * 2000 5,530 845 2,455 2,220 10 * 20016 8,880 815 1,855 6,210 — — 20026 11,785 700 8,130 2,955 — — 1 Figures rounded to the nearest 5, with * = 1 or 2. 2 Information is of initial decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions. 3 Cases considered under normal procedures may include some cases decided under the backlog criteria. 4 Cases decided under measures aimed at reducing the pre-1996 asylum application backlog. 5 Includes some cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds. 6 Provisional data. Information on initial decisions on asylum applications is published quarterly. The next publication will cover the period up to June 2003, and will be available provisionally from 28 August 2003 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ rds/immigrationl. html
§ Mr. BestTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Iraqi asylum seekers have been required to return to Iraq in the past year; and if he will make a statement. [125103]
§ Beverley HughesExcluding dependants, it is estimated that 195 Iraqi nationals who had sought asylum at some stage were removed in 2002. This figure includes persons deciding to leave after the initiation of enforcement action against them, and persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Returns Programmes run by the International Organization for Migration.
Information on the destination of these removals is not available.
Data on removals by nationality in the period January to March 2003 are due to be published on 28 August on the Home Office web-site www. homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/whatsnewl.html
§ Mr. BestTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the UNHCR's observations on the situation in Iraq and large scale return of Iraqi refugees; [125104]
(2) if he will implement a moratorium on (a) Iraqi asylum decisions and (b) the proposals to return rejected applicants. [125105]
266Wworking closely to finalise a challenging but realistic target and will publish this as soon as it is available.
§ Mr. BestTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Iraqi asylum applications have been refused in each of the last five years. [125101]
§ Beverley HughesThe table shows the number of Iraqi asylum applicants, excluding dependants, refused asylum or exceptional leave to remain in the United Kingdom between January 1998 and December 2002. These statistics relate to initial decisions only and exclude the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.
§ Beverley HughesDecision making on Iraqi asylum applications was suspended on 20 March 2003 at the onset of military action. The rapidly changing country conditions meant that there was insufficient information to make a fully considered decision, either positive or negative, about an applicant's claim and whether they would qualify for asylum under the United Nations Convention.
We decided to resume processing of Iraqi asylum applications with effect from 16 June 2003. This coincided with a decision by the Independent Appellate Authority (IAA) to begin relisting asylum appeal hearings from the same date.
While there remain security and humanitarian concerns in some areas, the threat of persecution from Saddam Hussein's regime no longer exists. We did not want to keep applications on hold longer than necessary given the uncertainty this creates for the individuals concerned. Having obtained information about conditions in Iraq from a range of sources, we concluded that there was sufficient information on which to base decisions As with asylum applications from all nationalities, each case will be considered individually on its merits.
The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) is currently making preparations for the eventual return of large numbers of Iraqis and is developing a return and reintegration plan. UNHCR understands that there are people who wish to return right now and is aware that we are making plans for voluntary return programmes. We are aware of their concerns and will continue to work closely with them. With this in mind, we are developing a coherent returns 267W strategy. Initially the emphasis will be on facilitating voluntary returns. Enforced returns will only be considered once we are satisfied that conditions on the ground allow for this.
§ Tom BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the(a) country of departure and (b) country of origin of asylum seekers who made an asylum claim at (i) Heathrow and (ii) Gatwick airports in each of the last five years. [125185]
§ Beverley HughesData is not collated centrally on the origin or the country of departure of asylum seekers, only by nationality. To obtain information on the number of people, who claimed asylum at Heathrow and Gatwick, over the last five years, would be possible only by examination of individual case-files at a disproportionate cost.