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HOME DEPARTMENT
Asylum Seekers
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received from the European women's lobby on gender-sensitive asylum policy; and if he will make a statement. [123615]
Mrs. Roche: Recent representations from groups representing women's issues have focused on the treatment of women seeking asylum in the United Kingdom, the delay in resolving asylum claims and the support available for women awaiting the outcome of their applications.
All applications, whether from women or men, are considered in accordance with the criteria set out in the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. To qualify for asylum, a person must be outside her/his country of nationality and have a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
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Caseworkers dealing with these applications are given awareness training in gender and cultural matters and special training is given for dealing with those who have been tortured. It is recognised that women's experiences as asylum seekers may be different from those of men and their applications are handled with due sensitivity.
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what detailed programmes the Government (a) has in place and (b) has planned, to improve the education, skills and qualifications of asylum seekers; what are the costs of these programmes; and if he will make a statement. [123729]
Mrs. Roche: Asylum seekers who receive a positive decision on their application are eligible to enrol on courses at further education colleges. Asylum seekers who have not received a decision on their application after six months can seek permission to work and as part of this can gain access to work based learning. The costs of this would be borne by the Department for Education and Employment, but information relating to the costs of educating asylum seekers is not recorded separately.
School-age children (under 16 years of age) of asylum seekers are entitled to attend school irrespective of when the application for asylum was lodged. The costs to the Department for Education and Employment of providing places in schools for the children of asylum seekers are not recorded separately.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who entered the United Kingdom at (a) Heathrow, (b) Gatwick, (c) Stansted and (d) Luton airports since 1 January have claimed asylum on arriving at these airports. [124482]
Mrs. Roche: The information requested is given in the table:
| Total | |
|---|---|
| Heathrow | 3,000 |
| Gatwick | 1,215 |
| Stansted | 340 |
| Luton | 25 |
(11) Provisional figures rounded to nearest 5
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have claimed asylum at each relevant port in the United Kingdom in each month since 1 May 1997. [125105]
Mrs. Roche: The information requested is given in the tables.
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(12) Figures rounded to nearest 5, with '*' = 1 or 2
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(13) Figures rounded to nearest 5, with '*' = 1 or 2
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(14) Provisional figures rounded to nearest 5, with '*' = 1 or 2
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| Port | January | February | March | April | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashford | 5 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 35 |
| Belfast | -- | -- | * | -- | -- |
| Birmingham | * | 5 | * | * | 5 |
| Bristol (sea) | * | 5 | * | * | 5 |
| Cardiff | * | -- | * | -- | -- |
| Coqelles | -- | * | -- | -- | -- |
| Dover | 690 | 640 | 645 | 410 | 2,385 |
| Edinburgh | * | -- | -- | 5 | 5 |
| Felixstowe | -- | 15 | 5 | -- | 20 |
| Folkstone | -- | 5 | -- | -- | 5 |
| Gatwick North | 205 | 200 | 250 | 160 | 815 |
| Gatwick South | 125 | 95 | 125 | 55 | 400 |
| Glasgow | * | * | * | * | -- |
| Harwich | 45 | 30 | 40 | 30 | 145 |
| Hull | 20 | * | 10 | 5 | 35 |
| Leeds Bradford | -- | -- | * | -- | -- |
| London City (air) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 45 |
| Liverpool | -- | -- | * | * | -- |
| Luton | 5 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 25 |
| Manchester Terminal 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | * | 15 |
| Manchester Terminal 2 | 15 | 25 | 10 | 5 | 55 |
| Newhaven | -- | -- | * | -- | -- |
| Plymouth | -- | * | * | -- | -- |
| Poole | 10 | -- | -- | -- | 10 |
| Portsmouth | * | 10 | -- | * | 10 |
| Stansted | 50 | 140 | 115 | 35 | 340 |
| Heathrow Terminal 1 | 210 | 220 | 245 | 145 | 820 |
| Heathrow Terminal 2 | 245 | 200 | 200 | 145 | 790 |
| Heathrow Terminal 3 | 265 | 230 | 270 | 175 | 940 |
| Heathrow Terminal 4 | 120 | 105 | 135 | 90 | 450 |
| Teesport | -- | * | * | -- | -- |
| Tyne | * | 5 | 10 | -- | 15 |
| Waterloo | 220 | 295 | 310 | 315 | 1,140 |
| Other | * | * | * | 200 | 200 |
| Total | 2,245 | 2,260 | 2,400 | 1,805 | 8,710 |
(15) Provisional figures rounded to nearest 5, with '*' = 1 or 2
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Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people the National Asylum Support Service (a) has dispersed and (b) plans to disperse to each of the cluster areas listed in the letter to all hon. Members of 25 May from the Minister of State, the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Mrs. Roche); [125055]
- (2) if he will list the local council areas to which asylum seekers have been dispersed by (a) local authorities and (b) his Department; and how many dispersed asylum seekers are resident in each such area. [125064]
Mrs. Roche: As of 2 June, 2,049 asylum seekers, including dependants, have been dispersed by the National Asylum Support Service. They have been dispersed to Scotland, the North East, the North West, Yorkshire and Humberside, West Midlands, East Midlands and Sussex. The figures also include a small number of asylum seekers with specialist medical needs who have been provided with accommodation in London. The number of future dispersals to particular areas will depend on a number of factors including the type of accommodation required by asylum seekers and its availability in any area.
The National Asylum Support Service does not record details of the local council areas to which it disperses asylum seekers.
Information of the type requested on dispersal by local authorities under the interim arrangements is not held by the National Asylum Support Service. This is a voluntary scheme between local authorities and is sponsored by the Local Government Association and the Association of London Government.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the people aboard the Afghan airline hijacked to Stansted are still in the United Kingdom; what is the status of each of their asylum claims; and if he will make a statement. [125032]
Mr. Straw: Of the 170 people on the plane, 81 have left the United Kingdom, 89 remain in the United Kingdom, including 12 who are the subject of criminal charges in relation to the hijacking. Of those remaining who have applied for asylum, nine have been granted asylum including six as dependants, and 36 have been refused including five dependants. All of the latter have
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appealed against refusal and the substantive hearings commenced on 8 May. Of the remaining 32, 14 are the dependants of those facing charges and their applications will not be considered until the outcome of the prosecution is known. A further two originally faced charges which were subsequently withdrawn, and consideration is being given to their applications and those of their eight dependants. The wife and six children of one of those facing charges--who had originally applied as his dependants--have now applied in their own right and consideration is being given to their applications also. One application awaits consideration of information from The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. Consideration of further action will be given as soon as the outcome of the appeals is known.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers and dependants sent to Oakington detention centre have (a) been granted refugee status or exceptional leave to remain in the United Kingdom, (b) been dispersed to other accommodation in the United Kingdom, (c) left the United Kingdom, (d) been detained elsewhere and (e) absconded from Oakington. [125050]
Mrs. Roche: As at the end of May, of those asylum seekers and their dependants who were sent to Oakington, three were granted asylum and three granted exceptional leave to remain; 147 were dispersed to other accommodation, mainly under the National Asylum Support Service scheme, and 101 were granted temporary admission and released to private addresses; 26 main applicants refused asylum have left the United Kingdom, 11 of whom were removed after their appeals had been dismissed. In addition, 16 main applicants and seven dependants withdrew their claims and departed before being accommodated at Oakington. Forty nine were detained elsewhere and seven have absconded, of whom three have been apprehended.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers and dependants have been sent to the Oakington detention centre since it was opened; and how many of those people have had their cases decided while at Oakington. [125052]
Mrs. Roche: As at 31 May, 338 main applicants and 23 dependants have been accommodated at Oakington since the centre opened on 20 March. A total of 265 applications have been decided at Oakington.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time that an asylum seeker sent to Oakington resides there. [125051]
Mrs. Roche: The majority of asylum seekers whose cases have been processed have remained seven days or less.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to open further detention or reception centres to house asylum seekers; how many people these centres will accommodate; what will be the start-up costs and running costs of each new centre; and if he will make a statement. [125098]
Mrs. Roche: We have made clear on a number of occasions that more detention places are required to support our commitment to remove people whose asylum
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applications are refused and subsequently do not leave the country voluntarily. We have not yet determined precisely how many detention places are required or how they should be provided but, because of the lead-in time, planning notifications have been submitted to local authorities for the provisions of centres on the DERA (Tunnel) site at Thurleigh in Bedfordshire, at Harmondsworth and at Aldington in Kent. Together these three sites would deliver about 1,800 extra places. Potential suppliers have been asked to prepare proposals on that basis, but estimates of start-up and running costs will depend upon the outcome of the competitive tendering process.
We have no current plans to open further reception centres, but are keeping the need for additional facilities under review as capacity at Oakington increases.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to have information available on the number of asylum seekers being supported by each local authority. [125034]
Mrs. Roche: In the reply I gave the hon. Member on 7 April 2000, Official Report, column 633W, I explained that the Home Office had launched an exercise to obtain information from local authorities on how many asylum seekers they were supporting, together with the status of those asylum seekers and where they were being accommodated. The exercise is still on-going and, at this stage, I am unable to say when it will be concluded. The information requested will be available once the exercise is completed.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Government's policy is towards the proposal that the European Court of Justice should have jurisdiction over asylum matters in accordance with Article 68. [125046]
Mrs. Roche: Article 68 of the Treaty of the European Community already provides for the highest domestic court to refer to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling on an issue concerning the interpretation or validity of a Community measure made under Title IV (which covers immigration and asylum policy), or on the interpretation of Title IV itself. In the context of the current Inter-Governmental Consultation negotiations, the Government will be seeking an amendment to article 68 to ensure that cases that require a preliminary ruling can be quickly referred to the ECJ, in order to facilitate the prompt resolution of such cases.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many units of accommodation for asylum seekers are (a) being provided and (b) planned to be provided by each regional consortium; how many asylum seekers have been dispersed to such accommodation; and if he will make a statement. [125061]
Mrs. Roche: The arrangements with the regional consortia enable the amount of accommodation provided by each region to vary over time according to the changes in demand for accommodation. As there are ongoing negotiations with the regional consortia about the provision of accommodation, information relating to these negotiations is currently commercially confidential. The Scottish Regional consortium has provided 441 units of accommodation to date.
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As of 2 June, 2,049 asylum seekers including dependants had been dispersed.
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