§ Clare ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers are being provided with accommodation under Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. [125078]
Asylum applications received in the United Kingdom, excluding dependants, initial decisions, removals and voluntary departures, nationals of Somalia, 1998 to 20021 Initial decisions2 3 Cases considered under normal procedures Backlog clearance exercise Applications received
Total initial decisions
Recognised as a refugee and
granted asylum
Not recognized as a refugee but
granted
exceptional
leave
Total refused Grants of ELR under backlog criteria
4,5Non compliance refusals under backlog criteria4,6 1998 4,685 2,805 2,330 375 100 — — 19997 7,495 350 130 55 1 20 35 5 20007.8 5,020 11,325 5,310 3,575 2,365 55 15 20019 6,420 8,430 2,910 1,995 3,525 — — 200210 6,540 6,735 2,515 1,405 2,815 — — 1Figures rounded to nearest 5, with "*"= 1 or 2, and "—" = 0. 2 Information is of initial determination decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions. 3 The refusal figures for each year do not necessarily relate to the applications received in the same year. 4 Cases decided under pragmatic measures aimed at reducing the pre '96 asylum backlog. 5 Includes cases where asylum or exceptional leave has been granted under the backlog criteria. 6 Includes some cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds. 7 May exclude some cases lodged at Local Enforcement Offices between January 1999 and March 2000. 8 Cases considered under the normal procedures may include some cases decided under the backlog criteria. 9 Revised figures. 10 Provisional figures. Note:
From October 2000, the source for date on decisions changed. The nationality breakdown is therefore not directly comparable with previous months.
584W
§ Beverley HughesReliable information on the numbers of cases receiving support under Section 4 of the 1999 Act is currently unavailable, because of the difficulty of ensuring that the information is accurate. We are working with the YMCA to establish more frequent reporting that will enable us to produce accurate figures.
Information on the number of applications for the National Asylum Supports Service (NASS) support and the numbers of asylum seekers currently being supported by NASS can be found on the website http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigrationl.html.
§ Jeremy CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from Somalia(a) sought asylum, (b) were granted asylum, (c) were granted exceptional leave to remain, (d) have made applications which are still outstanding and (e) have made applications for asylum which have been refused and have been subsequently removed from the United Kingdom in each of the last five years. [127513]
§ Beverley HughesThe tables provide the available information, showing the number of asylum applications, initial decisions and removals of Somalis for the last five years. Initial decisions do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same year. Nor do removals necessarily relate to initial decisions or appeal outcomes in the same year.
Information on asylum applications, by nationality, awaiting an initial decision is unavailable. This could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case records.
Information on the number of asylum applications, initial decisions and removals is published quarterly on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
585WThe latest available data on removals of Somali nationals who have sought asylum at some stage are given in the table.
Removals and voluntary departures1 of Somali principal asylum applicants2, 3 Number 19984 35 1999 n/a 2000 n/a 20014.5 25 20024 6 50 n/a=Nationality data are not available for 1999 and 2000 due to data quality issues on IS enforcement databases. 1Includes persons departing 'voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them, persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration, and removals on safe third country grounds. 2 Figures rounded to nearest 5, with "*" = 1 or 2, and "—" = 0. 3 Figures exclude dependants of asylum seekers removed. Data on dependants have only been collected since April 2001. 4 Data for 2001 and 2002 have been estimated due to data quality issues. 5 Figure may include a small number of dependants leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes. 6 Provisional figures. Note:
From October 2000, the source for data on decisions changed. The nationality breakdown is therefore not directly comparable with previous months.