§ Tom CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been(a) removed and (b) deported from the United Kingdom in each of the last three years. [173289]
§ Mr. BrowneThe available information is in the table.
Persons removed from the United Kingdom, 2000 to 20021,2: United Kingdom Number of persons 2000 2001 2002 Total persons removed3,4 46,645 50,625 68,630 Of whom: removed as a result of Deportation action5 1,280 450 100 1Under sections 3(6), 3(7) or 33(1) of the Immigration Act 1971, or under section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. 2 Including persons departing 'voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them. 3 Includes dependants of asylum seekers removed from April 2001 onwards only. This information was not collected prior to this although figures up to March 2001 may include a small number of dependants of port principal asylum applicants removed. 4 Includes persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration. 5 Figures for 2001 and 2002 have been estimated. Deportation figures may be under-recorded in 1999 and 2000. The substantial reduction in the number of persons deported after October 2000 is due to a change in the categories of person liable to deportation. Under section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, overstayers, persons who breach their conditions of stay, and persons who gain leave to remain by deception are administratively removed and deportation is now restricted to more serious cases.
Information on all those removed from the UK in 2003, including the number of deportations, will be published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin "Control of Immigration Statistics UK 2003" which is due to be published at the end of August, and will be available from the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate web site at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration 1.html.