§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many failed asylum seekers were returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo in each of the last six years; and if he will make a statement; [144712]
(2) how many failed asylum seekers were returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in each of the last six years; and if he will make a statement; [144742]
(3) how many applicants for asylum there were from the Democratic Republic of Congo in each of the last six years; and how many and what percentage of applications were accepted. [145401]
§ Beverley HughesEstimates of the number of nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo who had sought asylum at some stage and who were removed between January 1997 and June 2003 are shown in the table. These figures include persons departing `voluntarily' after the initiation of enforcement action against them, and persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Returns Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration.
UK, professional qualifications or their equivalent in (a) nursing, (b) medicine, (c) dentistry and (d) teaching in each year since 1997; [144818]
(2) how many and what proportion of asylum seekers in each country of the United Kingdom had gained prior to their entry into the UK (a) higher education qualifications or their equivalent, (b) professional qualifications or their equivalent and (c) secondary level qualifications or their equivalent in each year since 1997. [144817]
975W
§ Beverley HughesData on the qualifications which asylum seekers had obtained prior to entry are not recorded and collated centrally, and could therefore only be obtained from individual case files at disproportionate cost.
Information on asylum statistics is published quarterly on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on detaining asylum seekers with children whose application for asylum has been denied. [145677]
§ Beverley HughesAfter an application for asylum has been refused a family with children may be detained if there is a considered risk of non-compliance with the conditions of temporary admission or release, or to effect removal.
§ Mr. GaleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will provide a substantive response to the question relating to funding due to Kent county council in respect of asylum seekers, ref 144468, tabled by the hon. Member for North Thanet on 12 December and transferred to his Department by the Treasury for named day answer on 16 December 2003. [146557]
§ Beverley Hughes[holding answer 8 January 2004]I replied to the hon. Member on 15 January 2004.